[Effect of a baby whey bath on skin physiology parameters in young children].

Although the skin of babies is very sensitive to irritants and baby baths are widely used in child care, there have been no investigations concerning their efficacy and safety so far. In the presented work we investigate the effect of a baby bath containing 80% and after another 2 weeks of treatment with a whey baby bath. During the study all infants were bathed at a temperature between 35 and 38 degrees C for 5 to 15 min every other day. The results showed a slightly lower skin moisture, a lower skin-pH and after an initial minimal increase a reduction of skin redness values. However, none of the results were statistically significant. The tested baby bath was well tolerated by the babies' skin based on a reduction of skin-pH. In contrast to relatively aggressive soaps we found a protective effect of the tested baby bath on the acid mantle of the skin.