> The only reason I can think of to bathe a newborn is to wake a baby too
> sleppy to nurse.  Then again, a baby may become so hysterical from it
> that
> s/he shuts down and refuses to nurse.

 From what I've read on neonatal lists, we bathe newborns more in North
America than they do in other places.

My unit's policy is that  the nurse caring for the baby who has not been
bathed should wear gloves. This is because the baby has blood (among
other things) on his skin and in his hair. We give the first bath when
the baby is stable enough for it. The same is true on the maternity unit.

There is no reason this bath must be traumatic for the baby, though.
I've seen immersion baths on OB that the parents participated in, and
the baby seemed quite content. In the NICU, we wrap the little ones in
blankets and immerse the bundle in warm water. The baby stays warm and
doesn't get hysterical. It's a great time for interaction between
parents and babies and helps new parents get comfortable with baby care.

And yes, it can help wake a sleepy baby to breastfeed. It's quite lovely
to see parents bathe their little one this way, then settle in
skin-to-skin.


Anne Stringer, RN, NICU
Michigan, USA
[log in to unmask]

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html