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.

Totally agree, morethan.

Maybe the boasting is about using less water, and less wastage?

Initially we bathed DS daily as the dermatologist told us to, to give him a good soak in all the emollients as his eczema was so bad. Now we've stretched that out to mostly every other day, depending on felt tip/dirt/food/mud etc.

I'm still laughing at the make up thing.

And clean pyjamas every day? Why? Unless a bed time leak occurs what on earth do you think is going to happen in that time? I do enough washing as it is!

If you bathe them every day I take it you can't do anything in the evening ever with the DC.

For those who say that bathing every day is essential Basically you are saying kids with eczema and other problem skin are disgusting because they cant bathe every day.

Or you are illogically saying that they aren't disgusting but everyone else who doesn't is.

Funnily enough we managed most of our time on this planet without needing to bathe everyday. Why of a sudden are we all so much more precious?

It's a waste of water and a waste of energy. Topping and tailing is enough to keep clean in between baths and showers. If you choose to bathe everyday well that's fine - your life, your bills. No need to attack people who make different lifestyle choices.

My dd was bathed every day but ds had full body eczema so he wasn't bathed so much and it felt odd as bath time was part of a bed time routine. His routine became a creaming session instead.

My dd showers every day but some days I have to force ds to get in the bathroom and wash. But he's a pre teen.

formerbabe people letting bathing their children a few times a week is very different from the neglect and abuse matilda suffered bet you clapped your hands in glee at her post, I know it looks like i am jumping on the bandwagon of other posters but i think that is quite low, Matilda your parents neglected you other parents do know when their kids need a bath and allow it

Some of us are too busy earning money to worry about such ridiculous 'routines'. Seriously, have a word with yourself, you sound so horribly judgemental.

People should try and repress their urge to call you an idiot, undoubtedly. However, posting such a strong opinion about a matter that is so totally, utterly, completely trivial in the general scheme of life will bring forth irritated epithets from many, I suspect. Why on earth do you care how often other people bathe their children? It makes you sound like you have nothing to focus on in your own life apart from extreme trivia, which I'm sure can't be true.

I clapped my hands in glee by saying...'that's really sad'

No, I hear you. I can absolutely see a 4 yo being fine without a bath every night.

I just mean that my parents absolutely had the line of, "Bath shmath! Our modern society is so obsessed with cleanliness." When really they were just lazy and mean. So whenever I hear that line I feel a bit like, hmm.

Thanks for the flowers though. Aw, I'll put them in my bathroom. Whilst I take my shower and clean my hair every damn day.

Whenever I see people saying 'mine get bathed every night' you know. You just know that it is their kids that don't wash their hands after going to the loo at school. When they revel in such five minute rebellion...then meet me who sends them straight back to the hand basin .

I don't see why they need a bath every day.
It's great if it is part of the routine, but it's not essential. As long as they get cleaned, it really doesn't matter whether it's a bath, a shower or a wipe over with a damp cloth.
Hell, when we go camping nobody has a bath (or shower) for three days. We use baby wipes and when we get home we all have a bath.

In the whole scheme of things, this is a very minor issue to be shocked about.

DD is 15 months and gets bathed every other day. She simply does not need to be bathed every day. Her hands and face get mucky and are cleaned with water or wipes. Her bottom is cleaned with wet wipes and is just as clean as if I had bathed her.

Last summer when we had the hot weather i bathed her every day but that was purely to cool her down as she was getting too hot. It seemed like a waste of water as she was not dirty.

I dont give a stuff how many times other children are bathed, it is not my business and i certainly am not shocked or outraged by it.

Well, that's strange actually. Because at the start, parents who don't do a bath every night are lazy. But then later, washing with a flannel is more hassle than a bath. So doing something that you think takes more effort than what you do is the sign of a lazy parent?

Anyway, I have 2 dc. One gets a bath every night, one only gets a bath every second night. That's because I bath them according to how dirty they actually are. I await your judgement, I'm interested to see whether I'm lazy or acceptable

I agree, children should be bathed every day especially young children. Don't see why you wouldn't ... It's generally accepted care of a young child I think.
Over eight or so they can have some choice, shower every other day if not muddy etc.

YANBU - I bath my DD 2.9 every night except for the odd occasion we are out and she falls asleep on the way home.

My DH and I bath/shower every night, so DD has the same routine. I feel dirty if I get into bed with out showering. I don't change DD's pjs every night, probably twice a week.

Some people I know shower twice a day, once in the morning before work and then before bed and they don't so a manual labour job where this is actually needed.

I could not imagine bathing my kids once or twice a week but I guess each to their own.

Oh and it takes 5minutes to throw your kids in a shower, if you have one!

Generally accepted care? What happened to your instincts?

I'm amazed at the daily bathers that insist children are filthy at the end of the day. Are these the kids that wander around during the day with dried food caked on their cheeks and mud under their finger nails. If my kidshave a dirty face after a meal they get a quick wipe. Easy to get off when its not dried in. If they've been playing outside they wash their hands. If heir clothes are filthy they are changed. The rest of them really doesn't tend to get dirty.
A quick wipe of the bum morning and night and a couple of baths a week (along with cleaning as needed throughout the day) keeps mine squeaky clean and smelling lovely.

"I agree, children should be bathed every day especially young children. Don't see why you wouldn't ... It's generally accepted care of a young child I think.
Over eight or so they can have some choice, shower every other day if not muddy etc."

So they don't have a choice at a time when they don't really get terribly dirty, but as soon as hormones start to kick in and they start to sweat and smell it becomes less important? What an odd way of looking at it!

DD baths or showers every day.

DS, if left to his own devices would never bath or shower. In his words 'I don't feel like a bath or shower'. My reply 'If we wait till you feel like it, you will stink'. I manage to get him to bath around twice a week.

It would be lazy to notice that your child was dirty, smelly or greasy and decide not to bath them because you can't be arsed.

It's not lazy to decide that your child is perfectly clean and is not in need of a bath that day.

Common sense.

Oh and as an aside - anyone who is all "Eeeeeew! Germs!" Well. You must be a fireball in bed.

Generally accepted care? Not according to the NHS it's not.

I bathes dd every night until she was nearly 1. When I read an article on how children with eczema shouldn't be bathed every night. So I asked the doctor and he recommended as little as possible for bathing. She is now on twice a week and her eczema is much better.

Ds currently doesn't have eczema but we are still in the "holding our breath" stage as dd's didn't appear until 7 months (both kids ebf) and he's only 10 months. He is bathed 3 times a week. Am tempted to up it to 4 as he loves the bath.

However, this week we have been swimming twice so they will both only have 1 bath.

Is this actually an issue, I don't understand, mind don't bath/shower every day, I didn't realise anyone would care.

My ds showers once or twice during the week but twice every Saturday due to his different sports. I'm not sure I could ever call him lazy, I'm not entirely sure when the last time his arse hit the settee, he never stops.

I'd never call another normal person lazy, merely that they have a different lifestyle to me.