to give DC4 (aged 2) TWO bath/showers a day?

[SlowlyGoingRoundTheBend]

He is usually drenched in the AM (even with a quick nappy change before I go to bed) and there is no way I could just wipe him over - he would stink all day so has a quick shower. He definitely needs a bath in the evenings as he poos and is generally quite disgusting so needs a good soak.

Anything less is skanky IMHO.

I did the same with the older DCs and then dropped the morning shower when they were dry at night although DD started showering in the AM as well as the PM when she started secondary school and I imagine the DSs will next year as well

According the SIL (who bathes her DCs perhaps 2-3 times a week - gross) it is ridiculous, too much work, too many wet towels and he must hate it (actually he loves feeling clean). Well how do you clean a nappy wearing toddler without putting them in the shower/bath? Who is BUR?

'theres no harm in being clean.'

Actually yes there is.

you must have one stinky kid to need to wash them all over so often.

You and your SIL are both being unreasonable for giving a toss how much you bath your own kids. Why has this even come up? 2 or 3 times a week is fine, so is twice a day if it doesn't irritate his skin. Are you this judgy with each other over everything? If so family get togethers must be really tedious.

My 2yo often gets two baths a day so I don't think YABU
However I do think YABU to think that if other people dont it is skanky.

if you and your child are both happy its no one else buisness IMO

If he is soaking through his nappy that bad then surely it's not the baths/showers you should be thinking about biy the type of nappy he is wearing and the amount he is drinking before bed to cause him to pee that much

I think you're being a bit OTT. A wash would suffice, surely?

Do you have a problem with the idea of not being clean? I ask simply because you say you did it with your other children as well.

I used to use cotton wool and baby lotion to clean DC's if they'd done a particularly nasty poo or in the morning.

I found it more effective than wipes alone.
Gets the muck off better and gets rid of odour.

Obviously not one for those with sensitive skin but it worked for me.
In fact I still use it on DS(3) who still wets at night or lying in bed first thing in the morning when he's too scared of the dark landing go to the toilet

Children don't really smell. Just keep their bottoms clean with wipes or a warm flannel. No need to wash them all over. Two showers a day are unnecessary for older children. I assume you shower twice a day and your kids follow suit? There's no need.

YABU.. Used to bath my DS everyday whose nearly 2 but it was drying out his skin. I now alternate each day with a bath/wash. If he's poo'd we use wipes and there's no smell.

I think when they hit puberty a bath/shower everyday is needed IMO.

YANBU re the number of times you bath dc (ds has to have a bath each evening, yoghurt + hair= mess and sometimes I bath him in the mornings in the summer if he's had a very sweaty night (just cool water and he loves it anyway) but don't judge others!

It's too much - why do you need to soak him anyway?

YABU, maybe get hold of some better nappies.

There's nothing wrong with what you are doing at all. Why mess around with a face cloth and warm water etc when you can put him in the shower! Then I think a bath before bed is a good thing for small children. It's nice for them to go to bed clean and they do get very grimey in the day. If other people don't want to, that's fine - they do what works for them, not my concern but it's not for anyone else to say it's ridiculous or too much for you either.

I bathe both DC daily, occasionally twice if I think they need it.

They love the bath and IMO children definitely need daily bathing/showering.

I think it all sounds incredibly expensive (water, sewerage, heating the water, washing and drying towels) and almost certainly unnecessary for all your DCs to be regularly having two showers or baths a day.

YANBU, andif necessary I do the same. Never had a problem with dry skin.

I'm surprised that his nappy is so full every morning that he needs a bath. And poo you just wipe off with baby wipes, don't you?

I think it sounds out of the ordinary and I'm worried that you have some kind of cleanliness obsession that you're passing on to them.

How often do you shower? Be honest!

As long as his skin is not prone to eczema or drying out, 2 showers a day is fine.

My DC became much less mucky as they grew out if toddlerhood, so needed less frequent showers as they got older.

If your DC's nappy is drenched through, is the nappy type adequate? Sleeping in a saturated nappy is not going to help . Even so, a thorough wash in the morning should suffice , or cotton wool and baby lotion might give his skin a rest from being wet.

So YANBU to bath 2x per day, and SIL 's routine is fine as long as DC are clean.

YANBU to bathe/shower DS twice a day if a) he needs it, b) you have time, c) he doesn't mind and d) it's not drying out his skin.

YABU to proclaim that anyone who washes their DCs less frequently is 'skanky' or 'gross'. Toddlers aren't that dirty, unless they've been playing with mud, paint or similar. Wiping properly after toilet/nappy changes and cleaning hands and face after meals should be sufficient in between bath days.

Until I came on MN I thought bathing children every day was the norm and had never heard of baths drying out the skin. My children are bathed every day, twice a day if they are filthy or extra stinky. TBH I also find it a bit gross if children only have a bath twice a week.

I can sympathise, OP. DSS is not yet dry in the night but is quite a lot older than your DS. As he is prone to waking up sopping wet and is school age, we often pop him into the shower in the morning just to get rid of the smell of wee on him as I'd not want him to be teased at school as others would notice the smell. However he loves having a bath especially before bed as it really relaxed him and will often ask to have a bath at night even on days he's already had a shower. I don't think he needs it for cleanliness but he loves it and I don't think that's unreasonable? His skin is fine - if it were a problem we'd probably have to re-think.

I bath toddler DD in the morning, and top and tail at night (including hands obvs). There is no way the rest of her gets dirty enough to warrant another bath/shower. I only top and tail because she is still in nappies once she's out of them, and therefore not had wee/poo next to her skin, she'll be getting a bath a day and a hands and face wash before bed.

I could get away with topping and tailing in the mornings every other day as well, but she loves the bath and it's no hardship to stick her in so I do.

She certainly never stinks, and part of me thinks if your DS does then maybe you need to look at either your nappy changing routine if he's still stinking after it something isn't right or what maybe consider that you may have a cleanliness obsession.

Just like to add I have long lasting OCD relating to cleanliness - and one bath/shower a day and topping and tailing is enough for me to know DD is clean. Despite my illness I find lots of things too filthy to contemplate I could never refer to my child in the way you did.

OK - I've read the OP several times here and cannot see where the OP says anything awful about her DS at all? What on earth do you mean I could never refer to my child in the way you did??

She said he stinks in the morning - he's in a soaked nappy, so he probably does - what's so wrong with saying that?

Some people don't notice that 'wet nappy' smell, some of us do. It's horrible. What's the point in faffing about with wipes or a 'wash down' when she can make sure he is fresh with a shower?

Apologies for upsetting the 2/3 times a week bathers but IMHO it is skanky!

Do you yourselves only bath 2/3 a week as well (if you do that is superskanky!)?

If you shower/bath daily, why would'nt you do the same for your DCs? Yes, younger DCs don't have BO but they do generally get food, dribble, mud, pen, paint, random sticky bits etc all over themselves and they do start to smell and nappy wearers do need their bums soaked when they are sitting in wee all day. A cloth does not cut it and they need to be put on a boil wash as well so what's the point?

The DC prefer going to bed clean with washed hair (all hair very glossy btw) in clean PJ's. OK in the 'olden days' a weekly bath was the norm but we have the facilities for daily bathing now so no excuse IMHO.

SIL stayed over and was incredulous that I had bathed DC4 in the evening and then showered him in the morning, that's where this cropped up. When her DC's were younger and I used to have them in the summer, they used to love having a nightly bath at mine and now they are teenagers , they still reminisce about having a bath every night when they stayed with us as they are not allowed to at home .

DS1 used to wet the bed until the age of 8 and he had a morning shower in addition to his nightly bath as well.

itsallinthememories Thank you, I always thought that as well and I can only assume that the majority of MNers don't bath their DCs daily as it cuts into their time on here!

DS1 does have excema but the few times we tried cutting down baths to every other night (with soapy flannels in between for 'bits') it did not make any difference and I think that the latest guidance is a warm bath daily for up to 10 mins. The only thing that helps is when he gets a suntan and/or swimming in the sea funnily enough, then his skin is as smooth as the proverbial baby's butt.