To wonder how you can not bath or shower kids every day?

[Kalitall]

I know this ones been done, and I don't think anyone is dirty for not bathing every day and I understand about skin conditions.

I just don't know how everyone gets away with not bathing children each day. Especially little ones.

My two boys seem to get filthy. They both play outside every day and end up muddy. The toddler gets really mucky eating meals, usually ends up with food everywhere even in his hair. Also often ends up with paint over him from nursery. He poos in his nappy every day and even though he's clean up is usually still a bit smelly. In the Summer they both get quite sticky.

I find it easier to run a bath or put him under the shower than to top and tail to clean all the muck off.

Like I said I'm not accusing anyone of being dirty, as an adult I could probably get away with not showering each day as I don't sweat much and don't get mucky.

Do other children just not get in a mess?

It's the same with washing clothes. I reuse my own clothes but I could never not wash the dcs clothes, because they're always covered in food or mud.

I agree too, it's a good habit to install in them for when they get older as well.

My DC, aged 3 and 4 bath once a week, if that.

If people's DC are not dirty enough to need a wash 3 or 4 days in a row, I would ask why not.

I think most people agree that their child needs a wash every night. But that doesn't mean a bath/shower. DD has excema, DS has sensory issues so we tend to do baths twice a week. The only exception to that really is if there is an unexpected mess (sickness etc). Works for us and both DC are clean and mostly smell nice.

We bathe DS every night because it's part of his routine, and also because he's often quite grubby. But we've recently got to the stage where he doesn't need his hair to be washed every night - we're getting away with doing it every third night or so, as he's getting better at eating and less inclined to rub baked beans in his hair.

DS gets a proper wash when we go swimming once a week. I also bathe him when babywipes won't do. Generally, he ends up with perhaps 2 or 3 baths a week. He does often go through three outfits a day but he's only 3 months old, so not much of a chance of getting muddy.

I know people do it as part of their bedtime routine but he gets really cranky when I take him out of the bath (he really likes it), so no point trying to use that to settle him. It just winds him up.

However, I have eczema and suffered quite badly when I was a child, so hope to avoid that for him.

Mine didn't usually manage to get food, mud and paint all over the parts that were covered by clothing.

I don't really understand how that would even work, and why you wouldn't bath them then? If I come back covered in mud, I couldn't bear to go to bed without a shower, so it's the same for my kids. All the local preschool around here are very proud of their outdoor gardens -mud bath-, and all the kids come back filthy. It's lovely.

It sounds like I am criticising, but I just don't understand what having a wash (not in the bath/ shower) means.

Mine didn't have much hair when they went through the food-smearing phase, so a damp flannel sorted it.
Ds never really got mucky - while other kids got paint and glue on themselves in Reception, I changed his uniform weekly on principle even though it looked clean. He runs around but hates dirt or anything sticky.
Dd on the other hand appears to roll across the playground to get covered in dirt, paints and glues as much as possible to herself each day, and then covers any clean areas in yoghurt and whatever else was for lunch. She gets a bath pretty much every day!

My 2 yr old never rubs her dinner in her hair..........yet, anyway

Mine needs his hands and face washed every couple of hours. The rest of him is covered in clothes. He needs his clothes changed every day - often more than once - but underneath them he rarely gets dirty enough to need more than a wipe down with a wet wipe.
Hair ... We do baby-led weaning, so less mush. Sometimes, yeah. But then i give him a bath or scrub it off with a wet wipe.

DD is quite a clean child so that helps. She washes her hands a billion times a day unprompted and her face. Her uniform lasts the whole week. Lots of baby wipes when she was really tiny.

I think we just have different standards of hygiene and it's probably down to our own upbringing. I can't imagine not having a bath or shower every day. Even if you don't have a shower you can have a quick bath in 5 minutes - not a luxurious bath, but a quick one to be clean. My dd has had a daily bath or shower since she was born (except for first month or so) - so she can't imagine living any other way.

My Dcs are 9,7,6 and shower once or twice a week. During the summer it will be more often due to sun cream and sweat. They clean their hands and face a couple of times during the day, I will often wash their feet in a sink of soapy water if their feet were sweating. If they did a messy poo then they clean their bums with a wipe.

We have very hard water in our area and it isn't good to wash too much as it strips the natural oils from the skin. I'm sure soon my 9 year old will need to wash more often as she is very active, but at the moment she rarely sweats.

My DS had very bad eczema as a baby and we had to bath him twice a day which worked wonders for his skin. It was a tepid bath with emulsifying ointment in it, cleared his skin up brilliantly.

Dd1 likes baths/showers and has them most days
Dd2 isn't so keen but her eczema is better for bathing daily, so she has one most days
Ds has huge sensory issues around baths, it is an ever loving nightmare. He gets washed daily, but bathing him every night would be too traumatic for everyone.

My dc have a wash every night. But they don't need to bath every day.

DD will probably have daily showers once she starts nursery school and is doing things like forest school etc, but right now she doesn't get mucky enough. She has a wash daily but she's also pretty obsessive about staying clean - she's at her happiest with a pack of baby wipes to give herself an all over wash she's the weirdest 2-year-old I know but it means she doesn't get too mucky so I'm not complaining.

For a moment I thought pp dusted with her dc then realised she was talking about baby wipes.

Ds showers every day he is a teenager and stinky and needs too.

Dd 11 washes every day showers every other day.

Dd9 showers every other day but always makes sure she has clean hands, face et

Clean shirt every day. Clean jumper every other day. Clean trousers/skirts twice a week .

Ps I also don't understand what "having a wash" (other than bath or shower) means!

My dcs didn't ever rub food on their hair so generally managed to stay pretty clean unless we were going for a muddy walk or play. If they weren't dirty, they had a wash but not a bath.

DS is 3 and hates getting dirty. We're outside everyday but he barely gets any dirt on him. He washes his hands regularly through the day. He has a bath every 2-3 days as he genuinely does not get messy. I reuse his clothes for a second wear as well as they are normally clean at the end of the day.

It's really not hard to understand that all children are different is it?

I cannot fathom why ANYONE wouldn't bathe their kids every evening. It's part of the bedtime routine, and an absolutely essential part of the wind down process before bed IMO. Takes 5 minutes.

Can someone explain what having a wash means?

I think there's a sweet spot between ages 5 and 10 when they can happily skip a day or two's baths - unless they've had a particularly hot and sticky day. I tended to bath them anyway as part of the routine but they really didn't need it.

Having a wash means washing hands and face in my house. Not sure if that is a universal meaning.

As other PPs have said, my toddler has never rubbed food in her hair. She doesn't seem to like the feeling of it.
She needs at least one outfit change every day due to food, mud, paint; however baby wipes and washing her face and hands morning and night keep her more than adequetely clean.

She enjoys a bath but doesnt like the shower and I cant justify the waste of water to bath her every day. She usually has a bath twice a week.

wont be saying all that when they get to teenage years.one of cannot keep out of the shower. the other one spray himself with body spray. i expect that will change again later....