To not bath my DC every night?

[SeeJaneKick]

DH insists they have a bath every night and I say that it's fine every other night.

They don't smell and if DH isn't here then I sometimes just wash their hands, face, teeth and nethers.

He's Aussie and I reckon he thinks it's necasary because it IS in Oz...the heat and everything.

It's a bloody mare! Mess and delay every night!

Actually, tell him because it removes natural moisture from the skin, it promotes dry skin and exema in young children.

i feel terrible [embarrassed] as my nine year old hardly ever has a bath ,probably weekly ! No eczema or other issues but we just don't bathe very often, eekk ! . I shower daily ( of course !) but he never seemed to have time once he started school with all his after school activities ... we started missing baths , but he never got nits in infants and beyond - obviously nits don't like dirty hair...
He swims in squad twice a week, so he does get a rinse . I'm a terrible mother

Yes, that's the reason people give when they're too lazy to bath their DC.

do you wash everyday?
Why don't children deserve the same treatment. I would feel horrible if I didn't bath or shower, I presume children feel the same.

Saying that, I do think they should once they start school. What we do in my house and my sisters house is have a bucket and wash cloth for giving the kids a once over before bed, but not a full on bath. In the summer though they have one cool shower a day.

We bathed dd every night when we were trying to teach her about bed time etc but now she's 3 and has eczema the dr told us not to bath her every night. We do it every other night - which is how often I shower/bath as I too have eczema - Gorgeousx we are not unhygienic, it's unhealthy to be too clean and sterile and dr has said bathing everyday is not suitable for human skin - particularly on young children. She does wash her hands and face before bed (and teeth obviously).

I can only assume Gorgeousx's dc is not very good at cleaning themselves after toileting.

DS is 4, rinsed twice a week after swimming, and bathed once. He has eczema so I've never bathed him every day.

YANBU although I shower DS twice a day. But he still soils himself. If they aren't dirty and smelly they are fine

I am with your DH
I bathe all mine young and old every night

My dc have never had a bath every night without fail.

As newborns they didn't have all that many because it was just so stressful! and holding them up in the baby bath inside the adult bath was pretty hard work. So they probably got a bath every 4 or 5 days then.

As toddlers they might have had 4 or 5 baths a week. Or an every other night kind of thing.

Now they are 10 and 7 they have showers - dd every night more or less unless we are up very late, ds every other night, just to be hygienic.

But, no, there is absolutely no need whatsoever to bathe the average child of any age every night.

As a lifelong eczema sufferer I don't buy the not bathing argument. Does not hold true for me

hands up, I'm lazy . Yes, i wash every day
However I am a stickler for washings hands very regularly, we seems to be quite a healthy family , no tummy upsets etc

We wash our 1yo twice a week. When I was growing up - in the 70s - it was common for children to bathe once a week only.

PrincessScrumpy If that is the "only" assumption you can make about my DC, it's no wonder you don't have the intelligence to decide on hygiene matters for yourself, without consulting your doctor.

Every other night here for dd (4) unless exceptionally mucky after pre-school. Yanbu

I just think after a day of running around they would feel more comfortable after a bath? I know I do - it's warm and relaxing and a great time to have a chat with them. DS and I have some of our best talks when he's in the bath!

My daughter has a bath every other night.

oh come on GOREOUSX, don't take everything so seriously !

YANBU. Ds has a bath every other night as a rule, sometimes every 3rd.

NotaMopsa coming from a family of chronic dry skin and exzema sufferers, I assure you that doctors advise children in my family to wash every other day.

As an adult, I obviously shower daily, which means I either have to use something like an emolient shower cream, or moisturize religiously daily, which I do.

And mine or my family's personal hygiene is impecable, if I do say so myself. We come from a culture where personal hygiene is so important that men are also taught to shave armpits and pubic hair as soon as they hit puberty (great for us girls ), just to show how big a deal it is.

The reason I'm being serious, is that I'm horrified and that there are so many minghing lazy-arse parents out there, spouting dry skin as a defence.

I think it's disgusting. Personally I wouldn't be able to sleep if I hadn't had a bath/shower and feel much more comfortable if I'm clean; I always afforded the same luxury to my My DC until they were old enough to shower/bath themselves, which they always do daily.

There have been lots of threads on MN about spouses not washing or tooth-brushing for weeks on end - it all starts with some of the attitudes expressed on here IMO.

Blimey, your name might be GORGEOUSX but your attitude isnt! Who pissed in your Rice Krispies?!

I do every other night as we only have one bath and we would have to start baths at around 4pm to do everyone everynight so we do alternate nights!

Btw Gorgeous, you can be clean in other ways that bath/showering you know! Ever heard of washing?

yanbu

my toddler is sometimes just too damned tired for a bath.
But sometimes she loves it.

Ditto the eczema thing we doit 3/4 times a week.

last weekend i didn't bath her for 4 days......

Gorgeous I think you have issues about dirt if you think a bath every other day is disgusting!