Baby Acne

Most people think that babies do not develop acne. Wrong, babies can develop pimples just like everyone else. The baby acne is usually seen at about 1 month of age. At least 4/10 babies develop some type of acne. Most parents get terrified at the sight of these pimples on the face and think that the baby has developed some type of virus infection.

Babies develop acne at this stage because of several reasons. The mothers' hormones are still present in the baby and as the baby is just getting used to life outside the womb, it is producing excessive oils. The combination of these two causes transient acne. As soon as the baby settles down and the maternal hormones disappear, the acne resolves.

The pimples are usually bright red and seen predominantly on the scalp, cheek and forehead. Sometimes the pimples may appear in a cluster over the nose. Rarely there may also be some whiteheads present. Just like the adults, the skin surrounding the acne is rough to touch.

Acne is more common in the fussy and irritable baby. Those babies who whine and cry at everything in site develop the worst acne. In some cases the acne is related to the hot weather.

Unlike adults, baby acne is transient and never requires any treatment except cleaning the skin with a moist wipe. Babies outgrow their acne by 4-6 months.

There is no method of preventing baby acne since it is not known which baby will develop the acne. The best advice is to keep the face clean and gently wipe off the oily face.



Keep the baby happy and less irritable. Do not keep on rubbing or scrubbing the acne, it just tends to worsen the acne.