to think people who don't bath/wash their DCs every night are lazy?

[BigMommaOf4]

I am shocked by the amount of people on here who state that they only bathe/wash their DCs once or twice a week. OK bad cases of excema accepted, I just think that's soooo lazy. No one IRL I know leaves it that long so is it just a peculiar Mumsnet trait because they are too busy MNing?

DTS1 has excema btw, I just cover him in an emollient before he gets in the bath and it does not exercerbate it.

I mean, come on, babies and toddlers in nappies, older Dcs not very efficient at bum wipeing - how can people leave them to fester for days?

In the 'olden days' when tin baths had to be got out and water boiled in a copper pot, obviously it was not possible every day but nowadays that's not the case.

Also my DCs love RELAXING in the bath/shower. It's not only for cleanliness. They love feeling warm, clean and comfortable before getting into bed. Even my 12 week old starts getting excited just from me taking him upstairs of an evening because he knows he's going in the bath and he adores it.

Do all these people, who only bath their DCs twice a year, have a bath/shower every day themselves? Bet they do! Feel sorry for the poor DCs.

Anyone got the number of SS? I'm feeling the need to report myself!

Not.

Once my 4 were out of nappies and stopped crawling and doing the messy things toddlers generally do, they stopped having baths/showers every day. They have not yet developed any deadly illnesses from being so terribly unhygienic

They do need to shower every day once they approach puberty as obviously they start to sweat. Before that though, it is unnecessary and environmentally damaging.

YABU!

YABU unreasonable and my ds has a bath every single day but I'm going to cut it down- not great for his skin.

Just because YOUR kid covered in some cream does OK in the bath doesn't mean everyone elses does.

In fact - his hair is getting so dry I'll cut down hair washing until I see it's greasy.

Apologies for source

Bathing every day will do more harm than bathing a few times a week.

OP - are you my mother?

I do plonk mine in the bath every night. They like it. All the parents that I know IRL well enough to know what their bed time routine is do the same. But each to his own, who cares.

Was very "good" with DC1 but by time DC3 came along after big gap, am more lazy relaxed. Couple of baths a week with hairwash, teeth twice a day, face and hands morning and night.(in theory). When I say "bathtine" and he yells "you'll never take me alive" while adopting threatening Ninja turtle pose, i just think ok then, maybe tomorrow?
He has been known to not wear clean socks every day too. Does that make me a complete minger

Just bathed DD as she had a bit of a poo accident . First time she has been bathed 2 days running in........well ever really. I have 4 DC's and the only one who washes every day is DS1 who has discovered girls

I am at a complete loss to understand why DCs with eczema shouldn't be bathed every day.

I come from a family of serious eczema sufferers, and they all bath/shower very frequently indeed (more than once a day) in order to wash off the sweat/dirt/pollutants/allergens that cause eczema flare-ups.

Oh and OP you sound like Mrs Smug of Smugsville. Can I suggest you get out more.

Another thing I've discovered is that you clean babies very effectively with cotton wool and sunflower or olive oil. All soap is is oil + some soda-like substance. Oil dissolves most dirt and leaves skin beautifully soft and moisturised. Job done.

LadyBaiter - that article is dreadful.

Sunscreen is very bad for children. They should cover up and keep out of the sun.

What an odd OP.

It is perfectly possible to keep a DC clean without submerging them in a bath every night. A flannel and a bowl of warm water is sufficient. Especially if you have a DC who doesn't enjoy the bath and is very tired after a long day with a childminder and getting home late or whatever.

DD (22 months) gets a bath every other day when we have time for her to enjoy it, and on in-between days a wipe down with a flannel and some warm water with a little essential oil. If she bathes every day her eczema is noticeably much worse as we live in London and our water is hard and full of crap. We used to bath her every day but were advised to try doing it less frequently, and her skin is much better for it.

Bonsoir... dp has severe eczema, if he washes every day it gets worse and if he leaves it longer than 2 days between showers it gets worse. Every 2 days seems to be the best for his skin.

But every eczema sufferer is different, some like your relatives need to wash religiously and others find the natural oils on the skin seem to protect against it and wash as little as possible.

DP does say right after watching his skin burns and itches and feels terrible and it seems to need time to recover from that, if he washes it every day he flares up badly.

And as for sunscreen..... dd and ds2 rarely have it on but ds1 burns within minutes.... do you propose i send him to school with no sunscreen and allow him to be burned whilst they play out at lunch break.... which they have no choice about btw, or whilst playing sports?

Do get a grip love

We get the tin bath out on sundays.

I know Bonsoir, but I was trying to find something to back my thoughts that bathing everyday can course skin problems, first I found after a quick google.

The Department of Health recommends bathing no more than 3 times a week.

We bath our two DDs (5 years and 7 months) every other day. Don't see that they need any more than that.

what a funny thing to have such a strong opinion about!

Our DSs shower every day. Essential for boys in my view.

They told me that two brothers in their school dont get a shower more than twice a week and that they DO smell. Nice middle class family etc. Their DSs are just smelly because they dont bathe. How hard can it be to tell two boys age 8 and 10 to have a shower and give them clean uniform to wear?

Sorry but it is slovenly.

dementedma I didn't want to admit it after confessing to not washing hair or showering everyday, and being about to put on febrezed clothes but my socks are on day 2 as well

Essential for boys why?teenagers maybe but not younger children.

Of course your dcs think those other boys smell because they have an idea of how people should smell based on bathing everyday iyswim.

If your dcs are teenagers then its different as I said before.

Why is essential for boys to bathe more than girls?

Are they digging in mud daily?

I think it's essential to bathe more when you hit puberty for both sexes but that's when children tend to refrain from any water touching their skin.

2-3 times a week is suitable (clean as required if covered in sand,mud or sweat)

Oh my goodness.
It doesn't matter
If you bathe your dc every day
Or every other day
Or once per week
Who cares? Everyone does their own thing.
People are having a go at those who do bathe their dc everyday just as much.

I bathe ds everyday, as I hbe said. He's clean and healthy and his skin is silky smooth. Nothing wrong with it.
Likewise, nothing wrong with those who bathe less often!