Are there small red rashes on your baby's cheeks that just do not seem to vanish? When my daughter was a newborn, we were constantly bogged with the eruption of these tiny bumps on her newborn cheeks. It is painful to watch them on her cheeks, they may not hurt her but they are painful for us parents.
So, from personal experience, in India, we have a masseuse that comes home to give a massage to the baby. They use oils such as sesame oil, Almond oil, or coconut oil for the massage. Now, it helps in strengthening the muscles, which I feel is not the case. The baby is not going to wrestle anytime soon so no I don't want her sporting biceps. So, though I did not go for the massages, I did want lovely cheeks for my daughter and so used to apply some almond oil on her cheeks. I applied it to her cheeks and gave her a bath, and she slept, and the next day I saw small red bumps on her cheeks.
Us being first-time parents, we did not waste time and rushed to the doctor. As usual, he said that she suffered from atopic dermatitis and to stop using any kind of oils and lotions on her. He gave a topical hydrocortisone cream too. We started the treatment, but one thing I would like to tell you is that using this cortisone cream maid her skin a bit lighter in that area. The doctor did say it happens and the skin will get better with age.
Anyways, after the bumps subsided, after a couple of days I noticed them popping again. This time even after no oils or lotions. If you know babies, you know how much they love to rub their cheeks on sheets. That is when I realized that I need to change the washing powder I use. I switched to Pigeon liquid soap and used it till she was 1 year old. She no longer gets those bumps with regular powder now.
But, the point to extract from this article is that if your baby suffers from the same and the doctor has suggested cortisone cream, use your judgment on when to use it. I used it only when I thought the cheeks looked too infected. In other cases, changing my detergent nipped my issue in the bud.
How was your newborn different and how did you deal with it? Let us know in the comments section.