Stubble in newborns: photo, how to clean at home?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Baby skin is delicate. It is difficult to imagine a newborn covered with coarse bristles. But, oddly enough, this happens. This issue is not well covered in medicine, so many mothers are confused and scared when faced with this.

Babies often cry. A child who cannot speak cannot yet explain the reason for his discomfort, so mothers may think that the baby is worried about colic or allergies. But one of the causes of discomfort can be bristles in newborns. It appears on the 2-3rd week of life and quickly disappears, but while it is on the baby's body, it gives him a lot of discomfort. A photo of stubble on the back of a newborn shows what this phenomenon looks like. Short coarse hair is visible on the child's body, and the skin is irritated.

Prematurity

The most common cause of stubble in newborns is prematurity. The fact is that even in the prenatal period, the body of the fetus is covered with thin fluffy hairs - lanugo. These hairs fall directly into the amniotic fluid, and the baby even sometimes swallows them. It's OKthis is not, then they are excreted along with the meconium. At the end of pregnancy, the hairs fall out completely. Therefore, the vast majority of babies born at term are born with smooth, delicate skin. In premature babies, the hairs have not yet fallen out, so the baby may be more “fluffy”. By itself, this thin and delicate fluff is not a problem. True, sometimes the hairs stick together or twist under the influence of fleecy clothing adjacent to the body. In this case, the baby may experience itching and irritation on the skin.

Myths and reality

Bristles in newborns are observed if the hairs are too thick and coarse. Sometimes they cannot even break through the pores and therefore cause severe skin irritation. Invisible but disturbing stubble becomes an occasion for myths. Sometimes the older generation can, with any anxiety of the baby, remind you of the so-called "poker". That's what they called the annoying stubble on the baby's skin. If the hairs are not visible, but there are suspicions that it was they who caused the child's discomfort, you can anoint the skin with baby cream or even breast milk. From this, bristles stand out noticeably on the skin, if this problem really exists. The bristles of newborns in the photo look rough and stiff.

Where does the stubble come from in term babies? They also do this, although less frequently. This is already associated with the individual characteristics of hair growth and structure. The tendency to stubble is genetically determined. If one of the parents had it, then the childthe likelihood of it occurring increases. Folk wisdom, unfortunately, is not always wise. Sometimes quite real phenomena find mythical explanations. For example, there is an opinion that a newborn's bristles appear if the mother did not like cats. Or if she ate lard or cracked sunflower seeds.

Such reasoning for a modern person sounds very naive. They are built on associations: for example, lard can have a skin covered with stiff bristles, which means that such bristles will be passed on to the child. However, this has nothing to do with real causes and effects. More scientific is the assumption that bristles are an atavism inherited from ancestors who had much thicker and stiffer hair. This is a temporary phenomenon. Although it is useful to know how to remove stubble in newborns. Photos of slightly older babies usually show that children no longer face such a problem. Hair falls out without a trace.

Doctors advice

Official medicine answers the question of how to remove the bristles from a newborn, rather ambiguously. Pediatricians do not approve of traditional methods of treatment, but there is no special treatment for this case either. The best thing about stubble in newborns is good hygiene. The baby will benefit from herbal baths. After bathing, it is recommended to lubricate problem areas with baby cream. It is important which tissue touches the child's body. It is necessary to select bed linen, T-shirts, diapers, sliders from lint-free fabrics. The villi can give the child a lot of discomfort, because the hairs on hisbody can twist, stretch, and even pull out of the fabric.

There are also folk remedies on how to remove stubble from a newborn at home. They are more varied. Usually, all the procedures described do not bring a stable result the first time. They need to be repeated several times.

Honey pellet

You need to take half a teaspoon of thick honey and three drops of aloe juice. In a water bath, you need to warm up and mix the solution. After that, it must be cooled, roll a ball out of it. A lump should be rolled in the area of \u200b\u200bthe bristles. Honey, due to its stickiness, causes hairs to stick. In newborns, body hair does not have roots, so their removal will not be painful pulling, similar to epilation. They should easily come out of the pores. It is only important to take into account that honey is an allergenic product, so it is not suitable for all children.

Flour pellets

The same can be done with flour. Just a couple of drops of breast milk will be enough for a teaspoon of flour. The main thing is that in the end you get a lump. The mechanism of its action will be the same - you need to roll out their hair. It is important to bear in mind that both in the case of honey and in the case of flour, the procedure should not last longer than 10 minutes. If not all hairs are removed, it is better to repeat again.

Olive oil

Worrying child place can be massaged with olive oil. It softens the skin and helps the hairs break through painlessly. It is best to do this after bathing, when the skin is steamed.

Steaming

The baby is bathed in water a few degrees above normal. It is necessary to add a decoction of herbs to the bath. A weak chamomile decoction or a decoction of hops, calendula, and succession will be useful for the child's skin. After bathing in the skin of the child, before he had time to cool, you need to quickly rub the cream. At the same time, the baby must be wrapped in a large bath towel and rub different parts of the body - arms, legs, back - in turn. All this is done before bed. In the morning, the baby's skin is wiped with a napkin moistened with warm herbal decoction.

Softening and wrapping

You can use not only baby cream. As a softening agent, bread soaked in milk, or cakes made from flour, water and eggs, are suitable. The dough is applied to the area that has stubble. After this, the baby is wrapped in a cotton diaper and left with this compress for 20 minutes. Then you need to bathe the child, with the first 5 minutes of bathing taking place with the diaper attached. Then it is removed, and water procedures continue. Wash the child only with baby products. After the bath, the skin should be lubricated with baby cream or breast milk. This will take the edge off.

Precautions

Here, parents have already been inspired by ways to remove stubble in newborns. But it is always important to understand what not to do. Any procedures can be done for a short time and if they do not cause discomfort in the child. If the baby screams and resists, it may be unpleasant and painful for him. After all, we do not fully know what the child feels inthis moment. You can try to interrupt the procedure and distract the baby, play with him, and then try again. If this time he reacts negatively, perhaps this method simply does not suit him.

In no case should you pull out or shave off the hairs on the child's body. Pulling out the hair is painful and injures the skin. Shaving also causes tiny wounds, besides, it does not solve the problem at all and can even aggravate it. If part of the hair remains inside the skin, then it can break through it again, causing irritation. All these manipulations lead to rashes and redness. And in immunocompromised children, they can lead to infection.

It is also important to ensure that the baby does not overheat. Overheating of the body causes increased secretion of sebum. And it, even in the absence of coarse coarse hair, can lead to sticking of the fluff and irritation on the skin.