Does Breast Milk Help Baby Acne?
Acne not only affects adults and teenagers, but it can also affect babies. If you have an infant, you may have noticed tiny white bumps on your baby’s back, cheeks, or even chin. Yes! acne does affect infants’ weeks or months after delivery. But you should not get worried about them. Baby acne is never permanent, and it will improve as time goes by. So, does breast milk help baby acne? Breast milk will effectively help treat baby acne but there is no concrete scientific fact to prove it.
Baby acne is a common skin condition among many newborn babies. In fact, it has been found that 20% of all babies younger than 6 weeks will get baby acne. The exact reason as to what causes baby acne is not clear, but they are believed to be related to maternal hormones. When infants are in the womb, they are exposed to fluctuating hormones and when they start to breastfeed. Because of the sensitivity of their skin, they tend to get acne. Yeast living on the skin is also believed to cause infant acne.
How Breast Milk Helps with Baby Acne
Some people believe that breast milk helps to clear baby acne which seems to be a far-fetched idea, but others strongly believe that it does. Until today, there is still no research that has proven that breast milk can solve the problem. Breast milk has antimicrobial properties which are known to destroy microbes like bacteria. If bacteria are the cause of baby acne, then breast milk will help kill bacteria and other impurities that may cause pores to block.
Does Breast Milk Help Baby Acne
Using breast milk in its natural form is the only way your baby can benefits from it if you want to get rid of baby acne. Breast milk tends to be gentle on baby skin, so you just need to dab a little amount on their skin after feeding it. This will help reduce any inflammation and will gradually help to treat acne. Make sure that your finger is clean before dabbing milk on your infant’s skin. You can use a cotton ball to rub breast milk gently on the affected areas. Repeat the same process throughout the day until all the acne clears.
Alternative Ways of Clearing Baby Acne
Whereas breast milk is believed to help with baby acne, there are other methods that can be used to help with baby acne. They include bathing your baby daily with warm water using mild baby soap, not using body lotion on your baby’s sensitive skin and you should also avoid scrubbing bumps. Make sure that when you are bathing your baby, you should be gentle to avoid popping the bumps.
Takeaway
You should never be alarmed when you notice that your infant has acne. Baby acne is very common among infants and should disappear a few weeks or months after. Always ensure that you bath your baby daily and if you are rubbing breast milk on the skin, make sure that you do it gently. If the problem persists, do not hesitate to contact your pediatrician.
