to be shocked that SIL and her kids only bath / shower once a week?

[emilytankengine]

I have a shower every day, before work, sometimes twice if I've been to the gym or if we're on holiday / going out. I probably make sure the younger kids get a bath about 5 times a week and my teenage daughter has a shower every day.

SIL was outraged at this and says that she only typically has a bath or a shower once a week! She says that she has a wash every day with a face cloth (including her bottom :O - with a face cloth!!).

Maybe it's me who's odd but I was staggered at this

[Riveninside]

Judgey much?
Dd has a flannel wash most days - she is 7. But if youd like to come round and help bathe her feel free. Its a 2 person job and SS only consider once a week necassary.

[Shaxx]

What the heck is a flannel wash?
Is it just wiping a damp a damp flannel all over? [sounds gross]

[JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar]

Daily for us, but for 10yo ds it's a weekly or twice weekly thing unless he's got himslef particularly grubby.

Once he hits puberty then clearly it'll be a daily thing but for now, I don't see the need.

[quirrelquarrel]

These sorts of people make me laugh! What does it matter- as long as they don't stink the house down! Do you hear yourself, OP? One bath a week, plus washing with a flannel every day- no problem. As long as you change your clothes regularly. The point is to avoid smelling and then not to have sores everywhere from bad hygiene. Otherwise, it's healthy to have a few extra germs hanging around. Again, I don't know why people care about this sort of thing!

I have AS and it's an awful bother for me, but I'm better at it than I used to be. A shower a week, hair washing every other day, that sort of thing. I live with people who would definitely not hesitate to tell me if I reeked, no word so far, so I feel quite safe in advocating my own cleanliness habits here...:o

[WyrdMother]

If once a week showers with washes inbetween freaks you out...

Six weeks without a wash: The soapless experiment

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-477378/Six-weeks-wash-The-soapless-experiment.html

[qwepoi]

I used to love sunday baths and then having my hair dried while watching 'All Creatures Great and Small' or ''Allo, 'Allo'.

I bath a couple of times a week, DDs once a week (on sundays!), DH showers in the morning.

[quirrelquarrel]

Plus for little kids- they hardly sweat, their skin is all delicate- what's the point in getting them all clean and sterile? There's the allergy thing and the what happened to letting kids be kids running wild thing.

[purpleknittingmum]

I shower and wash my hair every other day, have done for years, in the heat of summer I will jump in and freshen up, OH bathes every day, daughter about 2-3 times a week

Like others have said, when I was a kid, I had a bath and washed my long hair once a week on a Sunday, and I was last in, but we would be topping up the water

I think even now my mum has a bath just once a week

[Cutiecat]

My DC (6 and 4) have 3-4 baths a week and I leave the water for DH when he gets home. I have maybe 2-3 showers in the morning but only wash my hair once. None of us smell. I really think that the changes in washing habits have more to do with the sale of shower gel and soap than need. Obviously this is different if you are a plasterer or something where you get grubby everyday.

[forehead]

I't s not as though she doesn't wash fgs, she wipes herself down every day. If she wasn't washing in between baths then that would be a different story.

[quirrelquarrel]

CC- at first I thought you said you had 2-3 showers every morning! :o

[purpleknittingmum]

One of my friends has a shower every morning and a bath every night. She admits she is a bit ocd with being clean, fresh pants on in the morning, walks the dog and then puts on a clean pair of knickers. She sometimes goes though about 3 or 4 pairs a day!

[starfishmummy]

Its only in recent years that a daily bath or shower has become the norm. When I was a kid it was a bath once a week and wash downs the rest of the time. Of course we washed our face first and then the other bits and the flannel was put in the laundry bin for a wash in the burco boiler. (I am old.....)

[TeacupTempest]

There is evidence to suggest that showering daily is bad for skin and hair. Humans didn't evolve to cope with that much washing! Strips the body of its own moisture and has been blamed for the massive increase in eczema and other skin disorders. (I speak as someone who suffers from psoriasis).

As long as she is clean and not smelly what is the big deal?

[BigTuna]

I was thinking about this not long ago. As people have been saying, it's only in the last 25-30 years that daily showering/bathing has been seen as the norm. It would have been too expensive and too much of a faff before with not everyone having a bathroom or freely available hot water on tap. A lot of people still wouldn't be able to afford or have the facilities to heat water for daily bathing even now. I didn't have hot water here for a number of years (luckily we had an electric shower) and it was enough of a pain having to boil kettles to wash up.

I wonder if we went back 50/60 years we'd be shocked by how whiffy everyone would seem compared to nowadays where everyone seems to be waxed, bathed, shined and perfumed from head to foot. I mean hairwashing was done once a week if that. No wonder it stayed in place!

[maypole1]

Do they smell I would be shocked children get so dirty especially when playing my son comes back from school in a right state.


He plays basket ball for 3 hours on a Saturday I wouldn't want him stinking the house out he's in the shower as soon as he comes home

[maypole1]

Sorry I am back tracking they was with a flannel witch is perfectly acceptable.


I though op ment they showered once a week and that's it.

We have a shower in the morning and wash with a flannel at night

[olderandwider]

I have a bath once a year, whether I need to or not.

[tallulah]

These threads come up frequently and I'm often left wondering whether people who have baths and showers every day have water meters? It is high time water meters were compulsory given that this level of water use seems to be the norm.

Like others I was brought up in the 60s and 70s and people didn't even have showers in their homes then. The fashion for showers seems to date from when people started taking more foreign holidays.

[valiumredhead]

We have a water meter - quite an eye opener from not having one in our last house!

[purpleknittingmum]

I agree tallulah, all houses should have water meters. It does seem odd that with gas and electricity, you pay for what you use but not water.

We moved last year and now have a water meter and am far more aware of how much we use. Our old home didn't have a proper shower you could stand in, just a lever on the tap to change it from the tap to the shower head. Now me and my daughter have showers all the time, my OH has baths as it is easier for him. The only times I have a bath is when I have had my hair cut in the morning and just need to clean up and get rid of all the bits, and once when I was ill, I just didn't trust myself standing in the shower, didn't want to faint - did that once years ago and fainted stepping out of the bath after having a shower

[purpleknittingmum]

waves to vallium!! :o

[valiumredhead]

[belgo]

Good for her. We should all do our bit for the environment. And obviously she will have separate flannels for faces and bottoms.

[PrisonerZero]

I have a bath twice a week. At which point I also wash my hair, my hair looks fine, I can't stand greasy hair.

Unless I am on my period or have had sex in which case I have a quick shower.

My DC are showered once a week on a Sunday unless they are very grubby, sweaty etc.

None of us look dirty or smell.