to ask how often you wash your child

[blinkyoullmissit]

under 2 years in particular.
Only because my ds (10 months) has developed some nasty eczema, passed down through me.
It irritates him immensely when he's had a bath as I know this happens after I've showered.
He's being bathed every other day at advice of GP and having creams put on twice daily (if not more if there's ever a chance he's bare legged or armed).
He's not a grubby child. He can't walk and has just started to crawl but the only dirt ever on him is from food he's eaten and that's contained to mouth area only.
He went 2 days without a bath and the redness went down and he was a lot happier and less irritable.

[Toddzoid]

They get a bath every other day now they're at school and get dirty and stinky and come home with pen and stamps all over. Before school I'd probably bath then 2-3 times a week. They didn't really get smelly or dirty. Would obv wipe down their faces and washed privates in the morning but full on baths that was sufficient.

[MegBusset]

No to E45 either! It contains lanolin which many eczema sufferers react to.

[MummaB123]

Mine have a bath once or twice a week (4yrs and 13mths). It frustrates me so much that it is always promoted to give your child a bath every night as part of the bedtime routine. It is not good for young children to have a bath that frequently, and is not necessary as part of the routine!

[maggiecate]

I don't have eczema, but I do know that the lady who makes Sedburgh Soap does, and tests everything on her own skin. I only found out about it because it was the freebie in the hotel I was staying in and I loved the smell, now I try to treat myself whenever I'm at Tebay services on the M6! They have a baby range, might be worth a look: www.sedbergh-soap.co.uk/shop/category/38/Baby--amp--Child/

[KatharinaRosalie]

DS had eczema. GP said to bath him once per week and it cleared up completely.

[PattiLevin]

Everyday but only because it's fallen into a routine and they love baths. I wouldn't think twice about only bathing them 2 or 3 times a week.

[Only1scoop]

Everyday ....lovely bedtime routine.

Dd loves her baths

[Oldisthenewblack]

I've not had time to read the whole thread, so do excuse me if someone has already suggested this, but often, the chlorine in tap water can irritate the skin. I've had a shower filter for years and my eczema has improved greatly. You can also get a de-chlorinator for the bath too. The chlorine in the water supply causes terrible itching and my skin comes out in unpleasant rashes!

[mmgirish]

My two are bathed every night before bed but we live in a hot place. My youngest ds though often has several showers throughout the day too. Our nanny showers him every morning and also every times he does a poo!

[SnarkintheDark]

Once a week unless dirty for some reason, just flannel wash nappy area/ hands and faces everyday, my daughter (11) still only washes her hair every 8-20 days and always gets comments on how stunning her hair is!

[SnarkintheDark]

8-10 not 20

[Lucked]

Mild to moderate eczema. Bath every night but rarely use soap, might put a bit on a flannel for dirty areas. Shampoo once a week (sister twice a week) Covered in ceteaben, which we get on prescription, morning and night. We get in quick with steroids used sparking if a flare up starts.

[makeitpink]

Fill the foot of a (clean!) pair of tights with oats, swish this in the bath water. Don't use oilatum it contains lanolin which can make eczema worse. The oats will help and are natural. Also try epederm cream after bath. Xx

[Tezza1]

I am MUCH older than your son and have just developed quite extensive eczema or psoraisis (?sp) perhaps due to allergy to RA med. They are trying to work out what's causing it. Meanwhile, I have cortisone creams, etc.

However, the dermatologist told me to take 2-3 minute showers max, and to only apply a cleansing solution (such as Cetaphil or QV cleanser) to the folds of my body, and never to the whole body, which sounds a bit yuck. He also recommended only showering each second day if I can get away with it. No baths. He also recommend the super thick moisturising creams in a jar, not the lotions.

[ayesar]

My son has had eczema since he was born too and we always bathed him every two days. Just recently for the past couple of months we starting bathing daily because he was getting smelly. He just turned 3. I also have to put the creams on him and weird thing is his skin was great during the winter (I'm from Canada) but now that it's spring it's getting worse :(

[BillBrysonsBeard]

I feel like less of a scruff now! Bathe 2 yr old DS twice a week, that's when his long hair starts getting greasy.

[NickyEds]

My dc are 2.4 and 9 months and we bath them more or less every day now. 9 month old dd doesn't really need it but ds is always in mud/paint/sand si does get mucky now. However he had eczema when he was little and we bathed him as little as possible as it definitely made it worse. We used to use E45 bath oil (instead of Oilatum'-we found it much better)and Aveeno regularly and steroids of increasing strength for patches of bad exzema. When the string steroids didn't clear it we used Pro Topic and it was amazing eczema cleared up completely within a week. Now we use Child's Farm products and the Pro Topic for any little patches.

You'll find that what works for one person will make another worse. There's a lot of trial and error I think, which is generally rubbish but at least there's always something else to try. You should absolutely not feel bad about infrequent bathing though, you're doing what's best for your baby's skin.

[megletthesecond]

Have you tried showering him instead? My ds had two years of nasty eczema that stopped almost overnight once he swopped to showers.

We'd used all the creams and remedies suggested above with no real success. Turned out it was our hard water doing the damage.

[hazeyjane]

It is not bad for children to bathe them every night (it is also not bad for children not to bathe them every night!)

Hydrocortisone thins the skin over time (if used very excessively) I'm not sure paraffin does?

Oats can cause skin irritation in some people, just as much as lanolin can cause irritation in some people

Aqueous cream is good used as soap but can cause irritation if used as a cream after bathing (especially in children)

Different creams and routines work for different people.

This is the eczema advice from GOSH www.gosh.nhs.uk/medical-information-0/search-medical-conditions/eczema

[LucyLocketLostHerPocket]

We live in a very hard water area and found that fitting a water softener helped enormously and never used anything other than water so no soap or bubble bath until DS was around 3. He's much bigger now, we still have a softener and water still rarely touches his body more than a couple of times a week but that's teenage boys but he hasn't had eczema for years thankfully

[FuckSanta]

Have never bathed DD (now 5.5) more than 3 times a week. Currently tends to be twice including hair washed (after swimming in the week and on a Sunday) with face, pits and nether regions swished over with a wet flannel in between. She has beautiful skin.

[hazeyjane]

Does she have eczema, fucksanta?

[mrsmugoo]

DS has just turned 2 and averages about 5 baths a week.

Plain water, no soap ever used though. Occasionally if he's painty from nursery we use a tiny bit of dr bronners.

[GruffaloPants]

Most days now she's 4.

When she was smaller and had active eczema I probably bathed her once a week, and washed her face, hands and nappy area with a soft damp cloth daily. Didn't use soap ever and only started using shampoo when she got enough hair for it to look lank without.

GPS commonly prescribe aqueous cream which can irritate. Epaderm ointment was better for DD.

Her skin has pretty much cleared up now, after having severe eczema. Occasional flare ups when exposed to an allergen. Identifying what is causing the reaction is key to getting on top of the skin problems.