Care for the baby’s eyes, lips, nose and ears
Your baby’s face is tiny and yet there is a large part of his sensory organs, with which he discovers his world every day. What you should pay attention to when taking care of your baby’s eyes, ears, nose and lips and what you should not do, you will learn in this article.
In order for your baby to feel completely comfortable, not only his body, but also his face should be carefully cared for. In the facial care of babies, regular washing is particularly important. Use a soft, warm washcloth to clean your baby’s skin of sweat and any cream. Be careful not to use soap so as not to dry out the delicate and particularly thin facial skin unnecessarily. If necessary, such as when you go for a walk in the cold in winter or play outdoors in summer, you should rub your baby’s facewith an appropriate cream to protect it from environmental influences.
But not only the skin, but also the small sensory organs of your baby need extensive care so that your child can discover his world unhindered.
Taking care of your baby’s eyes
Have you ever wondered why babies’ eyes are so often glued or crusty? That’s because babies produce significantly more tear fluid compared to adults. This process is part of a natural protective function of the body. Since your baby’s immune system only slowly grows to full maturity after birth, pathogens can more easily penetrate the organism and cause infections. Since the mucous membranes of the eyes are particularly sensitive, the tear fluid contains an enzyme that is supposed to protect against infections. The fact that your child’s eyes often tear should close gaps in the immune system.
Since the tear fluid consists not only of water, but also of salt and an oily mucus, the eyes of babies crust particularly quickly. Especially during sleep, small crusts often form in the corners of the eyes or on the eyelashes. What you should keep in mind when cleaning your eyes:
- Never remove crusts when dry with a fingernail, as you could hurt your baby in this way.
- Before removing the crusts, soften the crusts better with a damp cotton ball by gently dabbing them. Use a separate cotton ball for each eye.
- Soak the cotton ball in warm, boiled water or saline solution to prevent germs from entering the eye.
- When cleaning the eye, always wipe from the outside in, i.e. towards the nose, as this also corresponds to the natural flow direction of the tear fluid.
- Important: Never use a cotton swab to clean the corners of the eyes. The risk of slipping and injuring the apple of your child’s eye is far too great!
If one of your baby’s eyes has been reddened for a long time, be sure to see a doctor to rule out serious inflammation. Even if your child’s eyes are often very glued, a visit to the doctor is advisable. It could beconjunctivitis.
Caring for your baby’s ears
When cleaning your baby’s ears, less is more! Because, contrary to what is often assumed, it is not necessary to remove earwax from the ears. On the one hand, the ears have a so-called self-cleaning function, through which excess earwax is slowly removed from the ear. On the other hand, the earwax, also called cerumen, fulfills important functions in the ear. It not only moisturizes the skin of the ear canal, but also binds dust, dirt and dead skin cells, which can therefore not get into the inner ear. It also contains substances that fight bacteria and thus effectively prevent inflammation. Too little earwax, for example due to frequent bathing or swimming, can therefore quickly lead to earache, as it can no longer fulfill its protective function. Therefore, make sure that not too much water runs into the ear when washing. When cleaning your ears, you should also pay particular attention to the following points:
- Never clean your baby’s ear canalwith a cotton swab. You could damage your child’s hypersensitive eardrum in this way and cause permanent hearing damage or balance problems. In addition, the earwax is not removed in this way, but only pushed deeper into the ear. There it can condense into a plug, which can cause earache and must be removed by the doctor.
- It is enough to clean the ear once superficially after bathing. To do this, wipe the auricle with a damp cloth, a cotton ball or the tip of a soft towel. Baby cotton swabs are also suitable for drying the auricle. They are thicker than normal cotton swabs and thus cannot penetrate the ear canal.
- You should also not forget the place behind the ears. In the small fold behind the ear, saliva or milk residues accumulate particularly often. Therefore, wipe them carefully with each wash and dry them thoroughly so that no sore spot develops.
Caring for your baby’s nose
Your baby’s nose, like the ears, also has a self-cleaning function. Dust and dirt are bound and expelled by the nasal secretion. However, if too much nasal secretion is produced, for example with a cold, or if it dries or clumps, a little additional care is advisable. You should keep the following points in mind:
- Firmly dried crusts on the nose should be softened with a damp cotton ball before removing them. So you can avoid unpleasant pulling and possible, small injuries of the sensitive baby skin. After soaking, you can wipe the crusts with a damp cloth.
- If your baby’s nose is blocked and therefore has trouble breathing, you can carefully clean the nose from the inside with the twisted tip of a handkerchief. However, be careful not to penetrate too deeply so as not to injure blood vessels or veins, which could result in nosebleeds. Therefore, never clean the nose with a cotton swab!
- If there is a lot of mucus in your baby’s nose, you can also use a special nasal secretion. This works like a small bellows and is compressed before use. Due to the negative pressure when releasing in the nose, the mucus is sucked out and the nose is thus freed. For example, you can buy a nasal secretion in the pharmacy.
- In the case of nasal congestion, sea salt solution is suitable for releasing the blockage. Using a pipette, gently drizzle a few drops into the affected nostril to loosen the secretion and remove it better.
Essential oils, such as menthol, are not suitable for freeing the nose in babies. They can lead to shortness of breath.
Caring for your baby’s lips
The lips are a particularly sensitive area. The skin of the lips is not only particularly thin, it also has no sebaceous glands of its own and thus no natural acid mantle, which protects against pathogens and environmental influences. Due to the constant wetting with saliva, they are also exposed to special stress and dry out very quickly. In the baby, this effect is even intensified, as the pacifier delays the drying of saliva and, for example, during teething, more saliva flows. Therefore, keep the following in mind when caring for the lips:
- If necessary, grease the lips with a greasy care stick. This moisturizes the lips and prevents them from cracking.
- You should also regularly protect the skin around the lips with a greasy cream to protect it from irritation caused by the digestive enzymes contained in saliva and dehydration.
- Since the lips do not contain melanin, which is responsible for tanning the skin and intercepting aggressive UV rays, it is important to apply a suitable sunscreen to the lips when going out in the sun. For example, there are special lip balms that already contain a sun protection factor. It is best to inquire at the pharmacy about a product that is also suitable for babies.