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.

2-3 times a week is enough for kids, and every otherr day a shower for me

kids dont smell of BO like adults/teens do, and at this time of year in long trousers and sleeves and not rolling around the garden smoothered in sun cream, they dont get very dirty

what about the "good germs" that help their immune systems - being too clean is NOT a good thing and is responsible for a rise in allergies too

"No I don't NEED to bath them every night but it's not just about hygiene."

What else is it about?

Maybe they learn to swim in there as well?

Everyone in our house has a bath every other night (me, DH, DS1 (5) & DS2 (3), unless we've actually got dirty.

We live in the olden days, out water is heated by the stove or electric immersion heater. We have an ancient, massive, cast iron bath and no shower, we quite often share the water too....dirty, smelly AND lazy

...but happy

Oh come on, of course some children smell if they're not washed often enough!

My children had a bath every day and loved it - like the OP said, for mine it was a time to relax.

OK, perhaps it wasn't worth starting a thread about, but you'd think the OP had suggested killing off children who weren't clean!

Sometimes the mass fury over something so silly on here looks a hell of a lot like bullying.

So someone can basically right an OP saying 'I do this and I'm right, you lot don't and you are shit parents, aren't you ashamed?' and everyone is supposed to give her a hug? Oh no, it's bullying! Please...

What are you doing with your kids that they need to relax? Obviously you're driving them too hard. If you were giving them a nice day they wouldn't need to relax, surely?

no, not bulling, more about the tone of the OP, rather than the content I think.

DC1 has opted not to bathe with DC2 as she poos in the bath.

Think he has a point. It's cleaner out than in.

I'm on my own with my two dds (2.5 and 8 weeks) till 9.30pm six days a week with no help at all, and I can only manage to bathe them every other day. I don't think having to do housework and have a shower at 1am is lazy so YABU.

Does bathing your children nightly make them more likely to be G&T and able to recite all of ORT by heart?

atswimtwolengths...they don't smell if you wipe the bits that matter! No need for a bath every night...little ones dont sweat like over 9s do.

I am just lazy so no not every night, besides in our house if dd goes in the bath we are talking another hour of procrastination as she won't get out and this usually involves her getting herself even more worn out and then het up.

She has flannel baths morning and night regardless, so does ds and I haven't had a bath for weeks and a shower no longer than 5 mins for months............ yup I am lazy if you see it that way, myself i term it as busy!

Probably nothereisnobodylurking! Explains why my slightly grubby DC hates reading for me! Now if I bathed her more often she would certainly move up a set or two....and sit with the sparkly kids!

They dont need bathing everyday. SOmeone else pointed out it was once a week not that long ago.

Sundays was bath night. Kids are no dirtier now than they used to be. Probably cleaner.

If you like bathing your kids fine, if you dont fine.

As long as they are clean and dont smell of wee/poo whats the big deal?

I hate it when a perfectly mundane thing is turned into a competition.

"I bath my children every day' What and ODD thing to be smug about.

As for the eczema, if you knew that much about it you would understand that sufferers react differently to frequent bathing. Good for some, disaster for others.

That's right - everybody knows children who smell of Johnsons baby bath get more GCSEs, are more likely to marry a duke and become Prime Minister!

age old mumsnet one this no need to get silly

Lets speak really slowly for the OP to make sure she understands. My..children...are...not...your..children..my..life...not...you...life. DIFFERENT. You....not...god...of..parenting...we..not...need..your...commandments.

Now piss off and put your head in a bath, good chap.

Badbetty - I think the op is as daft as a brush but she certainly doesn't deserve that unpleasant post. Why don't you get HQ to remove it for you?

piss off

Mine only bathe every other day although they are teenagers now but there just isn't time every day as once in the bathroom, it's impossible to get them out! We share the bathwater (not the bath!) for economy and eco reasons so I don't mind if it's not every day, tho I have to admit sometimes they are a bit whiffy! But they will have to learn what is acceptable as they get older....

Well I take my dc swimming every other day without fail and we shower and wash hair afterwards. Am I a lazy person doing that activity with them four times a week but not bathing the nights in-between op?

Tell you what though my gas costs (metered) have dropped like you wouldn't believe since we started showering at the pool, baths cost a fortune!

BBB the OP sounds lovely compared to you. Will report that horrible post for you shall I?

so Op, you state you don't actually bath them every night - you sometimes skip if your are out late etc...... shame on you!

My life got a lot easier once I got over the HV induced tyranny of the daily bath! I love the evenings whe we don't do baths - so much more relaxing! Second HV said most children were bathed too much esp. as babies which can take off protective oil that is there to prvent infections etc. I could have hugged her! Now the little ones are bathed 2 or 3 times a week max with plenty of face washing and handwashing on a dilay basis, plus use of baby wipes when in the loo (so they don't smell of anything unpleasnat). Older DCs (over 10) a quick shower, most days. I don't bath everyday - i have terrible sensitive skin and the less I do to it, the better it is, even washing with plain cool water makes it really dry. I think generally skin is best left alone to find it's own natural balance, as long as you aren't actually whiffy!