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How To Care For A Toddler’s Ears

How To Clean A Baby’s Ears

by: Parul | last updated: September 25, 2009
Category: Health & Safety: Health & Baby Care | Tags: cleaning of baby's ears

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How To Clean A Baby’s Ears

Every parent care too much for their baby and they can't neglect the baby's ears which requires proper attention too. Safe and proper cleaning is one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of personal hygiene. Parents are generally confused whether to clean baby’s ears or not. On the one hand, earwax build up can be actually uncomfortable; on the other, cleaning the ear risks causing infection or damaging the baby’s delicate eardrum. Now, in this guide, I am going to tell you how you can clean your baby’s ears easily.

Bath the child in warm water, but not hot. You can check this by touch of your elbow. Kitchens sink works well for newborns. Just place a towel in the water first to protect delicate skin from the drain plug and to assist with traction.

Hold the child securely by placing a hand behind her back. If you never feel comfortable with this hold on a wet baby, reach in and cradle her in one arm.

Moisten a wash cloth and use it to wipe the area in front of her ears. Move the wash cloth away from her face to keep water out of her eyes. Next, wipe all the way around her ears, making sure to get the crevice where the back of her ear meets her head. This is a common area for build up.

Wet the wash cloth once more and gently wipe the inside of her outer ear. Some babies have crevices here also. Make sure they are clean.

Roll the tip of the wash cloth to a small point. Squeeze out excess water, and gently tuck the point in the baby’s ear and spin around once. This removes debris from the outer edge, but the lack of rigidity will keep the wash cloth from entering too far into the canal or damaging the baby’s ear. Pat the ears dry.

Parents are strongly encouraged to let their baby’s doctors clean the child’s ears during routine wellness visits. They will use special instrumentation that won’t prove a danger to puncturing or scratching the eardrum.

If you notice the waxy build up is covering the eardrum, you can remove this wax yourself. Excessive earwax around the ear canal can put pressure on baby’s eardrum, resulting in balance problems and severe discomfort.

Don’t insert a cotton swab, your finger or any other cleaning implement into your child’s ear canal. Even light contact is enough to scratch the eardrum. Moreover, cotton swab can pack the dirt, dust and other harmful particulate matter closer to the eardrum, actually increasing the risk of infection.