Maintaining healthy infant skin

Abstract

Maintaining the health of a newborn's skin is an essential part of infant care and the choice of both nappies and hygienic nappy care play an important role in achieving this. The critical care points where compromise can occur are identified as the time the infant spends in a wet nappy (leading to mechanical, chemical and microbial trauma), the cleansing routine of the skin at nappy change time, the steps taken to preserve the skin's own defence mechanisms and control of infection through avoiding contamination of clothes, bedding and carers by faeces and urine. The purpose of fitting a nappy to an infant is to reduce the risk of clothes, bedding and carers becoming contaminated with faeces and urine and to help the baby's skin stay healthy by preventing soreness. However, great care needs to be taken to establish a routine to maintain skin health and hygiene whether at home or in a hospital setting.