Newborn Skin, Eyes and Other Little Things

Usually normal

• Baby acne and milia (tiny white bumps), often from about 2 weeks. Leave them alone; they clear on their own.
• Cradle cap: greasy yellow scales on the scalp. Wash, brush gently, and loosen with a little oil before washing.
• Sneezing, a stuffy nose and noisy breathing. Saline drops and a bulb syringe before feeds help.
• Peeling skin; swollen breasts or genitals, or a little discharge, from the birthing parent's hormones.
• A sticky, watery eye from a blocked tear duct: wipe with warm water from the inner corner out.
• Bluish hands and feet in the first days, startling at noises, crossed eyes now and then.

Mention at a checkup

• Thrush: white patches in the mouth that don't wipe off, or a fussy, painful latch.
• Diaper rash that doesn't improve after 2-3 days of zinc cream and air time.
• A flat spot on the head. More tummy time and alternating which end of the crib the head is at can help.
• A pink, moist bump where the cord was (umbilical granuloma).
• Hard, pebbly stools or straining with crying. Breastfed babies can go a few days without a stool after about 6 weeks if it's soft.

When to check in

Call the pediatrician the same day for a rash with fever, redness spreading around the cord, a yellow or swollen eye with discharge, or spreading jaundice.