【ENG】When should you start washing your baby’s face? How to wash your baby’s face using baby soap

*This article refers to our article in Topic, namely “赤ちゃんの洗顔はいつから始めるべき？ベビー石鹸を使った、赤ちゃんの洗顔方法”. Check the original article here!

Washing your baby’s face is essential for your baby’s daily care. During a baby’s period of rapid growth, the skin’s turnover is most active, as old skin peels off and new skin is regenerated.

Bathing and facial cleansing are essential to removing sebum, waste, dirt, and grime from the skin. This article will introduce when you should start washing your baby’s face, what time of day you should wash your face, and what kind of facial cleanser you should use.

Daijoubu Soap

Table of contents

When should I start washing my baby’s face?
What is the best time to wash my baby’s face?
How to wash your baby’s face
Let’s use soap made for babies!
For baby bar soap, we recommend Daijoubusha products!

When should I start washing my baby’s face?

When we talk about the timing of when you should start washing your baby’s face, you can start from the time they are a newborn.

Babies have a high turnover rate, and until they are about two months old, their skin is prone to producing sebum due to the influence of their mother’s sex hormones. If sebum and skin waste are left untreated, yellow scabs will form on the face, and dandruff-like substances will appear on the scalp. This is called infantile seborrheic dermatitis.

To prevent seborrheic dermatitis in infants, it is important to wash the face and bathe the baby from birth. After two months of age, the influence of the mother’s sex hormones decreases, and the amount of sebum secreted gradually decreases. The sebum secreted from three months of age until around puberty will stabilize.

However, the skin becomes prone to dryness from three months of age until puberty. At this period, you can wash your baby properly with baby soap and provide moisturizing care.

What is the best time to wash my baby’s face?

There are many different opinions on the best time to wash your face, and there are many kinds of babies; some prefer morning, some prefer night, and some prefer afternoon, so there is no one best time.

The important thing is to wash your baby’s face at a fixed time. Doing so will help your baby’s care become a habit. Babies dislike having their daily rhythms disrupted more than anything else. For babies who don’t have a sense of time, having daily routines is said to give them a sense of security.

How to wash your baby’s face

1. Use a foaming net or similar item to make foam with baby soap or baby facial cleanser in advance. Making the foam in advance is convenient and saves you from having to rush. A foaming net for adults is sufficient. As long as you wash it thoroughly before and after use, there is no problem in using the same one used by mom and dad.

2. Apply the foam to areas with a lot of sebum and dirt. Wash your forehead, nose, and chin (commonly known as the T-zone) first. Wash gently with the palm of your finger. Do not apply too much pressure.

3. Wash your baby’s cheeks, around the mouth, behind the ears, and the chin in that order. Don’t forget to wash behind your baby’s ears, because it’s often missed during cleansing.

4. Rinse thoroughly using rinse water. By rinsing thoroughly, be aware that no cleanser will remain on the skin. If the rinse is not done properly, the detergent will remain on the skin and cause skin problems for your baby.

When rinsing, pour water from the top of the head down. This will cause the baby to reflexively close its eyes. Fill a tub with rinse water and pour it over the baby with your hands. It’s better than showering them directly, as it can be difficult to adjust the temperature of a shower, and the water flow can suddenly become strong. By gently pouring rinse water over the baby by hand, the baby will feel at ease.

5. Apply moisturizer after washing the face. Think of cleaning your baby’s face and moisturizing as a set of routine. A baby’s skin is only half as thick as an adult’s. Even slight irritation, such as friction or dryness, can damage or roughen the skin, so be sure to moisturize it well. It is safer to use moisturizers specifically formulated for babies to minimize skin irritation to newborns’ skin.

Moisturizers for babies are often additive-free and fragrance-free, and are formulated to minimize skin irritation on the baby. On the contrary, adult products usually contain fragrances and ingredients that enhance the moisturizing effect, but can be very irritating to babies. So, avoid using these products.

Let’s use soap made for babies!

Water alone cannot remove all the sebum and dirt that has clogged your baby’s pores. Sebum left on the skin and pores will combine with bacteria, dust, and chemicals in the air, causing rough skin. If you try to wash your baby with just hot water, scrubbing your baby’s skin may cause damage.

Let’s use baby soap! Your baby’s face is so delicate; using the power of baby soap’s “foam” to gently wash your baby’s skin will do the cleansing just fine.

There are three main types of baby soap. We have summarized the characteristics of each type. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages, so please use this guide as a reference when choosing one.

Bar soap
Baby bar soaps are often additive-free and have simple formulas. The cleansing ingredients are the most effective at removing sweat and dirt, so they require the shortest rinsing time. Relatively inexpensive and long-lasting, making them an excellent value for money.
However, since you need to lather it up well each time you use it, bar soaps are not recommended for those who want to wash quickly and easily with one hand. Also, these soaps easily dissolve if left in the bathroom, so they need to be stored in a well-ventilated place.
Foam soap
A baby soap that comes out as foam from the pump. It is the least cost-effective, but very convenient because it produces fluffy foam just by pushing the pump. Convenient and very easy to use with one hand.
Liquid soap
A baby soap in the form of a liquid. Like bar soap, it needs to be lathered first before use. However, it is easier to lather than bar soap, and most liquid soaps have a larger content than foam soaps, making it a product that is between a bar soap and a foam soap.

Most customers reading this blog might be thinking, “What do I want for my baby?” or “What is best for them?”. Cleansing your baby is something you do every day. If it takes too much time and effort, you will feel as if it is a hassle to do. Sometimes, you might be looking at it from the perspective of the parents caring for them, rather than the baby. However, this stage is temporary, so we advise you to choose products that are formulated with your baby in mind.

For baby bar soap, we recommend Daijoubusha products!

Daijoubusha offers two types of soap.

Daijoubu Soap

Daijoubu Shittori (Extra Moist) Soap

Both types of soaps are carefully made using silk fibroin protein through the cold process technique. This baby soap is made primarily from silk fibroin protein and oil.

Silk fibroin protein absorbs only excess sebum and dirt, and rinses them away with water. This protein also has a natural affinity for humans* (affinity = silk protein and human protein are similar in structure, so it is less likely to cause rejection). Therefore, it is perfectly safe to use.

We also recommend a skin care set for first-time skin care users.

Daijoubu Shittori Soap

Also check Skin Care Set here!

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会社名	合同会社iroiro
サイト名	だいじょうぶ社
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事業者の名称	島津克隆
取扱商品	赤ちゃん用の固形石鹸、保湿ジェル、ベビーウェアなど
URL	https://daijoubusha.com/
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