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AIBU?

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Original poster

To wash hair once a week - disagreement with Mil!

231 replies

Enidblyton1 · 29/10/2016 23:02

Just wondering how often your DCs have a bath/shower and wash their hair? Mine (aged 5 and 2) have a bath most evenings - at least 5 out of 7 days a week - and wash with soap. Hair wash once a week on a Sunday.
Mil was horrified to learn that they don't have a thorough wash every single night and appalled that hair is only done once a week.
Now I'm beginning to doubt my routine..... AIBU?

OP posts:
ItShouldHaveBeenJess · 31/10/2016 21:34

I don't have a bath, only a shower. DS has ASD and finds the process pretty stressful, so we do Wednesdays and Sundays (Sundays being hair washing day). He's clean and certainly not stinky but I will obviously increase the regularity as he gets older.

minisausage · 31/10/2016 21:36

Mine bath every night but hair wash 1x a week

DrScholl · 31/10/2016 21:37

ew at once a week

sweaty hot heads smell

autumnintheair · 31/10/2016 21:39

2 - 3 times a week, dd 9 hair once a week and toddler less than that. both dc are clean and look clean and are clean.
I also believe young skin produces its own oils and doesnt need to be stipped of them every single day in a harsh soap wash. there are no hormones producing swaet yet

autumnintheair · 31/10/2016 21:40

must add smell clean too!

mellowfartfulness · 31/10/2016 21:53

DD(6) gets a full bath and hair wash once a week or twice if needed, plus rinse in the shower after swimming. Her hair is unmanagable the first day after washing, lovely for the rest of the week and then noticeably a bit lank on hair wash day itself. She doesn't get greasy in between whiles, nor that dirty head smell - and I do surreptitiously sniff to check when we're having a cuddle!

Baby DS had a really greasy patch on top of his head for his first few months so I washed his hair more often. Now the greasiness has died down to about the same as DD, but his hair gets done when he smears food in it, which is every few days.

YANBU, OP. Especially since the shock and horror tells us that she didn't previously find your kids obviously filthy or noxious smelling! If it looks fine and smells fine, it doesn't need washing - goes for clothes and people both.

Eiram49 · 31/10/2016 21:55

Every second night- hair washed then too. Couldn't imagine doing less.

paddypants13 · 31/10/2016 22:04

Mine are bathed 3 times a week usually. I wash their hair each time. Mind you ds (16 months) has a habit of smearing food in his hair.

gillybeanz · 31/10/2016 22:07

At 5 and 7 mine were bathing twice a week, hair once or twice, usually once.

When they got to about 9 they'd be more like 3x a week and 2 hair washes.

Bitlost · 31/10/2016 22:13

YANBU. I stopped listening to my MIL a long time ago. She once expressed horror at DD not having a bath before a christening...

MrsKoala · 31/10/2016 22:14

Mine are 4 and 2 and i've never 'washed' their hair - as in using shampoo. I just wet it with water when they bath, which atm is everyday as we are trying to establish a new nighttime routine. I don't wash them with soap either, just water and an emollient (sp?) cream.

M0stlyHet · 31/10/2016 22:14

Sometimes there are medical issues one way or the other. I have a friend whose DS is prone to balanitis (may have spelled this wrong) - nightly bath (no soap) helps with this. I have another friend whose DS has eczema - the less frequent the baths, the better in his case. My DS - bath most nights, hairwash when he begins to smell like a labrador!

gemma19846 · 31/10/2016 22:49

I think washing kids hair once a week is abit grubby. How many times a week do you wash yours? Ours bath and wash their hair 4 times a week

mellowfartfulness · 31/10/2016 23:06

I wash my hair every other day but I'm an adult. My hair gets greasy quickly, my armpits smell and so on - that begins at puberty, not from babyhood. DD is far less manky than me.

Rozbos · 31/10/2016 23:07

Gosh you'd all be horrified by me! Mine get a bath/shower probably 5 times a week but I only wash their hair every 2-4 weeks! They get it wet in the bath/shower/swimming regularly but I just don't think children's hair needs washing much. It looks beautifully healthy and perfectly clean and smells fresh.

SpookyMooky · 31/10/2016 23:13

"How many times a week do you wash yours?"

This is the key really. I do mine every other day (which I consider a victory after many years of doing it daily) but my mum and grandma both did it once a week all their lives, and my mum is the most groomed person I know. MY hair would be beyond grim if not washed for a week, but theirs, and my children's, is fine.

StrawberryLime · 01/11/2016 00:36

Not read all the replies, but another one wondering what exactly it has to do with your MIL!
We all suffer from eczema here, me badly, the kids not so bad thankfully but are prone to outbreaks in creases of arms and knees.
I find and have always been told that too many baths are not good for skin. They dry them out.
So it's baths twice a week here with either stuff prescribed from the doctors or totally parabens and perfume free as well as nasty stuff bath products.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 01/11/2016 00:45

yo

gemma19846 · 01/11/2016 05:36

Children run around and sweat. I couldnt imagine washing their hair once a week! Whats the harm in washing it while theyre in the bath anyway :/

oblada · 01/11/2016 06:09

"KatharinaRosalie
The more you wash, the more it starts producing oil and the more you need to wash "

Exactly!!
As for the nightly baths: that's not the reason I stopped but anyone thought about the amount of water we as a society are wasting with routines like this? Not suggesting I don't have uneconomical/un-environment-friendly habits far from it! Just a thought really!

merrymouse · 01/11/2016 06:16

Children's sweat is different to adult sweat. They don't develop the sweat glands that secrete the kind of sweat that smells until puberty.

oblada · 01/11/2016 06:28

Just as an alternative point of view: my parents are very keen on 'healthy' living I want to say (they eat little diary and gluten etc) and they have both stopped using shampoos altogether. I think they use water but that's it. They're absolutely fine and look (and smell lol) fine! They come to see us every few months for a few days/weeks so I would notice otherwise and I expect it wouldn't be good for his business if my dad stank LOL
I don't have the guts to do the same (and would need to hide in a cave for a few weeks whilst going through the 'creasy' look - it does go away tho, the cause of the problem is rly much more the shampoos - ie chemicals - we use, than anything else!).. But I can confirm that it can definitely work!
I try to limit the damages done to my kids hair/scalp by using only very gentle/mild shampoo as no more than once a week.

Sunnyjac · 01/11/2016 06:46

Totally fine. My 2 year old has a bath every night, 5 and 6 year olds have baths 3 or 4 times a week, hair wash for all on Saturday. I only wash my hair once a week. The more you wash hair the more it needs to be washed. Your kids your rules

Somersetlady · 01/11/2016 07:18

Ds one had a bath every night and hair wash twice a week until he was 2.
That was when ds2 arrived and now they get a bath 4-5nights a week depending on how the day goes.
Its not that they are particularly filthy children more that its part of our evening routine and ds1 loves to play in the bath!

Somersetlady · 01/11/2016 07:22

We also only used water no bubble bath/chemicals added.
Have recently started using a detangling shampoo though on ds2.5 as he has lots and lots of curls.

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