Mother Lover
discharge and baby isn’t running a fever or having trouble breathing than just say “Gesund-
heit” and move on.
By Janice Dutkiewicz & Shaughnessy Dusling
Several Things You’d Think You’re Doctor
“The skin on my baby’s scalp is scaling and flaking. Does she have dandruff?”
Put down the Head N’ Shoulders and step away from the baby! That white, flaky, sticky stuff
or Midwife Would Have Told You is not dandruff – at least not in the typical sense. What your teeny-weeny is experiencing is
Forty-eight hours after giving birth to my daughter Katie via c-section I was home. How seborrhea dermatitis - or better known as Cradle Cap. This is a common skin condition that
and why, you may ask, did I manage to escape the confines of the wonderfully sterile and affects many infants. Cradle cap can appear as a crusty, flaky rash on a baby’s scalp in patches
noisy hospital I was in when c-section patients and their babies are told to stay in the infirmary or all over. Sometimes cradle cap can appear on the ears, forehead, and eyebrows or eyelids.
for at least four days? Simple. I signed myself and my baby out because I was sick of having You don’t have to worry too much about this condition. Cradle cap is not contagious
my blood pressure taken every three hours, my temperature taken every two hours and listen- and typically appears in the first three months after birth, and generally disappears within 8
ing to my roommate complain about how much pain she was in every fifteen damn minutes. months. Often, treatment for cradle cap is not necessary as it rarely causes any discomfort to
So about four hours (and what seemed like 100 different signatures later) I was set free your baby. But if your little one’s symptoms are particularly severe, there are several treatment
with my little bundle of joy tucked tightly inside her carseat. Excited and still a bit tired from options. The most commonly used remedy is to rub a little baby oil the baby’s scalp, wait a
my lack of sleep over the past few days, we took the two mile drive home which took forever few minutes until the scales are soft and lose and then brush the scales off with a soft brush or
since my husband Paul refused to drive over ten miles per hour. a dry washcloth. There are many brands of shampoos and conditioners made for the treatment
Once home we gently took turns holding, feeding, and cuddling our new babe. I spent of Cradle Cap as well but usually you won’t need these and, more often than not, they can just
hours just staring at her, smelling her hair, and generally congratulating myself on creating cause more irritation.
something that didn’t come out missing any appendages (or with any extras). The mood was
serene and we, the three of us, were a new, happy family. “Why is my baby shedding so much skin!”
Fast-forward six hours to three o’clock in the morning where I am frantically calling No need to reach for the extra-strength moisturizer. You see, while your baby was bathing
out for my husband to call an ambulance in the jacuzzi of amniotic fluid that was
because Katie was bleeding. As my your womb his skin was nicely protected
husband came rushing into the nursery I from the harsh environment by a coating
showed him the freshly-piddle-filled diaper of white, waxy material called vernix. But
that had a spot of blood about the size once Junior escapes and is exposed to the
of a quarter resting snuggly in the center as-fresh-as-New-York-can-provide air the
like some morbid Rorschach test. Just vernix is rubbed away and the upper layer
as panicked as I, Paul helped me check of his skin dries out and begins to peel.
Katie’s baby-nether-regions for any cuts Your child’s entire body may peel but it
or abrasions. Finding nothing, we did what will be most noticeable around the hands,
any new parents would do: We called the feet, ears and head. Don’t try to pick off the
emergency number our pediatrician had flakes - you might remove skin that’s not
given us. ready to be shed. Besides, this condition
“Hello?! Hello yes, this is Janice (like so many others) won’t last that long.
Dutkiewicz… my daughter is bleeding…
no, she’s not cut, it was in her diaper… “My baby has a white dot on the roof of
what? No, she’s only a few days old… her mouth – does she have thrush?”
uh-huh… uh-huh… No kidding, really?…. Thrush is a yeast infection that causes
well I’ll be damned… no… okay… thank white, cottage cheese or milk curd-look-
you SOOO much…. Goodnight” ing patches in your baby’s mouth. Some
In that fifteen-second conversation people think thrush is caused by prolonged
I learned something about baby anatomy sucking on a bottle or pacifier. Others think
that I, the queen of prenatal classes, had poor hygiene of bottle nipples is to blame.
never heard. Little babies can have little But infants who breastfeed exclusively and
baby periods. No! I am totally serious! don’t use pacifiers can also get it, so it’s
Apparently little baby girls can sometimes hard to pinpoint any one cause. Yeast is a
experience something similar to menstrua- normal part of everyone’s digestive system,
tion caused by the multitudes of hormones but when there’s an imbalance, a Thrush
my body shared with her before birth. Who knew, right? infection can set in.
After I calmed down and considered drinking a Big Gulp of… er… a GLASS of wine However, if your baby has only one or two small, white dots on the roof on her mouth,
– I felt that anxiety turning into pure anger. Why, oh why hadn’t the numerous nurses, doctors than the culprit may be the more commonly experienced “Epstein’s Pearl.” These small, white,
and medical assistants that were waking me every few hours warn me about this? Why wasn’t pearl-like spots appear on the roof of the mouth, are harmless and tend to disappear within a
I even given a simple, blasé warning of “Oh by the way, one of the visitors your new baby few weeks. They are caused during the development of the palate (roof of your babe’s mouth)
might receive will be her Aunt Flow.”? Not even on the 24 hour “How not to kill your baby” by entrapped epithelium (skin-tissue-stuffs).
channel the hospitals now provide free of charge was there a mention of this (all though after
watching that channel for only a few hours I was an expert on how to bathe and feed my child, “First he was pooping tar, then he was pooping seeds – now he won’t poop at all!
an authority on Shaken Baby Syndrome and terrified that she might have Autism). What gives?”
With the trauma of the baby-period still fresh in my mind I decided to fill you new moms Much like your baby, his poop will go through several stages The first few poops are the thick,
and new dads in on the answers to a few of the panic-filled questions you might someday sticky and tarry meconium stools that consist partly of old skin cells that are shed and then
–or all ready - have. It has to be said, however, that all of the following information, while swallowed while the baby is still in the womb. During the first week or so these give way to
researched, may not apply to your little one’s health concerns. If you have any worries about soft, yellow, breast-milk/formula stools. These usually look like yellow mustard with little
the well-being of your child you MUST contact a medical professional. Now that we got that seeds. By the time a baby is one week old, he should be having an average of 8 to 10 of these
out of the way, let’s begin. diaper-presents to share with you per day.
For most breast-fed babies, the number drops to about 4 per day by 4 weeks old (although
“Why is my baby leaking milk?!” many kids have a different pattern). Formula-fed babies usually poop less often at this age
Don’t worry, you’re little girl or boy (yes boy!) isn’t broken. This common symptom is humor- and the stools do not change much with time until solid foods are introduced (mainly because
ously known as “Witch’s Milk”. A fluid resembling colostrum is sometimes secreted from the unlike breast milk, formula doesn’t change over time). Formula-fed poops are often tan or yel-
breasts of newborns of either sex three to four days after birth. This, just like the baby period, low at this stage, and a little firmer than breast-milk stools. Basically for any baby, tan, yellow,
is caused by hormones from dear old mom. If you do end up with a leaky baby though, don’t green, or brown stools can all be normal.
panic – it usually clears up within a few days. By 8 weeks old the poop-average drops to about 1 per day. Most formula-fed babies will
not go less often than daily, but many breast-fed kids will poop even less often than this. Some
“What are those little red bumps?!” babies might only go every three days. It can be completely normal for a happy formula-fed
If you find that your tot has small red bumps covering his forehead, cheeks and chin don’t fret: baby to go 4 days without a bowel movement or for a breast-fed baby to go 7 days without a
He is most likely suffering from a rather common newborn condition known as Baby Acne. stool. However, if either formula-fed or breast-fed baby goes more than three days I recom-
But hold on – there’s no need to rush out to the store for Oxy-Clean or order a supply of Pro- mend that he be checked once by a pediatrician. Also, if the child seems to be in pain, has
Activ. Baby Acne can be present from birth, but typically appears at 3 to 4 weeks of age and vomiting, or has blood in the stool, he should be seen by the pediatrician immediately! Other-
can last until your child is between 4 and 6 months old. There is nothing you can do but let it wise, this normal poop-pause is also a little foretaste of what life will be like when there are no
runs it’s course – in fact, topical remedies, vigorous washing or popping those little bumps like more dirty diapers!
you would on your own face will only irritate your baby’s sensitive skin. Have patience and I can guarantee that in the following days, weeks, months even years you will undoubt-
the condition will be a distant memory in just a few short weeks. edly be faced with a genuine “What the heck!” moment where your child is concerned. And
in those frenzied moments (which will seem like an eternity) it is important to remember to
“Is my baby allergic to me?” do your very best to stay calm. While you may not always know what to do where your little
Many new parents find it distressing when they hear their newborn sneeze for the first, second one’s health is concerned, find comfort in the knowledge that there are people out there who
and third time – especially if they all happen within an hour period. But relax your little one do. All you have to do is make sure to ask for help when you need it. Being able to ask for
probably isn’t suffering from allergies or even a cold. It’s simply how your iddy-biddy clears assistance will make you a more knowledgeable (and better) parent than those who think they
her nasal and respiratory passages of congestion and airborne particles. So if there is no nasal have all the answers.
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Northshoerian JuneJuly 2009.indd21 21 6/16/2009 1:16:11 PM
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