🐍 The Big Shed 🐍

There is ONE thing I invariably get asked by all (or at least the VAST majority) new parents in the days and weeks after birth. And that is if the amount of peeling/shedding/flaking skin on their brand new baby is normal.

Oddly we don’t talk much about something that causes parents a pretty significant amount of worry.

Babies are little ‘aquatic creatures’ in the interuterine months of their life and once they are born, their skin has to readjust quite dramatically to the non aquatic conditions suddenly encountered. Babies therefore shed the outer layers of their skin quite obviously in the first days and weeks of their life (think skin flake blizzard when you take off and shake out their baby grow!). This is normal, and the technical terms is a bit of a mouthful: 'Physiological desquamation of the newborn'. It is not due to dry skin *per se* but more due to the sudden non aquatic environment for the *outer* skin layer. Once the Big Shed is completed, baby soft skin will be revealed underneath. No, you don’t need to use products to make their skin less dry.....in fact you could potentially damage the protective barrier function skin naturally posesses, so using plain water for cleansing (including nappy changes) and bathing might be best. Generally, for skin health, NOT cleaning away vernix at birth is also something that helps maximise skin health after the shed. Occasionally, during the shed, little wrists or ankles get sore looking, sometimes scabby or bleeding cracks due to the amount of mobility in those areas. Usually, once the skin has shed, these areas heal beautifully by themselves, and occasionally an emollient (or something of your choosing) appropriate for a newborn can help prevent further cracking of the skin. Obviously if you have concerns, or if you feel there is an underlying issue going on, seek help from a HCP.

But, expect The Shed.....it almost always reveals peachy soft skin underneath (until erythema toxicum sets in, but more on that another time 😂😂)