Keeping Your Babies And Toddlers Clean

During infancy
Cleanliness is important to a baby's health. The principal points to which especial attention must be paid by the parent for this purpose are the following:

At first the infant should be washed daily with warm water; and a bath every night, for the purpose of thoroughly cleaning the body, is highly recommended. To bathe a delicate infant of a few days or even weeks old in cold water is the most effective way to undermine its health and risk future disease. The water which you use to spnge a baby should be tepid, the evening bath should be warm enough to soothe and make a baby feel happy and content. You should test the water with your elbow before inserting the baby into it's bath.

The surface of the skin should always be carefully and thoroughly rubbed or patted dry with a soft towel. It is especially necessary to carefully dry the arm-pits, groin and genital area to avoid sores. If a baby is very fat be careful to dry in between the folds of fat and apply talcum powder to help avoid sores.

During childhood

As a child grows older and starts to move around he or she can get incredibly dirty very quickly, but as long as they are happy I wouldn't worry about it too much because they can always be cleaned. A daily bath before bedtime is still a good idea, apart from getting children clean a bath is soothing and relaxing and aids sleep.

A sponge down in the morning, or whenever the child is dirty should become routine, they are also getting old enough to learn how to wash their hands after the toilet and before meals. Once a toddler has some teeth it is good to get into the routing of brushing first thing in the morning and before bedtime.

In the olden days it was recommended that you vigourously wash your babies and toddlers with cold water or sea bathe them to make them stronger. I would not recommend washing any child in cold water and would feel it to be cruel.