How old was baby when you first gave him/her a bath?

[Melittlebee]

My baby is 2 weeks old, the cord has now come away so wondering if I should bath him or wait a bit longer?
His feet are really dry and flaky so was going to at least moisturise.

The midwife gave me a demo at the hospital the day after she was born as it was the one thing I was really nervous about for some reason.

Is not bathing newborns a thing now? When DD was born (admittedly 35 years ago) the nurse showed me how to bath her the same day.

Mine had a bath in hospital he was born at 11.11 at night and had a bath about 12 the next day

I can’t remember, but I know I used water and cotton wool to clean his head off while still in hospital. A full bath was after we were home. A week maybe?

Two ish weeks but I can’t remember exactly. However he was born in the water so a lot washed off then

My first daughter was 2 days old (I was in hospital and wanted showing how to bath her).

My second was around 5-7 days old

It’s not “a thing”, it’s the current medical advice but parents can do what they want

A few hours old, each time. Finding it a bit grim people waited weeks. I suppose baby wipes would suffice, but still. The hairs all matted and bloody;.

You top and tail prior to first bath usually

Not every baby has hair. Vernix helps protect the newborn skin. I'm sure they still get faces and bums cleaned daily

18 days with both DC.

About an hour after she was born with last one. Why on earth would you out not to bath your baby? Grim.

Mine were bathed in the hospital a few hours after they were born.

I remember bathing dd2 at only a day or two old. There was a new (very nice) nurse who was supposed to help me, but she'd never bathed a baby before, so it was a case of me showing her the ropes! Maybe that's why I remember it.

It’s not grim. It’s the recommended advice these days. You don’t have to follow it if you don’t like it

I think about two weeks - which turned out to be a blessed relief because DS hated being topped and tailed, and loved loved loved the bath. He's still the same at six months, which is a pain because he is weaning, has eczema so can't have daily baths and he wails throughout having his hands and face washed...

Ok advice has changed since i had mine then! I bathed them every evening from day 1. Looking back now it was a bit ridiculous as they didn't need a bath, but it really was a 'thing' that people did.

Not sure what the connection is with cords coming off and baths though?

Within a couple of days. And wipes weren't recommended. Cotton wool and water for nappy changes.

Think DD was about 10 days old. No real reason other than I was a bit scared of how to do it 😂. Her cord came off on day 4/5 I think and don’t think I’d have done it before then even if I thought I knew what I was doing 😂

We were advised to wait at least a week or two as newborns have no fat on them and get cold easily.

Can't even remember. think just wiped her over with warm water rather than putting her in an actual bath as such.

The day after they were born in hospital. Had lots of hair and dried blood in it like a big scab.

DD was 5 days old, very shallow bath and sponged with water only to avoid getting the cord wet. Once cord had fallen off after about 2 weeks we started using baby wash/products. She had rather a lot of hair and it was rather matted/bloody so really needed washing!

At our antenatal classes, the midwife said the advice now is you can wait up to a month for a proper bath to let the vernix do its job and so the cord stump isn't immersed in water, etc. Of course you top and tail during this time as needed, but she said newborn babies don't really get dirty to warrant a full bath.

Not sure we will wait a whole month, but having had sensitive skin and eczema as a child myself, I'd rather wait a little bit at least.

Day after leaving hospital