When babies begin to get away from the confines of the crib and learn to crawl, walk, and run, parents are advised to look after their young children’s skin.
At this stage, pediatric dermatologist Dr. Marivi Dizon said, during a virtual talk hosted by Johnson & Johnson, the baby’s skin was not yet “fully developed” and hadn’t reached complete “maturity” yet.
“It’s in the working process of getting matured to pass one year of age,” Dr. Dizon said. “We have to be very careful of what they are exposed to and what we are putting on their skin.”
To paint a clearer picture, she continued, “The moment they get out of the crib, they start crawling around on that dirty floor. And when they start to run around, it’s not only sweeping the dirty floor, they are already holding a lot of things on that floor.”
According to Dr. Dizon, a newborn’s skin may take a year or more to mature and gain strength. Before that, they are prone to microdamage that can cause rashes.
Robert Kwon, head of Johnson Baby’s scientific management, said that microdamage was a common threat to babies. Microdamage is due to dry skin that causes redness, irritation, and “micro-flaking” that is not visible to the eyes.
A study conducted by J&J revealed more than half of babies have dry skin, but only 10 percent of mothers are aware of it.
“The combination of having skin that’s dry and all that exposure, that can be a challenge to your baby’s skin. That can be a cause of microdamage,” Kwon stressed.
Adult soaps with high pH, he added, must not be used on babies’ skin because they “tend to be a little bit harsh. We want parents to use cleansers that are really designed for babies because babies are delicate, different, and require special care.”
What do parents need to do?
Dr. Dizon offered four helpful pieces of advice for parents.
First, moms and dads must make sure their babies’ skin is always using baby-friendly and pH-friendly cleansers. Keep the baby’s environment clean as well to reduce risk of exposure to danger.
Tip three, it is important that children are hydrated and fed with healthy food. Lastly, parents should always keep their babies’ skin moisturized.
To aid in keeping the baby’s delicate skin moisturized, Johnson & Johnson launched the reformulated Milk +Rice Bath and Lotion along with new ‘mombassador’ Anne Curtis.
In addition to removing all the unnecessary ingredients from the old formulation, “the new Johnson’s Milk+Rice contains 100 percent more milk proteins than the previous product that can help nourish skin, plus real rice extracts that can help protect,” Kwon said.