How important is bathing in a baby’s development?
Dr. Valleteau de Moulliac,
Consulting Pediatrician for Laboratoires Sarbec
Bath time is of course the “technical” way to wash your baby, but it should also be a special moment of bonding and mutual interaction that greatly contributes to your child’s development and awakening. In fact:
- You take the opportunity to talk to your baby, gently and calmly explaining what you are doing in a soft and reassuring tone: your baby listens, reacts, coos, and smiles. They communicate with you in their own way, which will become more and more adapted as they grow.
- In the bath, your baby moves, stretches, and squirms: they do their “gymnastics.” The contact with water, washing with your hand or a washcloth, rinsing, drying, and the massage that follows are all tactile sensations that help them discover their body.
- The products used for bathing, hair, and massage help, among other things, to develop their sense of smell (be careful not to use strong or aggressive scents).
- You can put small toys in the bath to develop their visual sense and then their grasping skills.
- Additionally, if you give the bath at the end of the day, it soothes and relaxes your child, promotes falling asleep, and thus helps establish restorative sleep, which is so important for your child.
This requires your time, tenderness, and availability: everything done around a baby or child with empathy and calm has a positive effect on the brain centers that control emotions.
Do not give the bath in a rush or when feeling irritated (no phone, no various distractions): this would have the opposite effect. It is better to postpone it to the next day. Dedicate yourself to their bath and forget the rest.
By giving the bath, you are certainly contributing to your child’s hygiene, but you are also stimulating their alertness and development, provided you do it calmly.
