The industry produces a huge amount of cosmetic and hygiene products for baby skin care. One of the most traditional is baby powder, a caring mother buys a couple of bottles even before the baby is born. For full-fledged care of delicate baby skin, parents need to know how to use baby powder.
Powder is one of the most popular care products
Features of baby skin
The skin of a baby is very different from that of an adult. First of all, it is delicate, smooth, at the same time more delicate. Its stratum corneum is immature, its structure is looser, moisture and lipids in it are much less. These factors make the skin of the newborn easily injured and insufficiently protected. She is unable to fully exercise thermoregulation and perspiration, therefore she is quickly irritated by sweat, urine and feces.
The skin of the newborn is soft and silky
An additional risk factor for the occurrence of dermatological problems for young babies is the high permeability of the dermal membrane due to the different ratio of body weight and skin surface in adults and children (when the same amount of a substance is applied to the skin in adults, its concentration will be much lower), as well as an increased amount hair follicles per unit area. In infants, the ability of the skin to remove substances from the body is reduced as a result of water-lipid imbalance.
What is powder for?
This cosmetic product can be used for:
- increasing the protection of the delicate skin of the child from the aggressive external environment;
- cooling;
- softening;
- absorption of sweat and sebaceous secretions of the surface of the skin (and subsequently reducing sweating);
- helps to eliminate diaper rash, redness and irritation and prevent the appearance of new ones.
The powder is needed to treat diaper rash
The principle of action of the powder is to effectively absorb moisture from the skin surface. By absorbing excess water and fat, the powder relieves babies from diaper dermatitis, prickly heat or hives.
Basic properties
According to the instructions for use, the main property of baby powder is to provide an adsorbing, drying and astringent effect on the delicate skin of young babies.
Also, the tool is able to significantly reduce exudation and weeping, prevent the appearance of irritation and inflammation of the outer layer of the dermis of babies.
Classic composition of baby powder
Outwardly, the powder looks like a white or gray powder of a uniform consistency. The constituent parts of the product vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but there are always the main ingredients:
- starch (potato, corn, rice);
Additional Information. The last two options are most common.
- zinc (it is due to it that the powder has a drying effect);
- extracts from medicinal plants (usually chamomile or calendula), which impart wound healing properties.
Quality and safety criteria
In the care of babies, you should use products with exclusively natural ingredients. The quality and safety of the powder for children is determined by the absence of dyes, parabens and preservatives. The safest will be a drug containing fewer components; for young babies, the hypoallergenicity of the product is also important.
If you plan to use the powder right from birth, it is necessary to protect the baby's respiratory organs, as well as his eyes from the powder. As soon as the little one begins to make arbitrary movements, the bottle of powder should be removed away from his bed in order to avoid accidental scattering.
Types of baby powder
Baby powders are divided into two groups based on their appearance:
- In the form of a loose powder. Such a powder preparation has increased antiseptic and deodorizing properties, is able to easily absorb moisture, cool damaged skin areas, and reduce the level of friction of the diaper on the baby's delicate body. The powder has a whitish or grayish tint and is slightly greasy to the touch. The advantage of this type of powder is its sufficient cheapness and availability.
Dusting powder in the form of a powder
- In the form of liquid talc. It has an anti-inflammatory and emollient effect on the skin of the baby. Its advantage is ease of use, because it cannot fall out of the bottle, like a powder powder, it cannot get into the nose or eyes. Getting on the body of the crumbs, such talc forms a protective film and does not roll in folds into unpleasant lumps.
Which is better: powder or cream
Many young mothers are thinking about what is better to use: a powder or a cream for caring for the skin of babies? Based on the fact that these care products solve slightly different issues, it is most effective to use them in sequence.
The powder does its job well when used under a diaper. However, if a child grows up without diapers or uses them occasionally, the powder can dry out his skin. In such cases, it is better to refuse the use of this cosmetic product in favor of a baby cream, which is applied to the folds and other problem areas of the skin of the crumbs and creates a protective barrier against diaper rash there, and also moisturizes the skin.
How to choose a product
With a wide variety of types of baby powders and creams in stores, it is difficult to make the right choice. Parents must understand that a quality and safe product will be completely natural.
Pediatricians believe that children's care products containing only identical natural ingredients, as well as flavored ones (can provoke allergies in a child), should not even be paid attention.
The consistency should be uniform, without any inclusions or granules. Abbreviations such as:
- BBP;
- DBP;
- DEP;
- DEHP;
- DHP;
- DIDP
should not appear on the packaging of the correct powder.
Also, typos, damage to the packaging layer, lack of information about the manufacturer, expiration date and date of manufacture of the product are undesirable on the label. All these are indicators of fakes that can be potentially dangerous to the health of the baby.
With a variety of grades of powder, it is important to make the right choice
Council. You should be very careful when ordering beauty products for newborns online.
Experts advise you to choose powders from well-known and proven manufacturers that use only good raw materials. At the same time, you should not buy many bottles at once, because the product may not suit a particular child.
How to use
For effective care of baby skin, it is not enough to stock up on the correct baby powder for newborns, you need to know how to use it. So, for example, it is categorically impossible to pour powder directly on the baby's skin, especially in the groin area (be it a boy or a girl).
Pediatricians and dermatologists recommend using the powder no more than 2 times a day: after waking up in the morning and after bathing in the evening (with the exception of hot periods when you can use it again).
The baby's skin should be as dry as possible, because on wet, the powder will roll into lumps and cause irritation, and also lose its adsorbing effect. Too thick layer of powder will quickly crumble, and its use will be ineffective.
In the presence of pustular lesions on the baby's skin, the agent cannot be used, since this is fraught with a worsening of the layers. Also, you can not mix powder and baby cream on the same area of the baby's skin, because they have exactly the opposite effects: drying and moisturizing. Do not apply powder to the buttocks that have just been cleaned with oil.
Important! If the baby is almost always in disposable diapers, too much powder can clog their pores, which will drastically reduce the absorbent properties of the material.
The selected powder should first be poured onto a warm palm or cotton pad. After that, the product is gently distributed over the surface of the baby's body.
Note! Especially carefully it is necessary to process the areas of armpits and skin folds. Do not put pressure on the baby's skin.
In addition, the powder is applied to the groin area, the folds of the neck and the elbow folds of the baby, since there is also increased sweating in these places.
The liquid talcum powder in the form of a lotion quickly penetrates the thermal blanket and forms a delicate layer on it. It is applied first to the hand (a few drops), then with stroking movements on the baby's skin. Talc in the form of a spray is simply sprayed from 10-15 cm above the baby's bottom. If you use the product correctly, you can see the positive effect after 4-5 days of use.
Age of powder use
Although the advertisement claims that the powder is absolutely harmless even for newborns, pediatricians still advise to wait up to 1 month for the crumb. Until this date, it is better to use a special light baby cream applied to the baby's skin immediately after taking a bath. If the baby sweats a lot, during the hot period, you can apply the powder earlier, as well as at an older age.
How long is an open vial
If a closed bottle with a powder can be stored for about a year, then an open one should be used for the time indicated on the box or the container with the product itself. As a rule, it is no more than 2 months.
Remember! It is necessary to store the powder in the proper temperature and humidity conditions, otherwise it will deteriorate ahead of time.
Precautions for using powder
When using any product in the care of a child, the required level of safety must be observed. So, for allergic children who are not suitable for industrial powders or cosmetic creams, pediatricians recommend using corn starch, which is as powdery in consistency as the powder.
You should also avoid getting the product on open wounds, including the umbilical, scaly and weeping areas. There is no need to constantly use powder - for healthy and clean skin it is needed only in hot periods.
Baby powder is a vaporous medical and cosmetic product used in pediatrics to care for the delicate skin of an infant. It usually consists of talc, zinc oxide and starch. What is newborn powder for? It absorbs excess moisture from the baby's skin, thereby protecting it from diaper rash.
