To not find time to bath my children?

[Poppybella2015]

Ok they do get a bath on a Sunday morning with bubbles and a hair wash, like I did as a child. The house also gets cleaned on a Sunday. But then life takes over.

Weekdays after school are a combination of clubs (2 a week) friends over, relatives popping round to see the kids, by the time we have had dinner I think oh my god the kids need to go to bed or it will be too late for them! (They currently sleep 8-7 and I have to wake them on a school day they are two and six) the toddler smells a bit cheesy by about Tuesday, the older one could do with another bath as she sometimes wees her pants at school and then sits in them :( my house turns into a tip in the week too as I always get invited to see a relative/go to a toddler group etc and then when toddler naps I flake out in exhaustion as I have an on going sinus infection and toddler wakes me a couple of times a night.

I really want to have a nice clean home, nice clean kids, be in a nice relaxed routine but life just seems to get in the way and make everything rushed.

I'm sure most people are hectic in the week and those that are not how do you do it? Should I be refusing play dates etc? Ignore relatives when they come round and bath the kids instead? Just tell people I'm busy but risk loosing friends??

Help!!

It should make their posts turn fluorescent to highlight the fuckwittery.

I don't always rtft but will now

When a friend contacted a letting agent in New York and included a washing machine/dryer within the apartment on her list of requirements, he emailed back and said she must be British!

I often wonder if the same posters who don't RTFT also skip multiple pages of a book in order to read the last chapter.

Ronnie Great username. Who are you????

My 5.5 year old can get in the shower himself and wash, I then re wash him quickly and make sure all the soap is off. Put 2.5 year old in shower whilst I take the older one out and then wash him whilst older one driving himself etc. All done in fifteen minutes then straight to bed, I always believe that a warm shower or bath before bed helps then sleep. Sometime they brush their teeth in the shower too! In winter they only have a shower every other day and have a long bath together at the weekend. Tell your visitors to go or have a day grew of visitors and after school clubs.

There should be a report button for posters who have not RTFT. It should make their posts turn fluorescent to highlight the fuckwittery

i always believe that a warm shower or bath before bed helps then sleep.

You're very welcome to borrow DD for a week to see how wrong you are. . Not all children are the same.

op here I wasn't going to return to the thread but received such lovely help from a lot of people as well as a lot of pms with kind words and helpful advice that I thought I would come back to let you know how I am getting on. We have managed nightly showers before bed which were nice and quick but unfortunately my oldest dds eczema has now flared up :( I will try the shallow bath tonight with oilatum i have for them on prescription. It's hard to do a 2 minute bath with eczema though! With the bath and the creaming. I will see how quick we can do it! Also the oilatum says to fill the bath to 8 inches and soak for 20 minutes for it to work. Maybe I will have to accept a later bedtime although the dds really need their 11 hours sleep. I could do twice a week with a long bath as Ive cancelled relatives in the week now! I told them I was finding it too much. I just need to find a way to do a quick bath/shower now for the other nights we get home late. Maybe a dunk in the oilatum is better than nothing?

Do they need it every night? Quick top and tail 4/5 nights and bath/shower on the other nights is plenty, surely?

I'd be avoiding anything that aggravates eczema myself......

I think you did a good thing cancelling the visits. there's half term etc fir all that.

I hope that doesn't leave you feeling to cut off. but I do think the time to yourself of an evening would do you good too.

eczema is a pain in the arse isn't it :( dd1 has it too.

you will eventually get into the routine etc it won't be so hard then.

you were very brave to come back to the thread. thank you fir the update.

With an eczema child, I think you have to find your own way. My eczema kid baths every other night (shallow with Oilatum in the week, longer soak with a hair wash at the weekend.) On the non-bath nights, its a wipe down with a flannel in the crevices which, during the winter suffices. Summer is another matter as they often need a hose down most nights,being filthy from playing outside.

As you say, it isn't so much the bath itself as all of the related skin maintenance that is time-consuming. Sadly, there is no way round it other than to factor it in to your timings as best you can. Its a balancing act and one that will be different for every child/family.

Well done you and keep at it. You'll find the best balance for you and the DCs.

I use aqueous cream (very cheap in big tubs at any chemist) instead of soap in the shower as I find that soaps and bubble baths exacerbate my eczema. Even just plain water is ok. I have just discovered E45 shampoo which is also much kinder to my eczema than normal shampoo.

Bathing and showering often is very difficult with eczema prone skin. However, since I have stopped using soap/bubble baths/standard shampoo and used substitutes instead, my skin as been 100% better.

May be worth a try. For children, I imagine that the Doctor may be able to issue a free prescription for alternative products for washing skin?

Aqueous cream is very bad for some people with eczema.

I have been told that aqueous cream is ok for washing with as it gets washed off. Not good to use as a rub in cream for eczema sufferers. Doctor could probably prescribe something better for washing with I imagine.

It's ok for some people for washing. Not for all, it makes my dc scaly, even just for washing.

mathanxiety - ever heard of the expression 'the lady doth protest too much'?

The fact is, when you're living in a hot climate, just the walk from your car to the shops, to work, etc will get you sweaty. And therefore you're more likely to need a daily shower. Also, generally, you're less likely to have dry skin issues in warm countries and therefore you're more likely to be tolerant of daily bathing.

According to Atlantic.com, 72% of Americans shower daily and 64% of Brits shower daily. So there's not much difference in the 'washing culture' of the two countries. The numbers do show that by no means does everyone shower daily in both countries. And that, it's not 'unthinkable' for 28% of Americans (almost a THIRD of the population) to not shower daily.

'Soap is considered a good thing all over the US' could equally have been read by you as a comment on Americans blindly following accepted wisdom, but heyho.

Come on. You know you didn't mean that, and I know you didn't mean that.

OK, I think I've sorted out my posting problems, so have started the thread to share freezable family food recipes here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2548237-Freezable-family-food

Please be patient whilst I post recipes - I'm going to upload them one by one because it will make them easier to read, and I'm on a super-shit connection overseas.

Poppy, I really hope this helps - I think you're a fab mum who's doing her absolute best to crack how to run a happy and efficient household. Consider this my effort to cheer you on!

Thank you Leelus. I live in a climate where summers are not just hot but humid too, and I am familiar with all of the sweating. I used to live in Ireland, and I sweated there too.

You seem to have missed my point about how hard it is for Americans (and Australians) to admit to not taking a daily shower, which as I said, I find interesting.

I actually don't think you are the best judge of what I meant, having read your posts directed at me.

I think you will find that Americans have baths all day long. I have watched alot of American television and they are constantly excusing themselves to go and have a bath.

Fact: where we Brits just have a toilet and a sink in most restaurants, schools and work places, in America they have bathrooms. It is perfectly normal to leave a meal and go and 'use the bathroom'. This is probably the origin of the 2 minute bath.

No idea what they do about towels. They are probably provided, but might be shared.

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Mathanxiety, you must have lovely, soft skin. I love how my skin feels in hot countries.

I may have missed your point, sorry. Quite a few people canvassed in the survey mentioned answered that they don't shower daily, but that's different to telling people in real life I guess. Maybe Brits are more honest?

merrymouse, seems to be the same with Canadians too. They would only say bathroom and 'restroom'. I think they're too polite to say 'toilet' and don't have a cute little word like 'loo' to use, that's not considered rude.

What do you mean? Restrooms clearly contain beds!

If only! That would be perfect for post-lunch naps at work!

It's not that toilet is rude, it's just that it just means toilet. Like the fixture itself. So it's like wondering where the kitchen is and saying "where's your refrigerator?"

A bathroom must contain a bath though. A room with a loo and a sink is no more a bathroom than a room containing a fridge is a kitchen.

Please do not dissuade me from my fantasy that America is a country where at every corner there are facilities for a nice bubble bath or a lie down on a nice comfy bed!!!