>No Jan, we are not tub bathing babies in the nursery. We are tub bathing in
>the mother's room and trying to CLOSE the nursery!!!! We did several
>'experimental' baths. The walls did not fall down. Once we have figured out a
>way to pay for enough tubs, we will clean up every baby this way...

Anne, and others,
        Would it be too radical to suggest that babies not be bathed at all
in the hospital?  That a warm flannel blanket (or something similar) be used
to cover them on the mother's abdomen/chest, and the family be left alone to
wipe off any obvious goo that they don't like?  And that the family be told
that cleaning the baby's hands, especially, is not a good idea for the first
day or two?  And that the vernix should be rubbed in, not washed off, and
that baby's skin is very fragile and needs to be treated gently (not
scrubbed) in the first few days?  And that the baby needs to be kept warm on
the mother's chest (explain how her body will automatically warm up to keep
the baby warm) and that getting the baby cold with a water bath is an
unnecessary stress on the baby's temperature-regulating system for the first
day or two after birth?  And that getting the baby's umbilical cord wet will
not hurt it?  And show them how to bathe the baby in the family tub on the
lap of an adult instead of on the kitchen counter in one of those plastic
baby tubs?

Kathy Dettwyler

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