Bathing a newborn

Studies of newborn bathing cover timing, products and technique. Randomized trials look at the timing of the first bath, including a pilot study from Lebanon and a trial of delayed first baths in late preterm infants and transepidermal water loss. A study of delayed bathing examines breastfeeding, hypothermia and hypoglycemia. Other trials compare bathing with water and with a liquid baby cleanser, test different soaps, and look at the timing of moisturizer after the bath, with skin barrier function among the outcomes studied.

Other papers look at practice and learning. A systematic review and meta-analysis describes early newborn bathing practice and its determinants among postpartum women in Ethiopia, and a cross-sectional study examines health professionals' knowledge and attitudes. A study looks at training for first-time mothers in swaddled and tub bathing, and a review covers perinatal baths.

Parents commonly ask when to give the first bath, how often to bathe and which products to use. An educator may want slides that reflect that timing and products have been studied and that practice varies between settings. The papers below are the ones the Hub tracks on this topic.