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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be shocked at how many parents don't....

658 replies

formerbabe · 05/04/2014 09:33

bath their children every day!

Following on from the thread about a poster not changing her children into pyjamas, I was surprised reading the responses how many people say they only bath their kids a couple of times a week.

I bath mine every night before bed and always have done, bar illness or something catastrophic happening in my day. On the rare occasion they have had to miss their bath, I have done a quick wipe down with a flannel, but they never seem clean after it. My kids seem to get filthy during the day, mud/food etc.

I know those kids who have excema cannot always have a bath everyday, but for anyone else it just seems like pure laziness to me.

OP posts:
Flicktheswitch · 05/04/2014 19:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ThatBloodyWoman · 05/04/2014 19:09

Actually, I take mine swimming every week for a wash.

formerbabe it's a matter of perspective, that some in this country fret about a daily bath, , and judge others who don't do that, when kids are dying in the world from lack of clean drinking water, don't you think?

pianodoodle · 05/04/2014 19:12

The OP is unreasonable to be shocked that not everyone does the same thing, but not to bath daily if she wants to.

Some weird responses though! This is bollocks....

nightly bathing is nothing to do with hygiene OP, it is to do with a lack of energy and imagination in your parenting abilities

As is this....

You're missing out on learning and loving your childs personal scent by washing it away, and all you're smelling is what you bathed them in that week. I think its a shame and you're missing out on something that vital to the mother/baby bond.

beccajoh · 05/04/2014 19:13

My toddler has a bath every other day usually, mainly because she gets dirty. My newborn is ten weeks and has had (I think) six baths since he was born, none of them with soap. That is a bit slack I'll agree, but he's usually asleep at bath time and I'm not going to wake him up. The world hasn't ended!

beccajoh · 05/04/2014 19:14

P.s neither of them need a bath to know it's bed time. They know it's bedtime because they're tired Wink

Frusso · 05/04/2014 19:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cleoowen · 05/04/2014 19:17

Ybu I bath ds a few times a week and have done since birth. He's 15mo and I did it on purpose. I didn't want it to be too much of his routine as what happens if I am unable up bath him? Perhaps I want to go out to dinner/ friends house and transfer him straight from pram/car to cot? Maybe we will be somewhere that doesn't have a bath. Ds is the most important thing to me but dh and I felt we still need our own life and didn't want him not to be able to go to bed without having a bath.

He's not caught any horrible diseases and isn't dirty so I don't think it's a problem. It let's us all , including ds who sometimes is so tired he needs to go straight to bed rather than having a bath .

noblegiraffe · 05/04/2014 19:19

Why is 'plain water and soap' any less chemical than a baby wipe?

Not that I know anyone who cleans their entire baby with baby wipes anyway. They're expensive.

Original poster
formerbabe · 05/04/2014 19:21

Frusso...6 and 3

My youngest is a particularly messy eater!

OP posts:
treaclesoda · 05/04/2014 19:24

I'm finding this thread so addictive. I just can't stop myself checking it, I've been doing it all day. Blush

I'm just awaiting the 'I bathe my children all day long, it's the only way I feel they're clean. It's just what you do, isn't it?' statement from someone, and then my day will be complete Grin

diaimchlo · 05/04/2014 19:24

Teacupdrama

there is no clinical reason for anyone to use anti-bacterial soap in the home but its a brilliant marketing ploy to make people who do not buy it to feel guilty that they are somehow exposing their loved ones to risk, the risk is from poor handwashing technique not the type of soap

Totally agree. As a child of the 60's we were bathed once a week and washed every morning and night. I lived on a farm and played out most of the time obviously getting dirty.

I never suffered from any skin conditions or allergies and in fact it was extremely rare to hear of anyone that did.

It is definitely the introduction of excessive hygiene laws and marketing methods that have caused the upsurge of allergies, D&V bugs, etc. During my school years things like Asthma, eczema, food poisoning etc were few and far between as our immune systems were strong, our bodies, homes and clothes were clean.

IMHO YADBU, As for the hoovering and putting makeup on for you DH, you should be giving your children your undivided attention whilst they are in a bath, it can only takes seconds for an accident to happen.

HolidayCriminal · 05/04/2014 19:25

Mine only bathe sporadically & I know other families like that. I can't see any problem with it other than me getting annoyed by people who think only their way of doing things is the right way.

Mothergothel99 · 05/04/2014 19:33

Three times a week plus swimming.
I don't strip wash between either, it's miserably cold to be strip washed.

barneyisthedevilindisguise · 05/04/2014 19:39

I have to bath mine every other night or the bathroom carpet which my landlord considerately laid before we moved in would never dry out!! Both of mine had eczema as babies, I bathed my first everyday when he was in nappies, however when no 2 came along it wasn't always possible, now as long as they have three baths a week I am not really bothered.
And seriously who has not heard of toilet wipes?? My kids never have dirty bottoms.
Op, if this is your pfb, be prepared for a serious wake up call when you have no 2. It happened to me!!
Ideals don't matter, happy kids do.

FiftyShadesOfGreen4205 · 05/04/2014 19:41
Confused
barneyisthedevilindisguise · 05/04/2014 19:42

Also, on hospital wards antibacterial soap isn't used, it's just plain old soap and water, which kills pretty much everything!

Original poster
formerbabe · 05/04/2014 19:46

I have 2 children...it was a massive wake up call having two, but they were still bathed everyday!

OP posts:
Original poster
formerbabe · 05/04/2014 19:47

Toilet wipes look like a rip off to me..can they be flushed down the loo?

OP posts:
yorkie84 · 05/04/2014 19:51

Yabu. A doctor once told me most skin problems are caused by bathing too much.

yorkie84 · 05/04/2014 19:52

Yabu. A doctor once told me much of the skinproblems in the western world are causedby bathing too much.

NoodleOodle · 05/04/2014 20:03

I think it's most reasonable to bathe your children when they need it and/or as part of a bedtime/morning routine. This will obviously be different for different children and different family routines.

badidea · 05/04/2014 20:03

YABU - you don't need a bath every day to be fit and healthy (or clean) DS1 used to get bathed nightly, but then he really went off it, so now we just bathe him twice a week (sometimes once) and that is mainly because at 4 he still has cradle cap so we need to dentinox him.

DS2 loves his bath (he's 10 months) so we bathe him every night, unless we're running late (e.g. out for dinner or at my folks or something) and then we might skip it - rarely though.

We don't use soap or any kind of cleaning stuff on either of them (DS1 has ecema and sensitive skin and needs creamed up twice a day, and I've never wanted to risk it with DS2)

DS1 isn't dry at night yet, so when he wakes up wet, I do wipe him over with a warm wet cloth (don't want to send him to nursery smelling of wee!)

I can't believe people have such strong views about bathing kids - I was a child of the 70's and sunday night was bath night (unless I was wet overnight, in which case it was often a shallow bath in the morning before school). That seemed to be the norm (and perfectly acceptable) then, not sure when that changed....

Pobblewhohasnotoes · 05/04/2014 20:03

Are there more allergies these days or is it that we just know more about them? Years ago children would have died from anaphylaxis, or cows milk intolerance. Now we have treatment available.

My DS has eczema and a dairy allergy and it runs in the family. Hence why on examination they ask you exactly that.

I agree the world has gone anti-bac mad. Dettol adverts just play on parents' paranoia.

LookHowTheyShineForYou · 05/04/2014 20:16

Interesting thread. Although I admit I skipped the last 12 pages.

The obsession with daily baths is very strange. Unless the child has rolled in mud, what on earth can justify a complete dip in water every day, if a soapy flannel and a brush for fingernails can achieve just the same?

Especially in the colder months, when most of the kid is covered by clothes anyway.

What a massive waste of water.

My children have always had baths as and when they needed them. Nothing to do with laziness, but with caring for their skin.

LoonvanBoon · 05/04/2014 20:16

it was a massive wake up call having two, but they were still bathed every day

Sorry, OP, but this does sound a bit smug - like you're still insisting there's a correlation between frequency of bathing & whether or not you're a slacker parent. People have given you loads & loads of reasons, on this astonishingly long thread, why they don't do daily baths! Do you still really think it's just laziness? And have you told us yet why you give a shit?