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

[formerbabe]

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.

YABU but then I only shower every other day, I do wash each morning though. According to previous mumsnet threads this means I must stink (I really really don't).
I bath my kids two or three times a week and wash their hair once a week. Faces and hands are washed daily. They are clean, fluffy haired and not smelly. Ds1 has eczema so I don't want to over wash him, ds2 gets frequent comments on his beautiful skin. A daily bath seems excessive to me but I don't really give a shit how often other people wash.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis

This was posted on Page 2, thought it was worth reposting, it makes for good reading.

When mine were born we lived in a house with no heating.
The bathroom was freezing, and tbh it was unfair to bath them every night unnecessarily.
When we moved we had an elderly boiler that was a nightmare to squeeze hot water out of for the first few years.
It's only been the last year or so that bathing has become relatively unproblematic.

I have learnt by now though, that absolutely no detriment comes from lack of daily bathing, so I see no need to alter things.

Each to their own but my two are bathed every night, sometimes even twice a day. DS does get very dirty especially after he's been playing out(dirty fingernails, soil in his hair, mud on his legs) the time it would take me to wash him I could dunk him quicker. I also have a bath every night and sometimes a morning shower. I don't think it's the right way, it's just what we do in our house.

Ahaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaha 18 pages debating the frequency of bathing children! The answer can only ever be subjective and has way to many variables to have a definitive answer.
OP YABU to be shocked that not everyone has the same ideas as you regarding bathing. save the shock, there are more shocking things ahead............

and it takes approximately 8 hours for the skin to fully rehydrate following a bath.

Yes indeed, I judge YOU op, for washing away all their natural oils!
You shall age them prematurely
Seriously, my doctor told me to stop bathing them everyday and said mothers were "obsessed" with daily baths, unnecessarily.

I wash their hands/faces/necks before bed.
Other than that they are showered/bathed in a plastic tub a few times a week.

However, we live on an island with no mains water. So we couldn't really ALL have baths every night anyway.

Still, my children are clean, spanks for asking!

Bath mine every other day or say, wash when needed... They are clean and don't smell.

It's strange that daily bathing has become such a marker of being a good parent. And seen as the norm when in reality, it's a very recent phenomenon.

I wonder what signs and symbols of good parenting people used in the 70s and 80s?

Bath once or twice a week... Don't smell. Washed daily... Loved.. Happy... What else matters

Spanks for asking Angry beaver?

Who gives a crap? This is ridiculous.

OP can't come back and receive her spanks for asking as she's in the bath right now.

Our kids won't be bathing their kids everyday as they'll have learnt to use water wisely.

I also agree we need our natural oils and the hygiene hypothesis.

I'll bath my dd consecutive days if needed but otter goes a few days without a bath.

I also waited until she was 4 weeks until she had her first bath/wash.

I am so lazy!

You are a bit cruel then Bulldozers otters love the water

Aww bless, OP. Are you feeling a bit insignificant in RL and needing to have a little pop at the posters today?

My 15 month ds has severe eczema and his skin would be hanging off if I bathed him more than twice a week, does that make me a bad mother?! I can assure he's very clean. Get a life op!

Agree about the natural oils and most baby/children's soap make dd's skin itch because of the chemicals.
And it's such a waste of water. I bet you do 5 loads of washing a day too, op.

Weekly baths here (most of the time...take that as you will)

OP - yanbu, but should maybe ask some nice-smelling children's parents and see if their answers surprise you ;-)

Bulldozers or alternatively our children will be bathing their children four times a day and saying things like 'twice a day might have been ok in 2014 but times have changed you know'

OP you are coming across as a troll annoying curtain twitcher. Please find something more important or interesting to worry us about.

You seem easily "shocked" and "amazed", OP.

Op, yes you can flush bum wipes

DS2 was (and to an extent remains) water adverse. Getting him in a bath more than once a fortnight was a miracle of Lourdes proportions. He would allow wet wipes, sometimes a flannel. He will shower now when he is reminded. He has to be reminded every single time.

He has always smelled nice.

Thanks for the inference that I am a shit mother and he must stink though.

Haha, I was bathed once a week if I was lucky and never smelt (shower daily now), my kids are done every other day (ish) sometimes it goes to three days and sometimes even four so shoot me ;)......