Dry skin in the baby: How to take care of it best
The skin of babies is much more sensitive than that of adults. Therefore, it is important to take special care of them to prevent dry skin in the baby. Here you can find out why babies develop dry skin particularly quickly and how you can best care for dry skin in babies.
Reasons for dry skin in the baby
The skin is our largest sensory organ and at the same time acts as an outer protective layer for our body. In adults, it protects very effectively against climatic influences such as cold, moisture and heat, but also against the penetration of pathogens or dehydration. In babies, the protective function of the skin is not yet fully developed after birth, which is why dry skin is a particularly common problem in babies. The high moisture loss of baby skin is caused by various factors:
- The delicate skin of babies is even thinner than the skin of adults. This is partly due to the fact that the layer, i.e. the outermost layer of the epidermis, is not yet fully developed and therefore not yet very resistant. In the layer, which is built up like a wall of individual cells, there are still many gaps in infancy, which is why it is more permeable and water cannot be optimally bound by the skin.
- In the first years of life, the sebaceous glands in your child do not yet work optimally. However, the body’s own tallow fat is of particular importance in two respects. On the one hand, it acts as a kind of mortar that stabilizes the individual skin cells in the layer of the epidermis in the skin of adults. On the other hand, the layer in adults is covered by a thin water-fat film. Since this additional barrier has a slightly acidic pH value, it is also referred to as the acid mantle of the skin. Due to the lack of sebum production, this is also not sufficiently developed and the delicate baby skin lacks further protection.
Only in the course of the first four years of life does your child’s skin slowly mature to its full functionality. Infants also have a much larger skin surface area than adults in relation to their body weight, which is why even more fluid is lost. All these reasons contribute to the fact that dry skin is very common in the baby.
External factors for dry skin in the baby
In addition to the general condition of the sensitive baby skin, there are also numerous external factors, such as the climate, allergies or incorrect care, which can intensify the dry skin of the baby:
- Winter air: Especially in winter, your baby’s skin must be well protected, as it dries out particularly easily during this period. This is primarily due to the change between the cold air outside and the warm, dry heating air inside. Your baby’s skin therefore loses a lot of moisture in winter, as it constantly releases water into the dry ambient air. In addition, the colder it gets, the less sebum the baby’s already sebaceous skin produces.
- Allergies: Dry, very irritated skin on the face can be a reaction to one’s own saliva, especially in babies who already receive complementary food. By eating new foods, the production of digestive enzymes is stimulated. The changed composition as well as the increased secretion of baby saliva can cause allergic reactions. Although these usually settle again after a while, they can temporarily aggravate dry skin on the face.
If the allergic reactions persist, there may also be a food allergy. Gradually test individual complementary food ingredients for their compatibility. Cow’s milk intolerance could also be the cause of persistently irritated skin. If you are unsure, you should ask your pediatrician for advice.
- Clothing: If your child has very dry skin, it is advisable to use smooth, scratch-free materials for clothing. The clothing should also be washed before wearing for the first time to minimize exposure to harmful substances.
- Detergent: If your baby has red, itchy spots on his body or extremities, this may indicate hypersensitivity to a detergent or fabric softener. Try changing manufacturers or omitting the product altogether to find out if it’s a possible cause.
Why is dry skin in the baby a concern?
Healthy skin performs many important functions, such as the body’s thermoregulation or the defense against harmful environmental influences. In order to be able to do this work, however, the skin barrier must be intact, otherwise bacteria and other pathogens can penetrate the organism more easily.
The itching that usually accompanies dry skin not only puts a heavy strain on your baby’s general well-being. Young children, unlike adults, cannot yet suppress the itching. The inevitable scratching often leads to small skin injuries in which pathogens can settle. Painful inflammation and an increased susceptibility to infections can be the result.
Special care for dry skin in the baby
In order to protect stressed and dry skin in the baby, you should pay attention to a particularly gentle care. The skin of babies needs support in the first few years to be able to store fat and moisture sufficiently. Above all, the regularity of the care, as well as the choice of suitable care products are important. This is the only way to sustainably stabilize the barrier function of the skin.
Apply cream to dry skin in the baby
Whether healthy or dry skin, regular creaming is very important. Children with healthy skin can be creamed from head to toe after each bath or shower. For dry skin, daily creaming, even independently of the bath, is advisable. When choosing the right cream, there are a few points to consider:
- Usemoisturizing products, such as thePenaten wound protection cream, which is suitable for daily care,Displayis very rich and still easy to distribute. As a rule, moisturizing products also penetrate the deeper layers of the skin and do not only moisturize superficially.
- Creams containingunsaturated fatty acids or ureapromote the skin health of many children immensely, as they stabilize the not yet fully developed layer of the skin and thus effectively curb water loss.
- Make sure that it iseasy to spreadand that the chosen cream absorbs easily. This makes your baby’s creaming particularly pleasant because the skin does not pull and tug. If necessary, use lotions, which are usually thinner than creams.
When applying, only use as much cream as is actually absorbed. Thick layers of cream on the skin can form heat accumulation, which can lead to skin irritation such as pimples or rashes. Therefore, cream your child more often than too thick.
Greasy creams are usually to be treated with caution. The so-called covering of entire skin areas with oily cream should only be used as targeted protection against the cold or in the diaper area to protect the buttocks from the aggressive effect of bowel movements and urine. For very dry skin, however, partial coverage may be advisable to prevent severe damage to already stressed skin and the penetration of bacteria.
Extremely dry skin can also be rubbed with a skin care oil several times a day, such as with our favorite“Burt’s Bees Care Oil” with 100% natural ingredients, which we found on Amazon.Display
It penetrates the skin even more easily and nourishes intensively. With “normal” skin, however, you should rather refrain from rubbing with oil, as it is not sufficiently absorbed there and in this way a heat build-up can easily occur.
Bathe babies with dry skin
There is also a lot to consider whenbathing the babywith dry skin. For example, if the water is too hot, this will dry out the baby’s skin even more. Baths that are too long should also be avoided, as this can cause the skin to swell, which further complicates the binding of moisture in the skin.
If you don’t just use plain water for washing, you should make sure to use particularly mild cleaning products. These should definitely be soap-free, so that they do not additionally attack the already weak acid mantle of the skin. It is also important that bath oils or other care products have a moisturizing effect. In this way, the loss of moisture caused by the water can already be compensated during bathing.
In order to protect dry skin, it is also advisable to refrain from using a washcloth or sponge when washing. The resulting friction would only irritate the skin additionally. Even when drying, you should not rub the skin dry, but dab it carefully so as not to strain the sensitive baby skin unnecessarily.
After an oil bath, you should even completely refrain from drying in order not to remove or destroy the nourishing fat layer on the skin. But then make sure that the ambient temperature is particularly warm so that your child does not cool down.
When is dry skin in the baby a case for the doctor?
If the baby’s skin is not only rough and dry, but also flakes significantly and redness and signs of inflammation are added to dryness, you should definitely consult a pediatrician. Because a bad skin appearance with weeping areas, blistering or crusting formation can be a sign of a serious skin disease. In the diaper area, for example,diaper rash oradiaper funguscan quickly develop.
One of the most common skin diseases in infancy, which, however, usually occurs only after the third month of life, isneurodermatitis. This is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease that is accompanied by severe itching. Dry skin and slight, blurred redness and thickening of the skin can be a first sign. But not every child with dry skin also suffers from neurodermatitis.
However, if the dry spots are mainly limited to the face, the hairy head and the extensor sides of the arms and legs, you should have an accurate diagnosis made by the pediatrician in order to be able to treat your child as quickly as possible with appropriate means.
In a neurodermatitis disease, the diaper area is usually spared from dry spots, as there is a higher ambient humidity under the diaper than on the rest of the body.