Why is it important to moisturize your baby’s skin?
Dr. Valleteau de Moulliac,
Consulting Pediatrician for Laboratoires Sarbec
A baby’s skin, after the disappearance of the vernix caseosa, is very thin, fragile, and irritable. When born at term, a newborn has an epidermis similar to that of an adult, but the superficial stratum corneum is much thinner and therefore does not retain enough water, which later gives the skin its smooth and supple feel.
In infants, the skin is therefore much more fragile, irritable, and permeable than that of an adult, partly due to this lack of hydrolipidic film on its surface, the immaturity of sweat and sebaceous gland activity (which produce the vernix caseosa), and a less acidic pH than adult skin.
Adult skin has a very important barrier function against external aggressions, whether mechanical (friction, irritation) or thermal (heat or cold). The skin also protects against various pollutants, sun rays (thanks to melanin, which is almost absent in your baby), as well as the penetration of foreign substances, some of which can cause allergies. In addition, the skin plays an important role in immunity. These functions do exist in infants, but they are much less effective than in adults.
All these reasons make it important for you to protect this fragile skin from all irritants, pollutants, or aggressions to which your baby’s skin is exposed from birth by moisturizing it regularly with products adapted to its specific needs, hypoallergenic and with a neutral pH.
