This is not intended as medical advice. If you have questions about newborn care, contact your child’s pediatrician.

This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

“I’m going to try cleaning her armpits now,” Holly said.

*baby starts screaming*

“It’s okay! We’re just getting you clean,” I said to our little one, trying to reassure her.

She looked momentarily puzzled as I wiped away a bit of toe jam, and then she started whimpering, followed by more crying.

That’s how bath time went for the first several times with our newborn. It was stressful for all of us. Over time, we learned some strategies to make bath time fun.

How to Prepare for your Newborn’s Bath

Here’s what you’ll need for a bath:

• Infant tub filled with water at 100 degrees F (too hot will scald the baby!)
• Bath thermometer
• Changing pad and diaper-changing supplies
• Receiving blanket
• Small pitcher or cup
• Baby shampoo
• Cotton balls for cleaning eyelids
• Small container of clean, warm water for washing eyelids and head

Items for after the bath:

• Baby bath towel
• Fresh diaper
• Clean outfit

Before starting the bath, place the bath thermometer in the tub to ensure that the water is a safe temperature for your baby. 100 degrees F is a good target temperature for a baby bath. If the water is too warm, you risk scalding your infant. On the other hand, if the water isn’t warm enough, it can be uncomfortable for the baby and cause stress.

Until a baby has good neck strength, it’s helpful to have two people for bathing the baby. The wiggly little one can easily slide too far into the tub or roll their head down to an unsafe position. Having one person dedicated to supporting the baby’s neck and maintaining their position in the tub is very helpful.

Tips for Making Newborn Baby Bath Time Easier

Our overall strategy with bathing our newborn is to get her as clean as possible within a short time period. Aim for about 5-7 minutes for the bath. Since bathing can be stressful to newborns, it’s best to limit the amount of time they’re in the tub so that you can get them back to cuddling soon.

These newborn bath tips have helped us have a good chance at a pleasant bath time:

• Keep the bath time short!
• Avoid hunger. Wake up your baby for bath time about 20 minutes before you think they’d typically be hungry.
• Avoid overstimulation. Keep the lights low, and use a gentle speaking tone to help your baby feel comfortable.
• Keep your baby in a different room until you’ve finished filling their tub. Some babies are scared by the sound of running water.

How to Bathe your Newborn Baby

Now that you’ve got everything ready, here are the steps you can use to bathe your newborn baby:

1. Remove your little one’s outfit and diaper. Clean them as usual if they have a dirty diaper, but leave them naked.
2. Wrap the baby loosely in a receiving blanket. This will help keep them warm during the bath.
3. Gently lower your baby into the tub. Introducing them to the water gradually should help avoid startling.
4. If a second person is available to help with the bath, they can support the baby’s head for the duration of the bath time and keep them from sliding too far down into the tub. They can also use the small pitcher or cup to continually scoop up warm bath water and pour it over the baby to keep them warm. If you don’t have a second person to help, be sure to take care of these tasks yourself!
5. Working in one area at a time, such as one armpit, gently unwrap that area from the receiving blanket while leaving the rest covered to stay warm. Pour a small amount of the baby shampoo on your finger, and use your fingers to clean the chosen area. Pour warm water on that area to rinse it clean, and wrap up that area with the blanket when finished. Pour warm water over that area of the blanket to keep the baby warm.
6. Move on to cleaning the other areas, one at a time. Pay special attention to the diaper area since it’s the most important to clean well. Neck folds and other skin folds tend to get dirty quickly, so wipe along them with your soapy finger to clean them, and then rinse.
7. Use a clean cotton ball, dipped into the separate, clean, warm water dish, to wash each eyelid.
8. Apply a small amount of baby shampoo to the scalp, wiping it around, and then use a cup to pour clean water over it to rinse.
9. Once you’ve finished washing the baby, unwrap them from the wet receiving blanket, and gently move them over to the clean bath towel to dry them.

That’s it! They’re all clean now!

We find that after bath time, our little one is usually pretty hungry. Be prepared to feed right afterward!

How often should I give my newborn a bath?

Newborn babies do not need to bathe as frequently as adults. In fact, giving them a bath too frequently can cause their skin to dry out and become irritated. On the other hand, skin infections and diaper rash may be more likely to develop if not bathing frequently enough.

For most babies, a bath every few days is sufficient. Check with your pediatrician if you have any specific concerns.

We were relieved to learn that bathing our little one every few days was sufficient because baths felt like a big production at first.

It gets easier!

The good news is that over time, baths become much more fun. Using the strategies we shared above helped us a lot in reducing the stress of bath time with our little one. Another major factor is the baby’s age. Baths with a newborn can be tough even if you’re doing everything you can to make them easy. However, over time, your baby will get the experience of more baths and will also be less prone to overstimulation as their nervous system continues developing. We’ve happy to report that bath time is now one of our favorite activities together!

Hopefully, the tips in this article help make bath time easier for you. You’ll likely find other things that work well for you and your baby along the way. Let us know in the comments what you’ve discovered! Best of luck!