Skin care is important especially in infancy as skin barrier matures during the first year of life.

The goal of a study published in Journal of the German Society of Dermatology was to examine the effects of baby swimming and baby lotion on the skin barrier function of infants.

This mono-center prospective study included 44 infants, aged 3-6 months. Here, healthy infants were allowed to swim four times and were randomized to group the (L) – wherein, baby lotion was applied after swimming all over the body; and to group the (WL) no lotion was used. Transepidermal water loss, stratum corneum hydration, skin-pH and sebum were measured on four body regions using non-invasive methods.

The findings showed that in the group (L), sebum and pH remained stable. Wheraes, in group (WL), significant decrease in sebum was noted on forehead and thigh, along with reductions in pH on thighs and buttocks. Additionally, group (L) had fewer infants with at least one adverse event compared to group (WL). Location-dependent gender differences in skin barrier function were observed.

It was inferred that reaction of skin barrier function to baby swimming and skin care regimens showed typical regional variability between body areas. The results of this study, for the first time, demonstrated the influence of baby lotion on skin barrier and gender differences in skin functional parameters of healthy infants participating in swimming.

Source: Journal of the German Society of Dermatology. 2011 Dec;9(12):1018-25. doi: 10.1111/j.1610-0387.2011.07710.x. Epub 2011 Jun 15.