Your Baby’s Skin
The skin starts to develop quickly following conception and is usually fully formed at birth; however, it is only 60% the thickness of adult skin, it is immature and is at risk of damage from moisture, pressure, irritants, and infection.
Factors which increase the risk of damage to your child's skin include 3 :
The feel of the skin of newborn babies settles and softens during the rst few weeks of life.
Skin Texture
Water evaporates through the skin of babies much faster than it does in adults. This is called trans-epidermal water loss. Newborn babies can lose up to 30% of their body weight through water loss. See the diagram on the next page.
Trans-Epidermal Water Loss
At birth the skin is more alkaline as there is less natural moisturiser present on the surface. The acid mantle that protects the skin is not fully functioning.
Changes in the Skin’s pH
The joint between the top two layers of the skin (the epidermis and the dermis) is called the epidermal/dermal junction, it is weaker in babies.
The Epidermal/ Dermal junction
The Skin is in a State of Flux
The skin of babies is in a state of ux as it adapts to the outside world.
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