Does My Baby Have Acne? - Part 1

Did you know that babies get acne? It is very common and often disconcerting to a new mother. Gazing down at her new cherub, she appears to be faced with the problems of a teen. However, acne in a baby is self-limiting – it doesn’t usually last more than six months. And, it also has no real treatment except time and patience.

So what causes it?

Baby acne can be present at birth but often it shows up after a couple of weeks. This is a time when the baby isn’t sleeping through night, he is cranky and mom is sleep deprived. The acne adds one more stressor to mom’s life.

There is no clear cause for baby acne but researchers believe that a major trigger is the release of hormones from the mother’s body that crosses the placenta in the last several weeks of pregnancy. Medications that mom is taking can also cross to breast milk and trigger an acne reaction in baby.

Baby acne can be present on the cheeks, forehead, chin and even on baby’s back. The area can be surrounded by reddened skin and more pronounced when baby is hot, fussy or the skin is irritated from saliva or fabric.

What looks like pimples but aren’t pimples? Milia. Milia are tiny bumps on the face that are there at birth. Milia will disappear within a few weeks after birth while baby acne usually takes several months. Milia are completely unrelated to baby acne. These are pearly white cysts on the surface of the skin that are actually common in people of all ages but more noticeable in babies. They form because the skin does not completely slough off normal but remains trapped in a pocket of skin.

Resources:

MedlinePlus: Rash – Child Under 2

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003259.htm

Baby Center: Baby Acne

http://www.babycenter.com/0_baby-acne_72.bc

MayoClinic: Baby Acne

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/baby-acne/DS01060