Where to Start with Moisturizing Babies
Babies have delicate and watery skin, which gives them a fresh and lively appearance. As the autumn weather gets cooler, the air becomes drier and many people experience dry eyes, dry lips, itchy throat, dry cough without phlegm, dry and peeling skin, and even constipation. This is what traditional Chinese medicine calls "autumn dryness". Don't be fooled by the appearance of a baby's moist and tender skin. In fact, a baby's skin is much thinner than that of an adult, and the cells are more spaced out, making the skin barrier function weaker and the loss of moisture easier. In addition, a baby's organs and body systems are not fully developed, making them more sensitive to climate changes and more prone to "issues". Therefore, as autumn and winter approach, mothers should not forget to moisturize their babies and keep them away from dryness.
Dry throat, chapped lips, and nosebleeds: drink more soup
When a child is playing happily, suddenly a nosebleed starts flowing. This scene is the most powerful evidence of the impact of autumn dryness on babies. In autumn, the weather is dry, and a baby's nasal mucosa is prone to dryness and fragile blood vessels. When a child has internal heat or discomfort in the nasal cavity and uses their fingers to pick their nose, it is easy to cause blood vessel rupture and bleeding.
Dry and chapped lips are also obvious signs of "dehydration" in the body. Some children may also suffer from angular cheilitis or mouth corner ulcers, which can cause redness, blisters, cracking, erosion, scabbing, and more. Some children may have red lips and a red tongue tip, loss of appetite or refusal to eat, and keep food in their mouth without swallowing, but they love cold drinks. This is likely due to dry throat, sore throat, and damaged yin and body fluids. When a baby has dry lips, dry tongue, and a sore throat, it is understandable that they don't want to eat properly.
Parents should make sure their babies drink plenty of water, consume fresh leafy vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C and B vitamins, and regularly prepare moisturizing soups for them to drink, such as pear and fig lean meat soup, papaya and snow fungus sugar water, and carrot and water chestnut juice. If a baby's nose bleeds, you can apply some tetracycline ointment and gentamicin ointment inside the nose to keep the nasal mucosa moist. If the lips are dry, the simplest method is to apply lip balm. If a baby has chapped lips, a red tongue tip, and sore mouth corners, and has a hot breath, it is a clear sign of internal heat. In this case, remind the child not to lick their lips with their tongue. Instead, you can apply a mixture of ice borax powder and honey, and eat more cooling fruits such as bitter gourd, mangosteen, and pear to clear heat and generate body fluids.
