You’re settling your baby down for the night, and giving them one last feed in the process. But a few minutes into cradling them, feeding them, and stroking their head, you suddenly notice a red rash that has appeared around their neck.

At first, you gasp in horror and think that something awful may be wrong. Calling your midwife for reassurance, she immediately calms you down and tells you that these types of physical ailments are very common in newborns.

Parents, we understand that it can ring alarm bells as soon as you see a pimple, spot, or rash appear on your baby. Of course, there’s a part of you that will worry something is dreadfully wrong. But thankfully, there’s usually an entirely harmless explanation.

So, we thought it would be useful to take you through some of the most common physical worries that parents have with regard to their babies, and how you should go about treating them.

What are some common physical worries I might have about my baby?

Sucking blisters

There are certain types of blisters which can appear on a baby’s lips, such as sucking blisters.

Treatment: These tend to disappear in the first few weeks of life, and won’t need any treatment.

Blocked tear duct

If you have noticed white, gooey stuff collecting at the edges of or in the corner of your baby’s eyelids, then they could have a blocked tear duct. With this type of symptom, the eye that has been affected may also appear a little ‘weepy’.

Treatment: To treat a blocked tear duct, very gently massage the tear duct several times a day. In addition, you should regularly clean the area. If the symptoms don’t seem to be disappearing, or things seem to be getting worse, then make sure to call your doctor for guidance. There is a possibility that symptoms like this that are ongoing could indicate conjunctivitis, but this can easily be treated with antibiotic eye drops.

Rashes

Rashes are extremely common in little babies, and they may come up in a variety of different forms. For example, they could present as little yellow or white pinhead spots on the face. These are known as ‘baby acne’ or ‘milia’. Their cause is inexperienced skin glands that are unplugging themselves. They could also show up as tiny, red, flat pinhead spots on the face, neck and torso. If so, this will probably be related to heat rash.

Treatment: The bottom line about rashes is that if your baby has a rash and also seems unwell, or if the rash seems to be getting worse, then always call a doctor. There are some rash-related illnesses such as meningitis which can be life-threatening. However, there are many rashes that you don’t need to be overly concerned about.

Thrush

Thrush is a very common yeast infection that can sometimes affect a baby’s mouth. If your baby’s mouth looks as if it has patches of milk curd stuck to their tongue, cheeks, or perhaps the roof of their mouth, then this is probably thrush.

Treatment: Thrush can easily be cured by medicine, so see your paediatrician for this.

Crossed or squinty eyes

Again, this is a very common symptom for a baby. It usually occurs because their eyes haven’t yet learned to work together.

Treatment: Although crossed or squinty eyes should disappear on their own, if in three months things don’t seem to be getting any better, definitely contact the doctor for help.

Sticky eyes

Seeing something like sticky eyes can be particularly alarming for a parent. However, it’s actually very common for one or both eyes to stick together after your baby has been sleeping. This is usually caused by irritation from the fluids they have encountered at birth.

Treatment: This type of symptom can be easily treated by gently rubbing their eyes with a piece of cotton wool that has been dipped in cool boiled water. Remember to use a different piece of cotton wool for each eye, as this will help to stop the spread of germs from eye to eye.

Scalp-related issues

If you can see that your baby has developed a swelling on their scalp, this is probably due to bleeding under the skin, which happens as a side effect of birth. Although this may alarm you, try not to worry. Again, this happens to a lot of babies, and it won’t do any harm. If this symptom is also appearing in conjunction with flaky skin on the scalp, then you can remove this by gently messaging the top of their head.

Treatment: This type of problem should go away naturally on its own within a few weeks.

The umbilical cord stump

Between five and ten days after your baby’s birth, their umbilical cord stump should naturally fall off. Although it may be difficult to know how to deal with this, remember that this process has to happen to every single baby!

Treatment: Always leave it alone, and be extremely gentle when you are dressing or bathing your baby during this period. However, if you notice a bulging navel or the navel is oozing discharge or pus, this could mean your baby has an umbilical hernia, or the area is infected. This should definitely warrant a call to your doctor.

How should I ultimately deal with physical worries?

Each physical ailment that a baby may be displaying will have different causes. However, it’s important to remember that even if something seems visibly shocking or affronting, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s anything serious!

Nevertheless, if you are truly worried about a physical ailment, then always take your baby to the paediatrician. This will put your mind at ease, and help you learn more about common symptoms, how to relieve them, and anything particularly serious that you should be looking out for.

What are some common physical worries?

On Unii’s Baby Health Journey, we look at some common physical worries about infants.