It’s always cute to see your tiny baby in bath tubs. Most
babies love to bath. This article is all about giving bath to your tiny ones
the authentic Ayurvedic way. I myself am practicing these for my little one and
touchwood she never had any skin issues or health problems since birth.
Most mothers find it difficult to give bath to their babies
especially if it’s their first baby.
It’s always auspicious if you can give bath to your baby at early hours
in the morning.
Generally, Luke warm water can be used for baby bath. In
traditional practice, we don’t boil water but keep water in sunlight and the
water heated up by sun’s rays is used for giving bath to baby. But this can’t
be practiced everywhere and in every season. So, as a general rule Use
moderately hot water for giving bath to your baby.
Oil Massage
Oil massage is one of the must do things for babies. As per
Ayurveda, it is recommended for healthy children of all age. The selection of
Ayurvedic oil depends largely on the baby’s skin tone, overall built, general
health etc. One of the best oil for giving your child a massage is ‘Nalpamaradi
Keram’. It is an Ayurvedic medicine used as baby massage oil, to relieve any
minor skin conditions and to improve fairness and skin complexion, since it
contains Turmeric and sandalwood. Use only after testing it on a small area.
Very rarely, using herbal oils can produce allergic skin reactions.
Virgin coconut oil is also an ideal option for giving a baby
massage. Ayurvedically speaking, coconut oil has a cooling property and is
beneficial in most of the skin conditions.
For head application use Virgin coconut oil. Apply oil in
your palm and gently massage the baby. Don’t apply too much of pressure. Avoid
contact of oil with eyes, since it might cause irritation and discomfort to the
baby. Generously apply oil on head, ear pinna and toes first. Then to other
body parts.
Ideally, 10 – 15 minutes’ gap between oil massage and
bathing is good enough for babies. If you live in a cold area, or during
winter, it makes sense to heat the oil to 40 degree Celsius before using for
massage.
Do not leave the baby alone after applying oil. Make sure
you sit with them and keep on talking or sing to them, so that they will be
happy rather than cranky while taking bath.
After 10-15 minutes, you can wash the oil off with mild baby
soap or herbal powder. I use herbal powder for my baby which I prepare at my
home with some traditional Ayurvedic drugs.
Herbal bath powder
for babies
Ingredients- Green Gram – 2 cups, Rose petals – 2 cups,
Ashoka Flowers (Saraca Ashoka) – 1 cup
Method of
preparation – Take the stuffs in a plate and dry them inside for 3
days. If its summer time after 3 days dry outside in sun’s rays for one more
day. Take it in a blender and powder finely. Sieve and keep in an air tight
container.
While giving bath, instead of soap you can use this powder.
It makes the baby skin soft and keep it moisturized. It is very important to
get rid of the oil while bathing, or else baby may catch cold.
After bath, a clean cotton towel can be used to dry their
body. Don’t rub and dry gently pat with towel and make them dry.
Feeding after baby bath is advised. Make sure you don’t feed
the baby before giving an oil massage. That might cause an indigestion or
vomiting. An ideal gap of 30-45 minutes is needed between massage and feeding.
These are traditional Ayurvedic methods of giving bath to
your baby. Ayurveda is called life science since it covers every minute detail
of our day to day life. Though it’s a simple topic many might find this useful
especially new mom.
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