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When do I start bathing my baby?

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Dr. Ann Kellams
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Virginia

Dr. Ann Lenox Kellams, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics in the Division of General Pediatrics and medical director of the newborn nursery at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital, is an expert in newborn care and breastfeeding. Kellams teaches pediatric clinical skills to students and residents and authored the Newborn Nursery Resident and Student Curriculum and Orientation Manual for UVA Children’s Hospital. Kellams serves her surrounding community by being a mentor for the African American Student Mentorship Program, by serving on the Virginia Breastfeeding Advisory Committee and by hosting various community education workshops on newborn and infant care. She received the Outstanding Graduate Designation from her alma mater, the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

When do I start bathing my baby?

In this video Dr. Ann Kellams discuss the many issues surrounding how to properly care for a newborn baby.

This expert: 70,622 views

This series: 18,646 views

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Host: When do I start bathing my baby?

Dr. Ann Kellams: Generally the hospital nurses will give the baby a bath just to remove the blood and secretions, mucous and things that are on the baby and really they are not going to get that dirty.

So we recommend until the umbilical cord has fallen off and that area has dried up, not putting them under water. So just sponge bath and really probably, on the order of every two to three days. If they have a huge bowel movement that gets everywhere then okay, I might do it more often than that. But generally, every two to three days sponge bath and then once the umbilical cord is off you can do a little bath with their sitting in it being very careful not to turn your back because about an inch of water and if one falls moving there would be a drowning risk for the baby.

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