How often do you bathe your toddler?

[PlumpShady]

A conversation with a friend has left me wondering if I'm really gross!

My 2 year old has a bath twice a week - usually one weekend one where she will have her hair washed, nails cut, ears cleaned etc and one shorter midweek one. That's it, unless we've been doing something like painting.

Friend said her toddler has a bath every night. Is this normal?

I wash her face every morning and evening and frequently her hands, is it enough?!?

Every night as part of our bedtime routine.

I would find it a bit gross not to shower/bathe him everyday- nappies, him touching everything in sight and then putting hands on his face, dirty feet from walking around the house/sneaking into the garden….

It was always part of our nightly routine as a way of bridging the cranky gap between dinner and stretching out bedtime just a little bit. Plus they used to get grubby just because they were toddlers.
Dc2 and I had suffered with dry skin but Dh fitted some kind of water softener filtration system thing and it was never really an issue after that.

When they are in nappies they need bathing every day. Once a bit older every other day might be enough.

Come again?

That’s a massive overreaction.

Twice a week? that is so grim.

No it's not. Stop trying to make her feel like shit.

We did every nights as a) part of wind down routine and b) it's seen as very gross not to bathe/shower children every day in our home country.

Every other day. Used to be daily until he was potty-trained. Was easier to clean the whole lot of him, when he needed to be cleaned after a dirty nappy, if that makes sense?

Same here. Eldest gets a couple of showers too after swimming etc but the small one gets bathed about twice a week.

Once or twice a week here. They don't go to nursery yet and we don't have a garden, so they aren't muddy every day or anything.

No it's not.

We did every day until he was 4, now do every other day

You bath your child twice a week? So on the days that you don’t bath them, how are you washing the nappy area? I guess you’re not. I take it you’re just wiping them when you change their nappy and that’s it?

I have a 2.6 year old and a 19 month old. Each child has a bath each morning and I don’t think that’s ever been skipped. I couldn’t bath my kids twice a week when I myself shower once a day. Bit weird imo

This

Obv when in nappies did a top and tail daily but baths every day made her skin dry

Obv if very dirty /muddy /been to a farm we would bath that evening

Don't you use baby wipes every nappy change?!

Every day. Always have. Now this might be anecdata but my teen was bathed daily as a child and now showers daily with zero prompting and has brilliant personal hygiene, compared to my 2 best friends, both their children had 2/3 time a week baths and now they have poor personal hygiene during puberty and need reminding to shower.
A bath takes 30mins tops, they only need a few minutes in the bath or shower.

I see all sorts of threads here on partners who have poor personal hygiene and how disgusting it is. But it’s ok for a child to be in a nappy and only wiped with baby wipes and properly washed twice a week??? No. It’s not ok.

Once a week up until a month ago, unless she needed a bath for some reason. She hated it and it was not worth the tantrums. Plus I believe it's not for their skin.

A month ago she decided she loved showers and demanded a shower /bath every night. As predicted her skin went downhill. Now she has one when she wants, without bubbles in the main. She's clean and her skin is fine.

I suppose it’s also not just about the bath for kids who wear nappies. Sure you can clean with wipes but in winter, it’s the only nappy free time DS gets. Without a daily bath he’d literally be in a nappy 24/7!

Every day because they are farm kids.

However we are on holiday this week and it's been every other day as a treat! For mummy.

Harvard Medical School says once or twice a week is probably fine for most here.

I wonder how many parents bathed their kids every day before Johnson’s et al spent a fortune on marketing campaigns, making people feel that their shit products were an essential part of a bedtime routine. As someone said up thread, it’s yet another stick to beat busy parents with.

Whenever he stinks!

Some of the replies on here are utterly bonkers. I bath my DD twice a week normally, more if she gets dirty/food in hair etc. Hands, face and bottom cleaned throughout the day several times. Absolutely no need for toddlers to be bathed every single day. If its part of the routine and they enjoy it that's completely different, but from a hygiene perspective there's no need for daily baths

Once a week but exczema and baths really sound Dts up and it took forever to get them
to seep afterwards. It wasn't a relaxing experience!

Every day here as it's part of her bedtime routine. Decided today to reduce hair washing to every other day as her scalp is getting a bit flaky again.
DD loves bathtime (as do I) so it's a bit of fun for both of us, especially after working all day.
I have a shower every night as well as it helps me wind down and feel clean and fresh at the end of the day before going to bed (saves time in the morning as well as I'm terrible for getting up in the mornings!)