Baby's First Three Months

Small things cause anxious moments for parents in the early weeks after the birth of their baby. Many of these curiosities and concerns are normal and have a simple explanation. If you're ever unsure of what's happening, ask for help from your early childhood nurse or family doctor. Here are some of the most common queries:

Dry Skin: Most newborn babies have patches of dry, flaky skin, ranging from barely noticeable to what looks like a shedding of the whole outside layer of skin. Dry skin on young babies isn't skin condition - it's the layer of skin that came into contact with the fluid inside the womb. A moisturizes helps the appearance of the skin, but eventually the flakiness disappears, whether you use a moisturizer or not.

Newborn Rash: The newborn rash appears soon after birth and is a blotchy, red rash all over the body. Some of the blotches have a white spot in their centre. The newborn rash is caused by clothes and nappies coming into contact with your baby's skin for the first time. The blotches won't worry your baby and disappear quickly, so treatment is unnecessary.

Heat Rash: heat rash refers to those tiny red dots that are mostly over your baby's head and neck, but you may notice it anywhere on her body, especially where two lots of skin come into contact. The tiny red dots often join up to form red splodges. It appears in most newborns, regardless of the weather, while their bodies adjust to the relatively hot, humid environment after life in the temperature-controlled womb. As your baby's body sweats less and her skin gets used to having sweat on it, the rash fades. It doesn't cause itchiness or distress and doesn't need treating.

Sweating: It's normal for babies to be sweaty overcompensate for their new environment. Don't worry if you notice your baby's head gets damp while she's feeding and that the sheet in her bed is quite damp at times when you pick her up.

Hormone Rash: Hormone rash is commonly known as the "milk rash", which is unfortunate, as the rash has nothing to do with food, either yours or your baby's. The exact cause is unknown, but is thought to be due to the high levels of hormones passed form mother to baby during labor stimulating the oil-producing glands (the sebaceous glands) and causing pimples. Your baby's skin may be crust on her eyebrows, head and ears. Hormone rash and heat rash are usually around at the same time, mixed up together, and the combined effect can sometimes be a bit alarming. Unless it's severe, which is unusual, it needs no treatment as it won't bother your baby at all - she's too young to look in the mirror! The rash disappears at around three months.