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Your new baby's skin will be as soft as a feather bed, and you may find yourself stroking her skin and hugging her constantly. Babies, like all mammals, thrive off active touch and your insatiable desire to stroke your baby's skin actually helps her grow. Unlike those sometimes intimidating activities of dressing and diapering, taking care of newborn skin may seem pretty easy.
Expect your newborn's skin to peel after she's born and also to be blotchy or uneven in color at first. Her circulation isn't very efficient and if she is still for awhile, blood might pool in one part of her body causing her hands and feet to get bluish and the rest of her to look half pale and half red. This falls into the category of what parenting writer Vicki Iovine calls "weird but normal," and once you pick her up, her color will normalize.
According to Cornell University cultural anthropologist Meredith Small, you can't hold or stroke your baby too much as humans need active touching in order to create growth hormones and have healthy immune systems.
A 2002 study of 73 preterm babies found those who received kangaroo care (skin-to-skin contact with their parents) had better cognitive and motor development than the control group. Not only that, parents who provided skin-to-skin care reported having less depression and a stronger bond with their babies.
Always read the ingredients of the products you use on a baby's skin and choose products with natural, preferably organic, ingredients. Detergents and other harsh chemicals can irritate your baby's sensitive skin.
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