Babies Are Hard to Keep Clean

D got his first bath at about 10 days old, just after his umbilical cord stump fell off. He's been getting baths every few days ever since then, and I'd thought we'd been doing a pretty good job on keeping him all fresh and clean...

...That is until we went to the hospital for his UTI. Since he had to have that big cast-thing on his arm to keep the IV in place, he was wearing pj's but with the one arm left out (kinda toga-style). And when I went to nurse him the first time and he was laying with the exposed arm up towards me and he lifted his arm above his head, I suddenly saw all this nasty, stinky CRUD (old skin cells?) stuck to his armpit folds. I was MORTIFIED. I felt like the world's worst mother, b/c who forgets to clean her baby's armpits for TWO MONTHS? Truth is, it had never even occurred to me. He spent so little time not clothed, and when he was naked (like in the bath) he held his arms firmly down so that I couldn't really get at his pits easily anyway, and I just never thought much of it.

So, lesson learned. I now make sure to ALWAYS wash his underarms well. Once again, I thought I was doing quite well...

...And then a couple weeks ago I was again nursing him and noticed the same stinky crud in the folds right behind his ears. And then later, in the skin fold under his chin (the one I never ever see, thanks to his double-chin, unless he's holding his head up during tummy time, or sometimes while nursing).

I think I've discovered most of his hidden crevices by now, but I wouldn't be surprised if I find another one next week. This doesn't even cover all the fuzz (from his clothes? the carpet? dust?) he accumulates between his fingers and toes, and in the folds of his palm. I try to wrestle his hand open about once a day to get the little fuzzies out... you'll be amazed at how much he collects, so quickly.

So, um, yeah. Babies are kinda hard to keep clean.