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Infants on Shabbat

Source: Halachipedia: Infants on Shabbat

Link: https://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Infants_on_Shabbat

Categories: Shabbat

Exported: 2025-12-30

Illness

Diapering

Diaper Wipes

Diaper Rashes

  1. In the event that the child requires cream for a diaper rash (i.e. Desitin, Balmax etc.), one may squeeze it out onto the affected area and allow the child to smear it on himself via his movement.¹

Feeding a Baby

Nursing and Pumping

Heating and Cooking Foods

  1. With regard to preparing food for a child one should be careful to avoid any shailos of bishul (cooking). Therefore when preparing a bottle of (powdered or liquid) formula one should first pour in the hot water and then put in the formula.² This is assuming that the formula has been previously cooked to a temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. One is allowed to place a cold bottle of milk inside a cup of boiling hot water, however one should try to make sure that the entire bottle does not go under the water in order to avoid hatmana (insulating) according to all Poskim.³

Mashing Foods

  1. One may mash a banana or other soft vegetables for a child to eat on Shabbat.⁴ See Losh for more details.

Baby Bottles

  1. One may clean a bottle with a bottle brush providing that the bristles are spread apart⁵ and, l'chatchila, the brush should be designated just for Shabbos use.⁶ See Dosh for more about using brushes on Shabbat. One is reminded to only use cold water from the sink to avoid Bishul.⁷

High Chair

  1. Some poskim permit detaching and reattaching a hair chair tray since that is part of the normal use of the high chair.⁸ However, other poskim hold that it is forbidden if the tray fits tightly into place and is only permitted if it is loose.⁹

Cribs & Strollers

Assembling Playpens and Cribs

Baby Monitors

  1. Some permit using a baby monitor on Shabbat even if the baby's voice and sometimes the parent's voice when in the baby's room is transmitted to another device for the parents to hear.¹⁰

Baby Swing

  1. There is a dispute amongst the Poskim whether or not one may wind up a baby swing on Shabbos. While R' Moshe Feinstein ZT"L¹¹ prohibits it on the account that it is similar to winding a watch that has stopped (which is prohibited), there are many others who are lenient, as unlike a watch, when a swing is not in motion it is not considered "broken", so winding it up is not considered "fixing" it.¹² See Electricity_on_Shabbat and Makeh Bpatish and for more details.

Holding a Baby

  1. It is forbidden to pick up a baby or child who is holding money.¹³ However, it is permitted to shake the child's hand in order to make the muktzeh fall so that carrying will become permissible.¹⁴

Credits

Special thanks to Rabbi Heshy Kahn for his contribution to this article.

References

¹: Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 33:14, 39 Melachos (v. 3, p. 922)

²: Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 1:49 footnote 138, Shaar Hatzion 318:96

³: Taz 258:1, Mishna Brurah 258:2, Shaar Hatzion 258:5

⁴: Yechave Da'at 5:27

⁵: Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 12:footnote 45

⁶: Mishna Brurah 303:87, Igros Moshe O.C. 2:88

⁷: Rabbi Heshy Kahn (What's Doing, Greater Connecticut, 3/3/11)

⁸: Rav Elyashiv (Ashrei Haish 2:18:20)

⁹: Rav Shlomo Zalman (Shulchan Shlomo 313:7 fnt. 16). Orchot Shabbat 8:55 explains that seemingly this dispute of whether it is permitted to put together a tray with a chair hair depends on a dispute between Shulchan Aruch Harav and Chazon Ish if it is permitted to put together a kli that is normally disassembled and reassembled. Additionally, there's a reason to be lenient even for Chazon Ish who is strict in the above question because the nature of this kli is that the way to use it is by detaching it and reattaching it.

¹⁰: Halichot Olam v, 4 p. 198 cited by Tiferet 328:64. This is elaborated and reiterated on halachayomit.co.il.

¹¹: Sefer Tiltulei Shabbos 1: footnote 36

¹²: Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 17:39

¹³: Hazon Ovadia, Page 170. The reason given is that the money might fall and one will pick it up accidentally.

¹⁴: Shulchan Aruch 309:1. Shaking the child's hand out of fear for losing money in the child's hand is still prohibited.