In our series of newborn care we stop today in the baby's ears, a very delicate part of the body of the little ones that we don't always know how to clean. And the first thing to say is that a newborn baby will hardly have dirty ears, so routine cleaning is not necessary. The ears hardly require a superficial cleaning.
The ears can produce some earwax (wax), a yellowish sticky substance that protects the ear. We must never attempt to remove the wax from the baby's ear by inserting any object, not even cotton buds.
The wax protects the baby's ears
The earwax produced by the ears has the function of protecting the organ from foreign elements such as dust. Therefore we should not obsess on cleaning it, let alone introducing elongated objects in the ear. This is because we could cause the opposite effect, causing wax remains to enter the baby's ear and causing a wax plug.
In addition, these elongated objects could damage the eardrum if we introduce them in excess, something that can happen accidentally if the baby makes an unexpected movement with the head. Of course, nothing sharp objects such as chopsticks or forks, which can be very dangerous. It is best to use a damp cloth or cloth, or swabs for the outside.
If during the cleaning of the ear we notice that the baby has some wax almost at the entrance of the ear, we can try to remove it with a damp cloth without introducing it, limiting the cleaning to the parts that we manage to reach and always with outward movements.
We can take advantage of this moment of hearing review to verify that there are no problems. The consistency of the wax must be fine and its light yellow or burnt color, pulling orange, but not very dark. If the consistency changes or changes its color, becoming thicker and darker, we must go to the pediatrician, without trying to remove it, so that it can assess it and rule out a problem.
In addition, we can verify if with the change in the consistency and the color of the wax there are also decreases in the child's hearing capacity, because it could be a plug that prevents him from hearing clearly and to which the pediatrician would also have to act . However, this is quite unlikely in the first weeks of the baby's life.
What to clean from the baby's ears?
The cleaning of the ears should be limited to its external part with the aim of not causing damage or generating a wax plug inside. To clean your ears, just a little soapy water or a damp cloth that runs through the entire ear pavilion. We can do it perfectly at the time of bathing.
In the bathroom it is most likely that water falls into the baby's ears when washing the head, although we must ensure that it does not enter, tilting the baby's head when the water will fall from above, once for each side. We will have to dry carefully with the cotton towel that water that has remained in the baby's pavilion, which will serve as a cleaning.
If we see that there is water at the entrance of the inner ear, we must not influence (in the same way as if there were wax) so as not to damage that delicate area. The small hairs that are in charge of "collecting" that water so that it does not enter the ear.
For the cleaning of the external pavilion we can use auditory sticks. Whether we use sticks or a cloth, we will proceed in the same way. We will hold the baby's tilted head well, and pass the swab through the ear pavilion following the shape of the ear and from the inside out.
Following all these tips for proper cleaning of the ears of the newborn baby We will make it a simple and risk-free task. Anyway, we will verify that newborn babies need little this kind of attention, and only with the passing of the months a more frequent hearing hygiene will be necessary.
