Baby Lips Moisturizing: A Mother’s Guide

Keeping your baby happy and healthy is the fiery crucible through which all parents must travel on the road to being effective leaders. Part of this process, is the learning curve in which you develop a cleaning regimen that works for your family. An often forgotten feature of such a plan is making sure that your baby’s lips are kept hydrated and soft. Chapped lips are annoying and uncomfortable even for full-grown adults, and will definitely make baby squirm in discomfort.

Keep reading to see a comprehensive guide on how to identify problem areas with your child’s moisture levels and how to keep them happy, healthy and hydrated properly.

What Causes Chapped Lips?

In order to get a better understanding of how to avoid dehydrated lips, it’s best to gain a solid understanding of what are some of its leading causes. A habit of lip-licking, not enough water intake, and certain weather conditions can all lead to chapped or cracked lips. Dry winter, hot summer, and extended exposure to wind can cause lips to lose moisture, resulting in chapped lips.

If none of these seem to be the case, you should consult your pediatrician – it is likely an easy remedy, but chronic dehydration can be indicative of other health issues.

Prevention

Proper temperature management inside your home can be a great defense against dehydration. Use a humidifier in the winter to ensure that the air in your home doesn’t get too dry for baby’s sensitive lips to handle. Also, keeping your baby covered when entering inclement weather outside is a great preventative measure to take, especially if it’s sunny or windy outside. Try covering their mouth with a soft blanket or scarf to keep the wind from hitting their face – or turn them so they are not facing the direction of the wind.

Identifying the Symptoms of Dehydration

If you have implemented some preventative measures, yet your baby is still experiencing chapped lips, watch for signs of dehydration. This is what happens when your body loses water and nutrients too quick for it to function properly. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the main signs your child may be dehydrated include:

•  dry tongue and dry lips
• no tears when crying
• fewer than six wet diapers for infants
• sunken soft spot on the infant’s head
• sunken eyes
• dry and wrinkled skin
• deep, rapid breathing
• cool and blotchy hands and feet

If you notice any of these symptoms in your child, keep reading for home treatment remedies.

Treatment

For treatment of chapped lips on newborns, the best thing you can do is to apply some breast milk to their lips with your fingers. Don’t rub it in all the way, you want to leave the area a little wet. Breast milk is a natural skin revitalizer and protects your baby from harmful bacteria. If your newborn is consistently getting chapped lips, you may want to keep track of how many times a day you are feeding them – according to the Mayo Clinic, newborns are supposed to eat between eight and 12 times a day. You can also use a gentle hypo-allergenic lip balm to keep your newborn or baby’s lips hydrated.

Chapped or cracked lips in newborns, infants and babies is a very common ailment, that is most likely a very solvable situation. Address the situation immediately and try out a few treatments above to find the best remedy for your baby’s lips.

Guest Author-Carol