Imagine you wake up one morning and you see that your infant is covered with pimples and acne. Although acne is a skin disease that generally affects teenagers, in some cases it can be found on newborns and infants.

Even though it’s not too common in infants, it can happen. The good news is the fact that infant acne can clear up by itself even without an intervention from the mother or the pediatrician. It is relatively a simple disease that can go away by itself. Most of the time, it will be the faulty efforts of mothers that can make the acne situation worse.

Causes of Infant Acne

Newborn acne or infant acne can be caused by variety of factors. The number one cause of infant acne is usually the mother’s hormones that have passed to the baby in the placenta. As you know, all babies before they are born get fed by the mother’s umbilical cord. Whatever the mother eats or consumes will be passed on to the baby via the umbilical cord. In some cases, these hormones can pass to the baby and it can cause a buildup.

When the baby is born, the baby’s body will try to neutralize these excessive hormones, which have passed from the mother by causing acne and pimples on the face and on the body of the infant. This is a natural defense mechanism and it is nothing to be afraid of. It is just a way for the baby to clear its body of oxidizing hormones.

However in some cases infant acne can be caused by the baby’s skin itself. Factors such as excessive drooling on the skin, clothes made with irritant fabrics such as polyester, excessive heating of the body and excessive sweating can also be the cause of these pimples or acne. Also sometimes mothers may try to scrub off acne or pop the pimples and this can cause the situation to be even more aggravated.

Treatment of Infant Acne

Even if you do nothing, infant acne can go away all by itself. In most cases; the best thing that you can do for your infant, is to leave the child alone and don’t do anything about it. The acne will probably clear up on its own.

If you feel that the acne is being caused by the irritation of the skin, then you should try to keep your baby’s skin clean. The infant’s skin pores are more sensitive, so that it is possible that they can get clogged more easily. In this case, you should clean your baby’s skin with warm water and some mild baby soap. It is better not to use any cleaning lotions or gels as this can cause aggravated acne and skin rash on your infant’s skin.

Also some mothers (especially the younger mothers) make the mistake of giving their infants adult acne medicine. This is the worst thing that you can do, as you can cause a major allergic reaction. If you are in doubt, you should consult your pediatrician.

Infant Acne

Filed under: Infant Acne

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!