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Your Baby Week Three

By , About.com Guide

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Skin Rashes

A baby with a red rash on her cheeks, forehead, and chin.

A baby with a red rash on her cheeks, forehead, and chin.

Photo © Vincent Iannelli, MD
Unfortunately, babies often don't have very clear skin.

Baby Acne

Neonatal or baby acne is a common problem that begins after a baby is a few weeks old. It is thought to be triggered by maternal hormones that a baby gets even before she is born.

Infants with baby acne typically get whiteheads, blackheads, and pustules on their nose, scalp, cheeks and forehead. There skin may also appear red and rough. Although its appearance is often distressing to new parents, no treatment is usually required. In fact, baby acne typically goes away on its own in a few weeks or months. { read more }

Heat Rash

As the name implies, heat rash is triggered in some babies when they become overheated, either because they are overdressed or because it is simply too hot outside. As they become hot and sweat, their sweat ducts become blocked and rupture.

Prickly heat, which is also known as miliaria rubra, is the most common type of heat rash. In this form of heat rash, the sweat duct becomes red and inflamed and look like small bumps with a red halo around them. They can be found grouped together under a child's clothing and inside the folds of his skin, such as his neck, armpits, and groin.

Miliaria crystallina is another type of heat rash, but the skin doesn't get inflamed, leading to the classic appearance of small clear vesicles, without any redness or other symptoms. { read more }

Cradle Cap

Cradle cap, a common rash on a baby's head, is usually easy to recognize, with symptoms that can include a scalp rash that:
  • is dry and flaky
  • has thick, greasy, yellow or brown scales
  • has red patches with crust
  • is sometimes itchy
For mild cradle cap, time is often the best treatment, as many children get better on their own by the time they are about 1 year old. { read more }
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