Is it healthier to wash your baby? Scientifically arranging the bathing frequency is the key to protecting the delicate skin!

Author: Yuan Xin, attending physician at Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University

Reviewer: Wang Zhaoyang, deputy chief physician, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University

In the outpatient clinic, pediatricians often see children who come for treatment due to eczema and other problems. The age range ranges from a few days after birth to 18 years old. After asking about the medical history, it is found that parents have many confusions about the issue of bathing their children. Especially in summer, some children even need to take a bath 2 to 3 times a day. So, how should children bathe? How often should they take a bath? Is it really better to take a bath more often?

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There are significant differences between children's skin and adults'. The various layers of their epidermis are not yet fully developed, so they are more vulnerable to damage and may be scratched if they are not careful. Therefore, during bathing, parents should be gentle and avoid using tools such as scrubbing towels. In addition, children's skin is delicate, so the water temperature should not be too hot. The bathing water temperature should not be higher than 37°C, and 34-36°C is more ideal. Many parents believe that babies have a lot of daily activities, sweat easily, and are prone to prickly heat, so they increase the frequency of bathing, but in fact this practice is not correct. This involves the physiological structure of children's skin - sebaceous glands and eccrine sweat glands, two skin appendages. In fact, newborns have the same total number of sweat glands as adults, but there are more sweat glands per unit area, and fewer sweat glands with secretory functions. Therefore, infants and young children are more likely to get prickly heat. Eccrine sweat glands generally develop and develop well after 2-3 years of age, and the situation of prickly heat will naturally decrease. However, simply increasing the number of baths cannot prevent the occurrence of prickly heat.

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Regarding the frequency of bathing, for babies with healthy skin and no special diseases, it is appropriate to bathe them twice a week, from newborns to 3 years old, according to the skin development characteristics of different age groups. The skin barrier function of infants and young children has not yet matured and is prone to dryness, so special attention should be paid to moisturizing after bathing. For example, in the dry autumn and winter climate, you can choose a moisturizing cream or cream with better moisturizing effect; in the relatively humid spring and summer climate, you can choose lotion and other emulsion products.

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From the age of 3, babies gradually grow up and enter puberty with the increase of sex hormone secretion, and the sebaceous glands secrete more vigorously. At this time, the frequency of skin cleaning should be gradually increased, and the frequency of bathing can be once a day or once every other day. When choosing moisturizing products, be careful to avoid choosing products that are too thick or too oily.

For children who already have skin diseases, especially eczema/atopic dermatitis, the frequency of bathing is different from that of healthy children. Careful parents may find that such babies get sick more frequently in autumn and winter, and the skin lesions are more serious. In summer, as the air humidity increases, the skin condition will improve significantly. This is because the onset of eczema/atopic dermatitis is mainly related to its genetic susceptibility, damaged skin barrier, flora disorders and environmental factors. Damage to the skin barrier is usually manifested as increased transepidermal water loss and decreased water content in the stratum corneum. Relatively humid air can reduce skin moisture loss to a certain extent.

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For such children, parents often have misunderstandings, thinking that "eczema/atopic dermatitis is caused by excessive moisture on the skin, and bathing will aggravate the disease." In fact, eczema/atopic dermatitis is not essentially caused by contact with water or moisture. In fact, for such children, it is recommended to bathe at the same frequency as normal children. Regular skin cleaning and care can not only help remove microorganisms and scales on the skin surface, but also hydrate the skin and increase the water content of the skin. It is recommended to use moisturizer regularly and in sufficient amounts after bathing, which helps to restore the skin barrier function. In order to keep the skin moisturized and reduce water loss, children with eczema/atopic dermatitis should use moisturizer regularly 1 to 2 times a day. The best time to apply moisturizer is within 5 minutes after bathing, which can make the skin reach the best hydration state. In addition, it should be pointed out that parents often think that applying moisturizer is limited to after bathing. In fact, it can be applied when the baby's skin is found to be dry. The use of moisturizer can enhance the skin barrier function of children.