Cleaning baby eyes, ears and noses: basics
You can clean your baby’s eyes, ears and nose when you’re bathing your baby. All you need is:
- warm water
- cotton wool or a soft washcloth
- a soft towel.
Avoid using soap because your baby’s skin is sensitive, and soap can dry it out. You can add some mild baby cleanser to the warm water when cleaning the outside of your baby’s ears and nose if needed.
Steps for cleaning baby faces
Here are the basic steps for cleaning your baby’s eyes, ears and nose:
- Get some cotton balls or a soft washcloth. You need a new cotton ball or clean part of the cloth for each wipe of your baby’s face.
- Soak the cotton ball or cloth in some warm water and squeeze out extra water.
- Clean the corners of your baby’s eyes, wiping gently from the inside corners to the outside corners.
- 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.
- 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.
- Wipe gently under your baby’s chin and neck, making sure you wipe between the folds of skin.
- Gently pat your baby’s skin dry using a soft towel. Make sure you dry under the skin folds and behind your 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.