AIBU to think that bathing your kids once a week is not 'neglect'.

Agree with this. My little one has enjoyed massaging food into her scalp from weaning. No amount of wiping and washing quite does the job like a bath. She also loves swimming, soft play and rolling in grass/mud so I just don’t understand how I could go that long tbh.

Also I would hate only bathing once a week. That’s a big part of it for me. I’d feel so grubby even with three a week.

If they've had sun lotion on them they definitely need a wash x

I don't see why the bar has to be so low - like oh we did that in the 50s so once a week is fine.
Kids may not be sweaty like adults but they get sticky, grubby, and they piss and shit like the rest of us. Why would you not want to wash them? And people who think their kids are clean should probably have a look at some of the grotty grey shirt cuffs in an average classroom.
We are fortunate to live in a country where we have indoor plumbing and hot water.
My son had eczema as a baby and I'm very familiar with managing it. Bathing or not made no difference and I preferred to have a clean baby.

Flannels! Ugh. Wouldn't it be faster to put them in the shower?

You can give those areas a quick wash with a flannel though, kids don't have to have a full shower or bath everyday.

There are women walking miles for water in sub-saharan Africa and no showers who bathe more often than some Mners with en suites! Ugh.

And no, I don't wash my towels after every wash.

We always had a bath on a Friday evening as children with hair wash.
Washed face and hands as needed daily.

I was a nanny years ago and parents insisted kids had baths every single night then the children had to be slathered in special moisturiser because their skin was so dry and irritated,.no skin conditions or allergies diagnosed but I feel like daily baths and creams might have had something to do with it.

I grew up in a developing country in the 70s with no shower or bath-just buckets of water heated on a stove- and my.mum still bathed me daily.

Once a week bath is minging for me and everyone in my family. I find it really odd that being clean daily is obsessive.

I have an 2 and 5 year old. They have a bath roughly every 3rd day, sometimes more, sometimes less. More in the winter as it’s something to do for me to kill time before bed, in the warmer months they play in the garden before bed and have such a lovely time, that I think they can have one tomorrow. If they were dirty after play then I’d give them a quick bath

If you read anything about when to change sheets, weekly is suggested.
This is because the bed will be full of dead skin cells, bacteria and bugs (which you can't see with the naked eye) - dust mites.

It needs washing at 60C to kill all of these.

Goodness, these threads are an eye opener.

I didn't realise people were so scruffy.

Obsessive and neurotic, actually. Smdh
🤣🤣🤣🤣

Washing daily and changing sheets every week is far from obsessive 😂😂

its not neglects. that's just normal

DS is ASD. It’s a struggle to get him in the bath or shower once a week (although we manage one or the other at least once a week). He’s 6. He never smells, never looks dirty. His clothes are clean every day and he always looks presentable. Sometimes you just have to pick your battles.

Edited for typos.

It’s only seen as neglect on MN, because so many MNers are obsessive about what they see as ‘hygiene’ - I use quote marks advisedly - washing everything , inc. towels, after just one wear or use.

As for changing bed linen, which was something else the pp worried about being ‘dirty’ mentioned, most people’s sheets - unless they’re particularly sweaty or smelly types - do not need to be changed weekly. Yes, it’s nice if you can and if you want to, but it’s not normally necessary.

3yo and 1yo here. They're both on the go non stop whether it's nursery for the eldest or in the garden now the weather is warmer. We are in the bath daily camp and both kids have had a daily bath since they were 6-8 weeks old. The only time we don't is if they have a temperature.

No it's not neurotic.

How old are your children?

They all need their bottoms washing as kids don't always wipe very well and little girls do need their bits cleaning.

I'm just a bit shocked at how so many people seem unaware of basic hygiene.
If you're not showering or bathing, are you sending your kids to bed with grubby bottoms and the rest?

My kids were bathed every day, hair washed a few times a week.As they got older, and we lived in a house with a shower they chose bath or shower and both chose one or the other daily. As a child I was bathed once a week, hair washed once a week. Clothes had to last a school week. My parents both smoked indoors and I’m sure I and my clothes stank. I wasn’t having that for my children.

I only bathed once or twice a week as a kid and so do mine. If mine look dirty then she will get a bath/ shower regardless. But bathing them when they’re clean every day I think is neurotic

As a side observation on the once a week bath in the 70s I remember a few years ago watching a documentary made in 1976 and thinking that the people in it would not be considered really clean by modern standards. They were professional people too so presumably met a certain standard of appearance at the time. This was not a matter of fashion which has obviously moved on but actual cleanliness, they looked like they needed a good shower.

What does one bath a week mean? Is there any other type of washing going on in between?

It may not be neglect, but anything less than a daily shower (2 preferably) is a no in my house and extended family.

Different strokes for different folks and all that.

The post you’re referring to was more than baths though, as bed are changed and the bathroom washed once a month or two monthly. That’s a whole other realm of cleanliness, so it’s more likely than not the children smell.

Lots of posters here 'were children in the 1970s'.

I was working then and had left home.

Most people I knew then had a daily bath but the difference was that showers weren't in (almost) all houses like today.

Now that almost all houses have a shower, it's really simple to give yourself and your kids a shower that takes 3 minutes. Far easier than a strip-wash, which is the other option.

Agree with poster who says that anyone who thinks this is neglect, hasn’t seen neglect. Mine are bathed once to twice a week (they hate it) and couldn’t have more love and privilege than they do.

Sunday night was bath night in the '70s, my brother and i survived both physically and mentally.. it was not and is not, neglect!!

Plus environmentally its a good idea..

Pretty sure when I was a kid my mum only bathed me once a week.

When my children were in nappies they bathed each day, that seemed necessary to me.

Now they are older I want them to shower every day. Some do, some don't (my 10 yo is very difficult to get showered, so only 2/3 per week).

I shower every day, sometimes twice if I want to "wash off" my work day and reset. I have to wash my hair every day because I wake up looking awful, like I've stuck fingers in a plug socket!

Each to their own!