Cleaning baby’s eyes, ears and nose: basics

You can clean your baby’s eyes, ears and nose when you’re bathing your baby. Warm water is all you need. Avoid using soap because your baby’s skin is sensitive, and soap can dry it out.

Steps for cleaning baby’s face

Here are the basic steps for cleaning baby eyes, baby ears and baby noses:

1. Get some cotton balls.
2. Soak one cotton ball in some warm water and squeeze out extra water.
3. Clean the corners of your baby’s eyes, wiping gently from the inside corners to the outside corners.
4. Use a new cotton ball for each wipe.
5. Wipe gently around each nostril to get rid of mucus. It’s best not to put anything inside your baby’s nostrils. This can hurt the lining of the nose and cause bleeding.
6. Wipe behind your baby’s ears and around the outside of each ear. Don’t stick anything inside your baby’s ears, because it’s very easy to cause damage.
7. Wipe gently under your baby’s chin and neck, making sure you wipe between the folds of skin.
8. Gently pat your baby’s skin dry using a soft towel. Make sure you dry under the skin folds and behind baby’s ears.

Babies can get upset when you try to clean their face. Talking gently to your baby or singing a song can help with this.

Newborns often have snuffly breathing when they’re overstimulated or tired. This is because they have very narrow nasal passages. If you notice your newborn sneezing a lot, don’t worry. This is normal and helps your baby get rid of mucus from their nose.