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a warm bath for baby everyday is great
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for your baby and for parents it's a
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great way to bond with your baby bathing
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baby isn't hard
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in fact it's fun following the tips in
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this video from the Royal Women's
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Hospital will help you make baby's bath
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safe and help you look after baby's skin
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including protecting baby's skin from
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allergies let's start with getting ready
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[Music]
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wit babies get cold quickly before you
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undress baby make sure the room is nice
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and warm you'll need things within arm's
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reach like a gentle baby wash washcloth
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or sponge cotton wool for baby's eyes
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and a towel your baby will be wet and
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you'll have wet hands so make sure you
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have a clear area free of things you
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might trip on mums and dads quickly
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develop their own way of doing things at
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bath time it's time to undress baby you
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are going to wash baby's face and head
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first so undress baby and wrap snugly in
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a towel but leave the nappy on for now
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you'll need to leave baby in someone's
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hands while you get the bath ready or
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put baby in a safe place where they
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cannot fall like a change mat or a cot
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babies feel safe when they're wrapped up
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and warm and with their arms wrapped up
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snugly you'll find baby easy to hold to
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the water for the bath needs to be warm
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but not too hot a baby bath thermometer
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is handy but it's not essential it's
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safe and easy to just use your wrist or
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elbow adults hands are used to hot water
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that's why we use a wrist or elbow to
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test the temperature and be sure it is
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just right for baby for baby's first
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bath just use plain warm water after
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that you can use baby bath liquid but
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don't add it just yet the first thing to
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clean is baby's eyes and you can do this
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while holding baby or whilst lying on
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the mat cotton wool balls are easy and
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gentle but you can also use the corner
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of a soft face cloth remember the bath
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only has plain water for cleaning the
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eyes wipe the eyes from the inside
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towards the outside to stop any eye
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infection spreading you
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is a different cotton wool ball or a
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different corner of the face cloth for
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each eye - wipes each time with a new
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cotton ball or a new corner of the face
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cloth is enough for most sticky eyes but
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if sticky eyes have really hard to clean
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you should check with your Midwife GP or
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maternal child health nurse now wash the
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rest of your baby's face with cotton
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wool balls your face washer or sponge
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dry the face with an edge of your towel
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or dry cotton wool if it isn't baby's
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very first bath you can now add some
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gentle baby bath liquid to the water
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make sure baby is snugly wrapped in the
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towel and hold their head over the bath
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water with your hand or a sponge gently
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pour water over baby's head if your baby
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is a few days old and still has some
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spots of dry blood gently use some
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cotton wool babies have a soft spot on
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the top of their heads called a fontanel
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be gentle over this area the fontanel
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will slowly close as your baby grows it
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should be in line with their scalp and
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be neither too sunken nor too full if
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you're worried about your baby's
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fontanel speak to your Midwife GP or
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maternal child health nurse fold up the
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tails hood or folded edge and dry baby's
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head and hair will babies lose a lot of
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heat from their heads so don't leave
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them wet for long unwrapped baby from
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the towel and remove the nappy giving
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their bottom a clean if you need to with
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disposable wipes such as chucks already
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wipes or cotton wool and water rather
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than commercial baby wipes because baby
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girls have a shorter tube to their
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bladder or urethra they can get bladder
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infections more easily so clean baby
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girls from front to back and of course
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taking off a nappy can often be the time
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babies do away so watch out for baby
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boys wean upwards you can clean most of
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baby before the bus and then clean the
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rest once they're in the water
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