New post partum nurse question

[sunshinetoo]

I'm new to post partum, have a lot of med/surg experience, I feel a little crazy that the thing I worry about the most is giving the baby a bath. The little slippery thing, dunking into a small basin that is on a table with no sides.

Any advice on the best way to "hold" the baby during the basin phase?

Thanks.

[Jolie, BSN]

Start out with the baby tightly swaddled in a receiving blanket while you wash face, hair, and any other accessible part.

Next, lay the baby in the crib (preferably under the warmer) for a sponge bath, washing and drying one part at a time so that you don't cause the baby to become cold-stressed by being all soaking wet and naked. Dry and wrap the baby for mom or dad to hold while you clean and dry the crib.

If, for some reason you must actually put the baby in the basin, place the basin in the crib or on a warmer (with sides). Then you won't worry about dropping the tot.

Why would anyone bathe a baby in a basin up on a table with no sides?!

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

Are you talking first bath or initial bath?

For first bath, this is what we do:

Grab several washcloths and get fairly soaking wet. We put them in scale paper (waterproof underside) and carry the whole thing to the crib under the warmer. There's where we soap and wash everything all at once. I keep the washcloths as wet as I can so as to work up a good lather. Usually I take 2 washcloths to do the washing, and then 2 to squeeze over baby to rinse. As I go, I remove the wet (and usually dirty) linen from beneath him and replace it with something dry. After baby is washed, rinsed, dried, and diapered, I swaddle and take him over to the sink in the football hold and wash his hair over there. I wish our nursery were laid out differently so we didn't have to carry baby halfway across the room to wash his hair but that's beyond my control.

While I'm washing hair, someone else is changing the linens of the bed so I have a clean landing area. I dry his hair, put him back under the warmer and put a clean cap on him.

That said, I am against stressing a baby who's already unstable by doing a bath. If baby is cold (obviously) or hypoglycemic, or has any other issues, I wait until he is stable to bathe. If it's a baby that has junky lungs but is otherwise ok (pulse ox stable etc.), I will bathe him to help him cry out the junk, but that's a case-by-case thing.

If you're talking the daily bath, I get him naked, put him on the scale (we do our daily bath/weight at night), and use the same scale paper to keep under him and just do a quick wipedown w/ a warm washcloth. It's really not necessary to do the whole soap thing every day, nor is it good for newborn skin.

We don't even use basins for newborn baths as a rule. Everything's done inside the crib.

[CarrieRNC]

I bathe a baby in the same way..I take a couple blankets and put them under a chux, then i put 2 towels and put them over the chux. I then wrap the baby in a blanket and wash his head at a sink with a scrub and baby wash. Then i put the baby under the warmer and wash and dry as a go, face..chin..belly..legs...flip over..arms..back..and finally the butt and parts. And as i go i do my full assessment on the baby and if you do your baths in the room, its a great teaching tool for the parents......Remember, they wont break.

[QTBabyNurse, BSN, RN]

this is how i give a newborn their first bath...i lay 2-3 chux in the bassinet and i keep the bassinet under a standing radiant warmer to keep the little one warm. as the baby is cleaned, i remove a chux at a time to keep the baby always on a clean surface. at the end, i use a clean washcloth and squeeze warm water over the baby to rinse off the baby soap. then i thoroughly dry the baby and put on a diaper. i then wrap him/her in a dry towel and use the football hold to wash the hair, using a baby comb to comb out all the dried blood, etc. i usually then will do another shampoo for good measure and extra cleanliness and make sure to rinse that off well, dry thoroughly. the baby then stays under the radiant warmer for about 20 minutes or so to make sure the temp is back to normal. while under the warmer, i also put the baby blankets and undershirt in the crib to warm them as well for when the baby is ready to get dressed. nothing like the smell of a freshly laundered baby!!!

[cherokeesummer]

Our first newborn bath is done by taking the baby to our sink which has heated water to the right temp, then each person does it their own way but we generally layer the side counters of the sink with several dry towels, lay out two wash clothes, hair scrub brush and some swabs.

I usually get the baby wet, wipe face down first and then work up a good lather on the first washcloth and wash them really well, drying as I go, and working fairly quickly but thoroughly, then I rinse and then dry them and bundle/swaddle them in a clean, dry towel and then wash their hair and then dry it with the dry washcloth. I take them to the warmer to complete the drying process. Then I can really see if I've missed some spots LOL. Some babies are extra cheesy LOL!