Newborn acne? Please stay relaxed
A small topic that is a big issue, especially for new parents: newborn acne.
Some newborns develop intense acne on their face after around three to four weeks, as is actually familiar from puberty. This occurs slightly more frequently in male babies than in females. The acne can also spread to the chest and abdomen.
It is particularly important for parents to know that this is a completely natural phenomenon that is not pathological and is easy to explain.
The cause of neonatal acne lies in the hormones during pregnancy. Towards the end of pregnancy, women produce more male hormones, known as androgens. These are of great importance for the development of the baby, for example for the maturation of the lungs. And it is also these hormones that often lead to the acne flare-up described above.
And what can you do? First and foremost, you should react to acne with patience and wait and see. The use of skin creams in particular is not recommended, as they can make the acne even worse. Even if the babies look different than expected during these weeks, it is important to remain patient, as the acne will recede on its own. Acne should no longer be visible by the time they are around one and a half months old.
Further interesting tips
Nanny elbow
Demigods in white, my arse. The work of us paediatricians is very unspectacular. We only briefly become heroes when it comes to "nanny's elbow".
U4 provision
Screenings are a recurring topic for parents. The U4 check-up is about growth, motor skills, nutrition and hearing.
Drowning
Anyone who knows me from practical experience knows that I am usually very relaxed and not very anxious when it comes to parenting and development issues and often advise people not to take a too tense view of things. But when it comes to today's topic, there is simply zero room for compromise. It's one of the most important issues in paediatrics: the risk of children drowning.