Monday, March 5, 2012

Baby Acne


Have you ever heard someone saying "this is soft as a baby skin"? I'm sure you did.

It is true that babies have soft skin but it is also true and very common for babies to have acne after 3 to 4 weeks after they are born.

This may cause some concern for new parents. They may start to wonder if their babies are already showing some type of a skin condition. At least, this was what came to my mind when my daughter started to show some red bumps on her cheeks and forehead after a couple of weeks being home from the hospital.

Even though scientists haven't yet found the cause, they believe that there is a link between baby acne and mother's hormone. During pregnancy, babies are exposed to all of their mother's hormone that travel through the placenta. Just after birth, most babies (boys and girls) have swollen nipples and some baby girls may present swollen genitalia and a false menstruation (pink or blood-tinged discharge). After a couple of weeks later they may have acne.  These signs show that the mother's hormone are still circulating in the baby's body.

In baby acne, the mother's hormone stimulate excessive oil production, causing the clog of the immature baby's sweat glands. The symptoms are red bumps/pimples on the cheeks, forehead and chin. Sometimes whiteheads is also present.

The good news is that it is NORMAL, and it clears up by itself within a few months without any treatment.

During this time, is important to be patient and to treat the baby's face with care, washing it with a mild soap/water once daily and to not scrub it.


Tip: Some of my friends have told me that they had great results by gently applying breast milk to their babies skin.
This is not a medical recommendation, always discuss with your baby's doctor what is the best treatment!






Image Source: David Castillo Dominici





    Stumble Upon Toolbar

    2 comments:

    1. Ah, the inevitable baby acne. ours didn't stay around too long. thanks for stopping by!

      ReplyDelete
    2. You are welcome. Love your site and recipes!

      ReplyDelete

    Thank you for stopping by!

    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...