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!

I only bath DD (almost 2)after nursery (3 days a week, not consecutive) as she does need it then. When she was tiny I would only bath her twice a week, top and tail other days - unless there was an explosive poo emergency (quite frequent!).

I don't bath her any other days unless she obviously needs it from playing outside, etc.

I didn't have a shower today. I had a bath last night, and have not done anything energetic today, and no, I won't have a shower until tomorrow morning. I smell fine, and I know when I don't so no YANBU

For a young child, a bath once a week and daily washing. For adults daily showers

LDNmummy I had terrible eczema until my early 20's
arms wrapped every night in coal tar cream and bandages, Prescribed sleeping tablets as a teen for it

It has been so much better since i bathed (twice a) day!

Every other day here, in the hot weather I admit I want one every day, but the dc aren't bothered and don't smell.

If your dh wants them to be bathed every day then he should do it at least half the time.

I don't even think adults need a bath/shower every day. My skin gets terribly dry afterwards (even with emollient) so I tend to do every other day, with washing of the essential bits on the non-bath/shower days. Don't feel stinky (of course who knows what others think). It depends on what you do, though, and the weather. If you're very active and it's very warm, you're going to need to wash more. I think people are overly concerned with cleanliness these days.

Another vote here for not bathing them every night - mine (age 5 and 2) just get done every other day or two (2-3 times a week) unless they are obviously very grubby or in need of it.

that said, littlest one adores being in the bath and would happily stay in for hours at a time, getting him out of it is the bigger problem (or stopping him from climbing in and starting to run his own bath when I'm not looking. argh)

also a firm believer that bathing every day when you don't need it is one way to increase eczema rates and reduce the body's natural immune system (on the basis a little bit of dirt is good for you)

I grew up in 60's and 70's and nobody bathed every day - kids or adults. Showers were new-fangled and most houses didn't have them. Central heating was unusual in all but the posh houses too and most people couldn't afford to have constant hot water by keeping the immersion running all the time.
We washed all over daily, as did our parents, and we did not smell. Our clothes were clean and it was bath night on a Sunday. And my mother was rabid about personal hygiene. She would bawl us out big-time if we hadn't washed to her satisfaction.
It's ridiculous to suggest that you can only be clean by showering/bathing every day.
I also suffer from eczema which has been very severe at times, covering large areas of my body, and was advised to avoid too much bathing/showering.
I take offence at anyone suggesting I am unclean because I shower every other day and strip wash on the days in between.

I used to bathe my kids every night when they were tiny to preschoolers.

They'd get fractious late afternoon and it was a good way of interrupting any strops.

They loved baths and after a long day it was an easy activity for me to engage them with

It was a signal for winding down for bed and signalled the end of the day.

It suited us as a family but not necessary. There are other ways of obtaining the same benefits :)

Children are not sweaty , smelly creatures until they hit puberty. At this point, they probably do need to wash more often. I grew up only being bathed once a week. Somehow, as an adult I appear to have managed to develop the ability to recognise that this probably isn't enough any more.

DS2 is currently suffering from extremely dry, itchy skin. I have specifically been told not to bath him every day. In fact, the phrase used was 'bath him as infrequently as possible'. Nothing lazy about it. I'd be happy to bath him, he loves it, but his skin doesn't.

Gorgeousx has a bit of an issue with those who don't bath/shower daily. She has previously accused me of stinking and being unwelcome on public transport because she assumes that not bathing children every day carries to adults not washing every day.

I think QueenofFlippingEverything sums up my view on this one most effectively.

There are also poor children who live in slums - shall we all do the same?

Will it help those poor DC who have no water?

If it did I would gladly become a minger, like the rest of you.

Gorgeous, you really do make me laugh. Silly little girl - off you trot!

'night bubbleyummy

My kids are bathed (or showered) once or twice weekly.

I don't shower daily. I would be in agony if I did. I have itchy painful psoriasis and hate showering though do it because I need to. I wash thoroughly the days I don't and I have plenty of honest friends who would tell me if I smelt and they never have done.

As people have said when the majority of us were young people just didn't have a bath or shower every day. We just learned to wash properly

surely that should be 'mingher'?

once a week here for a bath, bathwater is shared by the youngest and me!
then a quick shower down and scrub in the bath using the showerhead thingy for the youngest each night and the usual shower cubicle for the eldest.

baths are a bit disgusting really, wallowing around in dead skin etc, and i only use mine because it has a whirlpool thingy on and we use it to make lots of bubbles-- relax in.

sorry about caps, lost my bloody button again

My 18mth old doesnt get bathed every night I thought I was like the worst mum on earth, but at that age, what are they actually doing that would warrant a bath every day and it strips the protective oils.

Yes but NotaMopsa you are applying your particular situation to everyone else and implying that we are just making excuses. I for instance have a friend who suffers from incredibly severe exzema all over her body, the kind hat crusts and scabs over till the skin splits, not pleasant. She needs to take salt baths for it apparently and steroids when it flares up.

I on the other hand could not possibly have salt baths as it would make mine flare up and my skin inflamed and sore. Everyone is different, in this case the majority of people need to do the opposite to you.

In regards to my exzema I had to see a specialist who explained that bathing was not an option for me except in clean clear water but should be avoided. Showering once a day is fine but I have to use special emolients and not expose certain parts of my body to soap to avoid inflamation.

My point is that we are all different. It is not an excuse, especially not when a doctor is advising you that it is the best course of treatment.

never implied it was an' excuse 'LDNmummy
I cannot shower as my skin dries beyond belief after one

salt water is heaven and bathing in the sea works wonders for my eczema

I have a few children and some had eczema and have dry skin but i have learned from my experience and treat my bairns thus

Very probably 'gorgeous', given that you specifically told me I was neglecting my children by not bathing them every day. Given the growing population, it may not be that many years until our apparently endless supply of clean water is a limited resource.

QBEE I agree with you about the spelling of 'mingher'.

I used the above spelling earlier and was told by a poster that there is no 'h' in minghing.

As the said poster was adamant about the spelling I accepted it, but, as you are in agreement with me, I must be right, as usual.

Nope it's minging. If you say it as minghing then I guess you are the sort of person who says sing-hing and ring-hing too?

We could never bathe or shower my two younger ones every night they both suffer with dry itchy skin and have the correct prescriptions for them,its silly of your husband to be so tetchy over it...clean hands to stop the spread of germs is the most important and cleaning teeth of course.

i bath my ds2 every 1/2 days i used to bath him every day but was making his skin dry ,oh well im nust be a minger too

when DD was born we were told by midwives to bath every night. DD had very dry skin & then we reduced the bath to every other night and when she went out of nappies she also got a shower every morning. our doctor said we were over bathing her skin, so she now gets a bath once a week and washed with a flannel every morning. her skin is not as bad. her hair used to be greasy because of the oilatum but her hair is lovely now. do whatever you think is best.