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How long did you/will you wait to bathe your babe?  

post #1 of 45
6/9/08 at 9:27pm
Thread Starter 
Some people think babies need to be bathed soon after birth....(for instance in the hospital.)

With our first baby I think we bathed her after 3 days or so. Our second he never got a bath until around 10 days because he ended up in the NICU at 8 days old.

I was so sad b/c when I held him in there he had lost his little baby smell and the nursed were going to wash him and I was like "no!" I'll do it...so I went and bought special wash and lotion and did it myself.

He did get his little smell back once we got home...at the hospital is was kind of a plasticky, bandage smell.

Both of mine were waterbirths so the baby came out of the water nice and clean.

With this new baby coming, I'm hoping to wait at least 10 days granted we don't have a reflux issue or something.
post #2 of 45
6/9/08 at 9:33pm
Our first was a c-section and some nurse bathed her without even asking us --- grrrr -- don't even get me started.

Our second was a hospital VBAC. We were asked repeatedly whether they could bathe our baby, but we declined until we were discharged the next day. A bath at home came maybe 2-3 weeks later, lol.

This time we are planning a home birth. I'm not sure when we'll do the bath, but most likely not within the first few days. Honestly there was very little "stuff" on our second, and I admit I was particularly attached to this one little chunk of blood stuck to the hair.
post #3 of 45
6/9/08 at 9:37pm
Thread Starter 
^ cute, gross and funny all at the same time (the part about the chunk 'o' blood.)

I'm more like a mama monkey with my kids when I see things like that...I like to pick. My DD never lets me pick her boogers! at least now that she is almost 4 she's getting good at getting them out herself.
post #4 of 45
6/9/08 at 9:59pm
My first was bathed her second day in the hospital.

After my hb dd2 was bathed at around two weeks.
post #5 of 45
6/9/08 at 10:02pm
DS was at least a couple of weeks before he got his first bath. I did use a damp cloth to get a couple of little clots out of his hair in the meantime though.
post #6 of 45
6/9/08 at 11:43pm
We had a homebirth & we popped into the tub for our first bath when he was just a few hours old. We submerged into an awesome herbal bath & his cord came off in just a few days. It took weeks with our firstborn.
post #7 of 45
6/10/08 at 12:54am
I dunno, I think it wound up being three weeks or so. But we had a waterbirth, so I think a lot of it washed off. I don't remember him having any vernix or anything.
post #8 of 45
6/10/08 at 1:08am
I think it was three weeks after he was born but maybe it was longer? I know he was still little but it wasn't right away or anything. I'm glad we waited. His cord stub fell off after a few days whereas my sister's baby's hung on for a two weeks I believe.

FWIW, he still doesn't get regular baths. About once a month I'll take him in the shower with me if he starts to smell but it's not like he's playing in the dirt or anything
post #9 of 45
6/10/08 at 3:23am
My littlest we bathed around 24 hours after birth. My midwife asked if we wanted to bath him the night he was born and I declined.
post #10 of 45
6/10/08 at 3:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dogmom327 View Post
I think it was three weeks after he was born but maybe it was longer? I know he was still little but it wasn't right away or anything. I'm glad we waited. His cord stub fell off after a few days whereas my sister's baby's hung on for a two weeks I believe.

FWIW, he still doesn't get regular baths. About once a month I'll take him in the shower with me if he starts to smell but it's not like he's playing in the dirt or anything
i could have written this post. substitute she for he and thats me and dd2.
she showers with me when she smells like parmesan or when her toes get crusty.
babies dont need baths!
post #11 of 45
6/10/08 at 10:10am
First 3 I bathed them on around day 3 or 4. fourth was born under water so she was pretty clean and I think we bathed her about a week later. She usually only baths or showers with us now every few days as she is still so little. Babies are born so beautiful and really don't seem to need a bath, maybe just a rub down. All that lovely vernix is miracle moisturizer so I like to leave it on till it is absorbed! Plus they smell so good!
post #12 of 45
6/10/08 at 10:28am
Dd1 we had transferred to the hospital (long story - it was totally unnecessary ) and she had her first bath that night. With a scrubby brush. And then another the next day. Both by nurses, not by me or anyone with any love for her. She cried and shivered, it was AWFUL.

Dd2 my mom and sister gave her a quick little bath while I showered, the day she was born, just to get the blood off a bit. They definitely just did a quick once-over and she still smelled like "birth" when they were done.

My sons were both waterbirths so it wasn't an issue at all. They were clean. I would say both of them were a week old before they got their first bath. Ds2 has probably had about a dozen baths maximum, and he's almost 5 mos old. I keep his diaper area clean and make sure he's not smelly or dirty.

And on the vernix, it has amazing properties as an antibacterial as well, it not only moisturizes it PROTECTS. Yay vernix! So rub it in, girls! Rub it in.
post #13 of 45
6/10/08 at 11:25am
Both babe and I had a soothing herbal bath about an hour after birth. It was heavenly. And it was neat to watch babe float and just take in his surroundings.
post #14 of 45
6/10/08 at 3:34pm
Thinking about this got me steaming mad all over again. We were supposed to be rooming-in at the hospital with DD, but they hauled her off for the usual round of eye goop -vit K shot etc. The (idiot) nurse said she was cold... insisted on warming her under lights... then gave her a bath (at least DH was there) and then said she was cold and stuck her under the french fry lamps again. I didn't get her back until 12:30. I was so worked up about where she was I couldn't rest, and she didn't nurse until 7-8 hours after she was born. In retrospect, why not bring her straight to me when she was cold, to put on my tummy? because she was "dirty". I repeat, idiots.

This time? Waterbirth. Cuddle. Boob. Sleep.

love,
-Xen
post #15 of 45
6/10/08 at 3:40pm
I don't remember, but with my homebirth baby it was weeks. However, I was very disappointed that having a waterbirth made my baby smell like the plastic liner for the pool. All the yummy baby smell was totally overwhelmed by the smell of plastic, even though I had aired the thing out ahead of time and the baby was only in the water for seconds. I would birth on dry land just to keep that smell intact.

With my hospital birth baby, they insisted we had to bathe her before we left, and a nurse had to be present. Then dh and the nurse fought about everything . . . nurse was trying to scrub dd's head . . . it was awful. Next time in a hospital, we would just say we did it while they were out of the room to get them off our backs.
post #16 of 45
6/10/08 at 3:48pm
With my homebirthed DS, it was a 10 -14 days I think? It was quite a while. And I had a teeny tear so there was a little gore, and he had tons of vernix. He also had tons of hair, so he was quite crusty by bathtime. IIRC, we did brush some bits out of his hair before the bath.

I understand the attachment to the icky bits. I have a tiny wool cap that one of the midwives knitted for him, and it was covered in all the fresh goop. I cannot bear to clean it up and put it away. He's 6 mos old.
post #17 of 45
6/10/08 at 4:21pm
My ds1 was born in the hospital so he was bathed a few hrs after birth.

My ds2 was a homebirth and I bathed him when he was about 24 hrs old bc he had tons of hair and lots of goopy stuff in it! I also totally submerged him in the bath and his cord stump fell off in 3 days, vs a few wks w/my ds1 (bc I followed the nurses' orders of cleaning it w/alcohol every diaper change--I realize how dumb that is now!).

Our upcoming baby won't have a bath right away either, this time I will probably only wash his/her hair if it is goopy instead of doing the whole bath bc my ds2 cried and was so cold!

I love how their skin doesn't get so dry and peel off when you don't bathe them right away (especially w/harsh soaps and a scrub brush!)
post #18 of 45
6/10/08 at 4:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenopus View Post
Thinking about this got me steaming mad all over again. We were supposed to be rooming-in at the hospital with DD, but they hauled her off for the usual round of eye goop -vit K shot etc. The (idiot) nurse said she was cold... insisted on warming her under lights... then gave her a bath (at least DH was there) and then said she was cold and stuck her under the french fry lamps again. I didn't get her back until 12:30. I was so worked up about where she was I couldn't rest, and she didn't nurse until 7-8 hours after she was born. In retrospect, why not bring her straight to me when she was cold, to put on my tummy? because she was "dirty". I repeat, idiots.

This time? Waterbirth. Cuddle. Boob. Sleep.

love,
-Xen
Aw, I'm sorry you didn't have your baby right away...that's terrible. Glad you have different plans this time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Romana9+2 View Post
I don't remember, but with my homebirth baby it was weeks. However, I was very disappointed that having a waterbirth made my baby smell like the plastic liner for the pool. All the yummy baby smell was totally overwhelmed by the smell of plastic, even though I had aired the thing out ahead of time and the baby was only in the water for seconds. I would birth on dry land just to keep that smell intact.
Really? That's strange, we never had an issue with the liners we used. What kind of pool were you using? We had an aquadoula and the baby smelled just like a baby would...fresh and clean.
post #19 of 45
6/10/08 at 4:57pm
We waited over a week. I had a waterbith at home and he was perfectly clean when he came out. Just a bit of blood below his left eye and some in his hair. He smelled DELICIOUS!!! It was the sweetest most intoxicating smell we'd ever sniffed. Both my mom and my MIL kept asking, "When are you going to give him a bath? He has blood in his hair." I finally let his dad give him a sponge bath at about 10-days. Wish we'd waited longer, but I guess it needs to be done at some point. I just didn't want to lose that amazing smell.
post #20 of 45
6/10/08 at 5:01pm
My DD came out in an explosion of meconium so she did get a bath about an hour after birth, given by my mom in a little baby tub right next to my bed. This thread just made me go look at her birth pics, I have the sweetest picture of her "first bath"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...rsBirth066.jpg
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