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Bathing a slippery infant is usually a nerve-racking experience. Your baby might not enjoy it much, either. But stay calm. With a little practice, you’ll both begin to feel more comfortable at bath time. Start by learning baby bath principles.

How frequently should you bathe your baby? It is a question that a lot of new parents ask themselves and others when they have their first child. There are two separate questions in this. Firstly, how frequently is often enough, and second, how frequently is too often? While there is some belief that you can never be too clean, the fact is that your skin - and your baby’s - provides natural protection through bodily oils, which prevent infection and irritation being caused by clothing and everyday dirt. Bathing overly often will strip those oils and lead to increased irritation, and is therefore a bad thing.

There’s no need to give your newborn a bath every day. In fact, bathing your baby more than several times a week may dry out his or her skin. If you’re quick with clean diapers and fresh burp cloths, you’re already cleaning the parts that really need attention - the face, neck and diaper area.

Some people think that a daily bath is necessary, but for a child this is not really the case. In fact, cleansers and water can damage your baby’s skin if used too frequently. If you must bathe the baby daily, then you must use a gentle cleanser like a mild soap designed specifically for babies to avoid the aforementioned stripping of oils. The parts of a baby that will get dirty quickest are its face, from feeding and general baby activity, and the diaper area. Regularly washing your baby’s face, cleaning at the time of a diaper change, and cleaning up in case of any other obvious soiling will be more than enough.

There is no stipulated time frame for how frequently you absolutely must bath your baby. Every other day is really frequently enough as long as you ensure that the baby is generally clean. Babies do seem to enjoy a bath, and find warm water soothing. Even if you like a good hot bath, remember that your baby’s skin is more sensitive, and just above tepid will more than suffice.

Learn more about caring for your infant at Baby Care Reviews. Discover how to help a baby sleep now.