Babies are renowned for their soft skin, with adult moisturizing creams going so far as claiming that regular use will afford you skin as soft as a newborn. A baby’s skin is that soft because it is not fully grown yet, still thin and fragile from life within the uterus.
Not only do infants have dryer skin than adults, their perspiration glands are underdeveloped, making them less able to regulate their body temperature. Similarly, babies have smaller melanin levels in their skin so they sunburn more easily than adults. These are both environmental conditions or dangers which tend to go away when tended to. Other conditions, though, such as eczema, are genetic and often become a lifelong problem. There are a large variety of rashes that babies get, some are conditions in their own right while others are signs of a larger issue.
Diaper rash is the most common rash in infants, caused by ongoing chafing from wearing diapers. Similar chafing rashes can occur from clothing other than diapers also if the skin is constantly rubbed against a rough sort of fabric. Every child’s skin is different and varies in delicacy, and some may find some types of cloth problematic, while others don’t react to even the harshest materials.
The best way to avoid diaper rash is to keep your baby clean with unscented baby wipes and not allowing them to be unchanged in a soiled diaper. Rashes and dry skin go hand in hand so that basically you want to keep the diaper area dry, moisturizing with ointment can help maintain skin health while soothing and preventing rashes.
Additional skin conditions babies are prone to are heat rash, caused by inadequate temperature regulation from immature sweat glands; pimples from maternal hormones remaining after birth; and eczema, a genetic skin condition that can start appearing as early as infancy. With all these issues, keeping your newborn’s skin healthy necessitates monitoring the rash and talking to your doctor about appropriate treatment options. Keeping your child’s skin hygienic and healthy will insure it stays as soft as, well, a baby’s bottom.
Writer Logan D. Trevanio is a childcare and cloth diaper expert. He understands many issues of child care, child well-being, and weighs in from time to time on disposable versus cloth diapers.