The Baby Acne Breast Milk Treatment – Can It Help Your Baby?


baby acne breast milk

Baby acne breast milk – Baby acne being cured by breast milk is a well-known treatment, but breast milk can also cause baby acne. Baby acne can be caused by the maternal hormones rounding in their system a few weeks after birth. It is prevalent in newborns, and their skin condition can be bad after birth.

Hormones of the mother trigger the red bumps through breast milk, but it is completely normal and not a problem. The baby’s acne will go away by itself in a few weeks, as it grows and only lasts a few days. It is not a thing to worry about and will go away without any ointments or creams.

Baby acne or the red bumps on a newborn’s skin can be treated using breast milk. Just softly pat a few drops of breast milk using a cotton ball for a few weeks throughout the day. Since their sensitive skin is still developing the open pores can cause irritation.

Treating baby acne can seem like a hard task, but it’s easy and needs to be done asap. Many moms have been advised to use breast milk for newborn acne.

What Causes Baby Acne?

Forty percent of all newborns develop this skin condition at a few weeks of age. The maternal hormones still circulating in the baby can cause acne, and this infantile acne does not leave scars. Newborn skin can also be affected by baby acne through an external irritant.

Newborn babies have sensitive skin, which is still developing so you have to keep them away from dusty areas and keep your breast milk as healthy as possible. The best treatment for acne on newborns is keeping their surrounding clean.

Baby acne is a lot more regular in boys than girls. The simple medical problem has the complex name erythema toxicum neonatorum. Although it seems very complex and problematic, it is just the name of a simple problem that many newborn moms go through. Baby acne is different from infantile acne. Baby acne only lasts for the first few months after birth, while infantile acne can last for up to 2 years.

The visible signs of baby acne are red rashes on your baby’s skin with small bumps named papules. Babies normally are born with patches on their faces, and commonly on their cheeks, nose, and forehead. But baby acne is not only restricted to those areas, you can also see these red bumps on the baby’s back, chest, and other body parts. Sometimes baby’s acne affects the hands and feet but not often.

The number of spots on your baby’s body can vary. How long the rash will last can vary too.

The spots are sometimes the ones that may last for days, some last for only hours, and some fade when pressed.

Even though their skin might be irritated, they do not affect any other part of the baby. Acne will not cause him/her to be unwell and it does not provoke any other health issues for the baby.

How Do I Get Rid of Baby Milk Acne?

Baby acne is not uncommon; hence, has solutions. Babies’ sensitive skin can develop pimples because of breast milk, and you can prevent baby acne with breast milk as well. The white bumps on a newborn’s skin are caused by of breast milk, and to prevent it, the natural remedies are surprisingly none.

The tiny white bumps will go away by themselves in a few weeks. It is advised to stick to soft fabrics only. If you use rough fabrics, they will definitely worsen the acne and burn the baby’s skin.

A newborn’s skin can be affected by many things, so the parents need to be extra careful. Wash your baby’s clothes often and keep their face covered when going out. Their dead skin cells also need to be replaced, so make sure your newborn’s diet is healthy. To assure that, the mother’s diet needs to be healthy too.

Gently wash the face of a baby and wipe with a clean towel and use fragrance-free body wash for the first few weeks until everything gets better. Harsh soaps should always be avoided in the affected area, and even the parents who usually carry the baby should keep the clothes clean and use fragrance-free stuff.

A child’s skin condition also depends on the adults they come in contact with. The people who will usually pick up your baby need to make sure their hands are clean and that they don’t kiss the baby. They should avoid picking them up if they themselves have acne because it would affect the baby’s skin too.

How Can Breast Milk Help?

Treatment for baby acne can be breast milk. Although there is no official medical or scientific confirmation for this natural remedy, breast milk does have antimicrobial properties in its lauric acid that can kill bacteria. Breast milk is very gentle and helps with the tiny bumps on your little one, they will eventually go away if it’s used multiple times in a day.

Breast milk helps with baby eczema. The bacteria in the pimples are easily killed with breast milk. However, there are other better ways to treat baby acne.

Acne doesn’t only affect teenagers and adults. It can also affect infants. Those whitish small bumps can show up in any part of the baby’s body, and they are most visible in the early months and weeks when the baby completely depends on breast milk.

The best news is that those white bumps are temporary and go away in some time. It’s normal that they are mistaken for albino disease. To get rid of those white bumps as soon as possible, breast milk is an amazing remedy that you can have your hands on easily. It will make those tiny unwanted bumps disappear in no time!

How to Use Breast Milk for Baby Acne?

You can use a clean finger or cotton ball to treat the sensitive newborn’s skin. Your baby’s acne will eventually go away if breastmilk is used multiple times in a day gently on the baby’s skin. Only a few drops of breast milk on the pimples will do the job.

You can use a cotton ball, your fingertips, or any soft cloth to dab on your little one’s skin to make it better. It just shouldn’t be anything rough because it would burn the baby’s skin. Additionally, breastmilk shouldn’t be spread too much, it should just be applied on the affected parts gently.

Other Uses for Breast Milk

Breast milk is an easily available and organic treatment for many problems. It is like a natural gift given to babies because it helps in so many different things. There are unexpected uses of breast milk other than that you can use it for baby eczema or soothing of the throat. Before using it as a solution, it is advised to consult a trusted doctor.

1. Ear infections

A few moms have advised using breast milk for soothing any ear pain or infection. They have suggested that a drop of breast milk in the baby’s ear every few hours throughout the day has given amazing results.

2. Blocked tear ducts

It is widespread that babies have irritated areas in their eyes, which causes too many tears. Breast milk helps treat the condition when it is dropped into the affected part of the eyes.

3. Rashes

Babies’ skin is very sensitive and can get rashes when not taken care of properly. Diapers also give babies rashes, and they can make their skin uneven and inflamed. Amazingly, using breast milk softly for the treatment of the baby’s bottom or inner thighs not only will heal the baby’s skin but also keep the irritating rashes from spreading to other areas.

4. Teething

Babies have to face a lot of pain when their teeth start growing, and that pain can be soothed by breast milk. Freeze breast milk into popsicles and give them that.

5. Sore throat

Breast milk is even medicine for sore throat in babies. If they have a cold or sore throat, do not stop feeding them breast milk because it has antibodies properties that will help them fight off these illnesses. Breast milk will do its magic before you even realize it. It will shorten their illness and soothe their problems.

Other Ways to Treat Baby Acne

Other Ways to Treat Baby Acne

Within the first few months of birth, baby acne goes away on its own and there’s no need to use anything to get rid of it. It is normal and doesn’t necessarily need any treatments. If it is been longer than a few months and the bumps have not gotten any better, there are other ways besides using breast milk to treat baby acne. Those ways include:

1. Washing the baby’s face with clean water each day. Use a moisturizing facial soap with clean plain water. It should be warm.

2. Avoid using any ointments or lotions. It will worsen the acne and spread it more. Using fragrance-free products is also highly recommended.

3. Don’t pinch, scrub, or unnecessarily touch the acne. You will end up causing more infection and irritation to the baby.

When Should I Be Worried About Baby Acne?

Normally, your baby’s acne should be checked during your casual visits to the doctor after birth. You first need to make sure how severe that acne can get and if it is really just acne or eczema.

Infantile acne occurs when baby acne develops after 6 weeks of age, and it is likely to begin between 3 and 6 months. If your baby starts developing red or irritating bumps on their skin as early as 6 weeks, you would want to see a certified dermatologist to prevent the acne from getting worse. You need to make sure of multiple things by going there:

1. Assure that it really is acne and not some kind of infection or eczema. Baby acne does not commonly spread as early like 5-6 weeks, so it’s possible that it’s not baby acne but some other infection. It can be a serious problem, so get all the tests done if that’s what the doctor says, but do not ignore it or leave it untreated.

2. Identify any other problems that your baby may be facing in his or her body that can indicate another issue or even let you know if it’s normal for their skin to develop any acne. A skin test and sometimes a blood test or X-ray are required to figure it all out.

3. Figure out if any product related to baby care is causing this problem and get rid of it as soon as you can.

FAQs

How Can I Clear Up My Baby’s Acne?

In a lot of cases regarding baby acne, it does not really require proper treatment because it will clear up on its own when it’s time. You do not need to use any products to help, but if you want to speed up the process, wash the baby’s face with a mild cleanser a couple of times a day. Do not even mistakenly use harsh soaps or cloth to clean their face. Their acne will get worse and cause too much irritation, which will make the baby uncomfortable.

It’s also equally important to talk to the baby’s health and care provider about these sudden changes so they can prevent the baby’s sensitive and soft skin from being affected by anything harmful.

Is Baby Acne Caused By Breast Milk?

There haven’t been any reports published by any authentic sources that state that baby acne is caused by breast milk. However, there are a few theories, like the one that says it is caused by the hormones from the placenta of the mother being delivered to the baby during birth.

After all these statements, people still do believe that the advantages of breast milk outweigh the disadvantages, so if you think about stopping breastfeeding to avoid this problem, don’t do it without consulting with a doctor.

Summary

If your baby has developed acne at 6 weeks most of the doctors have suggested taking them to the dermatologist as soon as you notice it because it’s not common. If your baby does have acne, it can easily be cleared up with breast milk. You can softly pat breast milk using a cotton ball around the baby’s affected area, and it will go away in a few days if used a couple of times per day. There are also some other ways to treat it but the most effective is breast milk.

Stephanie Edenburgh

I'm Steph, a mom to 3 beautiful children and lover all things having to do with my family and being a mom. I've learned a lot raising my own children and working in education and healthcare roles throughout my career. Living in beautiful Southern California I enjoy documenting and writing about all of the hard work us mom's do on a daily basis.

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