Newborn skin?

Question

I just got home from delivering my son today, and his skin is very dry and patchy. The hospital didn't say to use anything, is it best to leave it be for a while, or should I be using something on his skin?
Also, they showed me briefly how to clean his ambilical cord but they didnt do a very thourough job explaining so I'm just curious what if anything I use with the qtip?
AND also, I'm breastfeeding, and the nurses showed me how to breastfeed, and I've been doing it the same way so I know he's latching on right and all that, but why are my nipples so sore? they feel like he's going to suck them right off! How do I fix the pain? And will it go away with time? Sorry for the questions...it's my first night home with the lil guy, and he's my first so I'm all worried! :)

Answer 1

Ok well let's take first things first -- congratulations first time Mom.

To clean the umbilical cord,

The umbilical cord should be cleaned with either hydrogen peroxide or alcohol. Which you use will be determined by your practitioner's preference or what you have handy. Some doctor's and midwives say to start with alcohol and only go to hydrogen peroxide if you need something more drying.

The first step in actual umbilical cord care is to gather up your supplies. You will need either cotton swabs or cotton balls and a solution like hydrogen peroxide or alcohol. It's also handy to have the baby with you. Most parents choose to do cord care during diaper changes.

Undress your baby, exposing the cord area. Remember these solutions can stain your baby's clothing. You will dip the cotton swab or cotton ball into the solution to wet it thoroughly.

Your nipples are sore because they have to become accustomed to your little one sucking on them for long periods of time during the day. The best treatment of sore nipples is prevention. The best prevention is latching the baby on properly from the first day. Sore nipples are usually due to one or both of two causes:
Either the baby is not positioned and latched properly, or the baby is not suckling properly, or both.
Here are a few tips:

Hand express or pump a few minutes before the feeding. This will elicit letdown and elongate the nipple for the baby so that he does not nurse so aggressively.

Nurse on the least sore side first as this is the side that your baby will nurse more aggressively on.

You may want to take a mild pain reliever such as Tylenol or Advil about 30 minutes prior to nursing or around the clock until your discomfort lessens or disappears. Both of these drugs are compatible with breastfeeding.

Open both sides of your bra during the feeding.

Consider applying warm, wet tea bags to your nipples for a short time after nursing. Many moms report that this can be very soothing.


Warm, moist compresses (wet washcloth works well) often bring relief to nipples both before and after nursing.

After feeding, pat dry your nipples and express some breastmilk to rub into them (this should be avoided if you have thrush as it thrives in milk). Breastmilk has Vitamin E in it which is very healing to the skin. Note: Avoid applying Vitamin E oil from a capsule to your nipples as this can be toxic to your baby!

You also may want to apply a 100% USP modified lanolin preparation, such as Purelan 100, to your nipples after nursing. Apply enough to thoroughly coat the entire nipple/areola area. This does not need to be washed off prior to nursing as it is safe for baby to ingest. Recent studies seem to indicate that using 100% lanolin may hasten the healing process by maintaining the internal moisture of the skin. Avoid other creams and ointments sold for the treatment of sore nipples as these may actually impede healing by preventing air circulation and drying out the skin. Some of these other preparations may also be toxic to your baby and will need to washed off prior to nursing. Over-washing of the nipple area results in a loss of the natural lubricants that protect it and provide it with antibacterial properties.

Some moms find a hydrogel pad soothing and healing to nipple trauma.

Change your nursing pads immediately once they become even slightly damp. Moisture up against your nipples can prolong healing. If your pad sticks to your nipple moisten it with water before attempting to remove it. Also avoid nursing pads with plastic linings. They prevent the flow of air which is essential to healthy nipples. Stick with 100% cotton pads or pads made of plain paper

RELAX, he will be fine and so will you

Answer 2

Congratulations!

1) It is absolutely normal for a newborn infant to have dry, patchy skin the first month. In fact, its more common than "normal appearing" skin. We generally don't recommend ANY lotions and it goes away over a few weeks.

2) We USED TO recommend alcohol for cleaning the umbilical cord. Now there is some controversy over whether alcohol causes the cord to be attached longer. Studies also show that there is no difference in infection rates between applying alcohol twice a day and cleansing it when dirty with soap and water. Where I trained, the recommendations changed to cleaning lightly with antibiotic soap and water, patting dry with a cotton ball, then letting it air dry. A small amount of yellow/green grimy tissue is normal at the cord (its called granulation tissue and if you get a scrape you can watch it fill in the wound on yourself!) Signs of omphalitis (infection of the belly button) include redness extending outside the belly button, tenderness, fever (100.4 is a fever until he's 2 months old), and/or poor feeding. I don't recommend a Qtip for cleaning but if you are using alcohol, then it's what they want you to apply it with. Too much alcohol on a baby's skin is bad and this lets you be more exact about cleaning the granulation tissue.

3) Nipple soreness is a common complaint in newly nursing mothers...your nipples with toughen and it will improve over time.

4) It is normal for first time parents to have many questions...we EXPECT it, so don't be bashful, write the little things you might forget down and bring us the list! We are
happy to answer them...it's an important part of what we do!

5) Good luck! You'll do great!

Answer 3

I know how u feel cause im a first time mom myself my baby is a 6 week today. Dry skin is normal for babies it will go away but it self jus keep him moist, my baby peditrican told me that in a matter of a week or 2 baby skin usually become normal if not and the dry skin is still there then u will most likely have to see a dermtologist but other than that it normal and he will be okay ; ) but with the sore nipple try to use vasline if that doesn't work go to the pharmacy and ask them for a ominment for sore nipples, i had a sample what the hospital had gave me but i can't remember the name, but if the vasline doesn't work or u can even try A&D ominment that should be good also.With the umbilical cleaning, u clean when u cleaning him up and sometime they would want u to do it after every diaper change but it fall off by it self in a week and the way how u would clean it is to use alcohol swabs and jus clean around it but what had use was bactrian ominment cause my mom work in a nursing home and she would bring them home and they work much better than the alcohol swabs cause it would prevent them from any infections. But other than that ur baby sound like a healthy baby. Jus be prepare for sleepless nite cause it is true when u have a newborn sleep is not always there but if u have a baby that sleep through the nite and doesn't gave any trouble like my baby then ur good but congrads ; ) one more thing i forget to add is that to prevent ur nipples from being so sore is to change up don't keep him on one breast swtich up.

Answer 4

The skin is fine. Don't lotion him. When you give him a sponge bath, that should help... and his skin will look much better in a few days.

The umbilical cord is pretty easy to take care of. Just keep it dry and make sure the diaper isn't on it. You really don't need to rub anything on it. If you need to, use a small gauze pad with some warm water to clean around the cord.

Ahhhhh.... breastfeeding. Yes, your nipples are sore... and they will get better (they will toughen up). If you have cuts, that's a different story. But the soreness is from his sucking. If he's pulling on them (which will cause lots of pain), make sure you keep his face buried in your breast so his head doesn't go back and forth. Of course, make sure he can breathe. My son (I called him the Barracuda) would thrash while he nursed causing excruciating pain. I finally restrained him in a rcvg blanket which gave my nipples a chance to heal.
Oh, yeah... you could use Lanolin ointment for the nipples to keep them somewhat soft. After much abuse, nipples can flake and split. It really didn't do much to ease pain. Tylenol is what you'll need.

Don't worry. Someday, you'll be giving the same advise to some other new mommy on yahoo answers... while you're sitting at your computer remembering those first few days/weeks/months...and how quickly they went by.

Mother of 2... nursed my son until he was 14 months while 6 months pregnant with my daughter... who is now 10 months and still nursing strong.

Answer 5

A mild cream to moisturize your baby's skin is good. However, I wouldn't put cream for a few weeks since he's so very young. Usually the baby's skin peel during the first few weeks of life, due to the sudden environment change...but I would go see a doctor though, just to make sure that it isn't something else.

His umbilical cord does not need any scrubbing or anything like that...but after you finish giving baby a bath, make sure you pat dry it very well, or water residue may cause infection.

As for breastfeeding, don't worry things will get better. If your latch is correct, and it still continues to hurt, it's just because your nipples are still getting used to it. Just make sure the latch is correct...sometimes that actually may be the case, even though you think he's latched on right. If it continues to hurt, you can actually get an ointment to put onto your nipples, if it's cracked and sore. Go see your doctor. The pain usually goes away after a while. With mine, I was in so much pain because, no one told me how to get the baby to latch off and she practically ripped it off...I was crying of pain everytime I fed her, but I managed...and I'm still doing it.

this is what i know...make sure you see a doctor...if something really concerns you.

good luck!! congrads...

Answer 6

Congratulations on the birth of your son. You can use baby oil on his dry skin, it's safe on new borns. Have a look in your local supermarket or chemist and they have many different products that can help his skin that arn't to harsh at the same time.
With his ambilical cord I was told to leave my daughter alone. Bath him as you normaly would and just dab the ambilical cord dry, especcialy around the base at the skin. It is normal for it to go a bit smelly(not foul smelling though, that means infection) Don't forget it is dead flesh(gross I know). Don't put any thing on it to dry it up. If you do it can become to dry and even effect the way his belly button is going to form and even hurt him. It will start to fall off in a few days time, even when it is hanging on by a thread don't pull it off. It will come off when it's ready.
As for your poor nipples they WILL get better. They aren't use to being sucked every 1-2-3 hours. They will adjust. You might get blisters, I used lanosil. It's natural and works a treat. My partner bought the BIG tube and there was heaps left even after finishing breastfeeding my daughter. I used it on everything. Chaped Lips,scrapes, burns and even insect bites. It's an awsome product, not just for breast feeding mothers. As your baby gets older his suck will get stronger. So you go through sore nipples every so often, but they heal and adjust in no time. And if your milk hasn't come in yet once it does the pain will ease a little then to. I hope I have been of help. Good luck with your little man and enjoy him. He will grow up before your eyes.

Answer 7

Congratulations!

You don't need to use anything on your son's skin - just let it be for a while. You also don't need to do anything special for the umbilical cord. Just check it when you change his diaper.

As for the sore nipples, ouch! Mine were really sore at first, too. Do make sure your baby is getting a good latch-on. My daughter was so impatient that she wasn't quite getting her mouth far enough around the areola at first.

Get some Lansinoh and apply it to your nipples after each feeding - it really helps a lot! If you have a La Leche League group in your area, they offer great breastfeeding support. It does get better, so hang in there.

Answer 8

ok to make this simple... this is what I was told and it worked for me!
-skin: use unscented baby oil or leave it.... most newborns have that peely wrinkly skin and it will go away eventually

-cord:it needs to dry out... so I was told to leave it alone and keep it out of the diaper and do not get it wet so only sponge bath until it falls off... my doctor actually said that it is not necessary to do anything to the cord area... and he was right it fell off on its own and was fine :)

-breastfeeding: use lanolin nipple cream... safe for baby and helps ease soreness and otherwise just bare the pain eventually it will not hurt anymore :) I used lanolin for at least 4-5 months (not all the time) and after that I built up a tolerance I didn't need it anymore and I am still breastfeeding and my son is almost 11 months
Other breast feeding tips :best breast pads:Johnson &Johnson... change regulary... keep breasts clean b4/after feeding because you and your baby could get "thrush" a type of yeast infection... really itchy and sore pink nipples and the baby will get a bright red diaper rash and white spots in there mouth not great ( this happened to me).... if ever feeling a tenderness/lumpiness/engorged you need wet heat like a damp wash cloth or a shower and feed like crazy or you can get a plugged duct (painful), nipple blister (very painful) or even mastitis (very painful and horrible) Yes I have had all three... not pleasant at all... so just giving you a heads up :)
Any problems at all in ANY of these areas with your baby or yourself see your doctor right away :)
Hope this helps a bit :)

Answer 9

Congrats on your little one!! I remember my baby seemed to be "molting" after she was born. I used a fragrance free lotion, but really she didn't need it. The skin will peel and it doesn't bother them.

As for the umbilical cord, I was told to leave it alone. Keep it dry and exposed to the air. It should fall off within about a week. I guess cleaning it with rubbing alcohol used to be recommended, but it's better to just let it be.

And finally for the soreness of breast-feeding...the soreness does go away after a couple of weeks!! In the meantime try using Lansinoh or another lanolin cream on your nipples after each feeding to help with chapping. You can also get gel pads from a drug store, Target or similar store that helps soothe sore nipples. Those were a God-send to me when I was breast-feeding!

GL, and congrats again!!

Answer 10

Hey sweetie,

Everything will be fine. My daughter just turned one. The dry skin is perfectly normal. It will get worse as the old dry skin flakes off.lotion won't do a thing. try to keep lotions and anything with chemicals off his skin...after a month he should be good

The cord....well I used rubbing alcohol or just warm water on the qtip, its up to you.

I breast fed as well....make sure when your babies mouth is open wide....make sure your nipple is fully in the babies mouth......usually the first few days they will be sore.....get some gerber nipple therapy....its works great....no lanolin, and you don't have to wash before feeding......it should hang up on the shelves...its a blue tube that looks like a glue stick....anyway girlie....congrats....and if you need someone to talk to.....ping me anytime

Kat

Answer 11

you don't need to put anything on his skin most baby's have that it will go away as far as the cord use a alcohol wipe on it ever time you change his diaper just lightly wipe it in a circle. and yes breast feeding is very painful but the good news is it will get better but first it will prob get worse sorry try heat before you feed and ice afterward they make little packs that fit in your bra good luck