To ask you how often your children have a bath/shower?

[LiteraryDevil1]

I ask because my DDs age 11 and 9 have just come back from a week at their DF's and have only had ONE bath, no showers. My eldest has hit puberty so gets sweaty and spotty now and her hair gets very smelly too so has a shower every other day at home or daily if it's been very warm like the past weeks. The younger one isn't as keen but will still have a shower every other day. They do it themselves and I just dry their hair as they prefer me to do it.
My stbexh doesn't see a problem but this is a man who used to get his dirty nurses uniform out of the clothes hamper and iron it to wear again (not envy).
I'm not a clean freak but they are doing swimming lessons, judo, horse riding, swimming in rivers, climbing trees and generally getting grubby like children should so I think they should have the opportunity to have showers more often than once a week. AIBU?

9 year old has a bath every morning before school and uses deodorant. Occasionally will have a bath or shower before bed if he's played out and is muddy or sweaty.
4 and 2 year olds have a bath every evening and a quick wash down in the mornings.
8 month old has a bath every other night and a quick wash on in between days.

Mucky* not lucky

DS2 is almost 6 - generally has a bath twice a week. More often in summer when he's got hot/sweaty/covered in ice cream or suncream. He isn't generally that mucky, smelly or grimy though, honestly! He gets a damn good face/neck/hand wash twice a day in between.

DS1 is 12.5. I have to frogmarch him to the shower every day as he reeks otherwise, poor lad. He used to have a bath twice a week or so, but since about 10.5yo he has needed a daily shower and hair wash. I don't know what has happened to his hair, but he can wash it in the morning and by evening it looks like he's not washed it in 3 months! Hopefully that will settle down a bit eventually.

See, I wonder how people find the time to bathe multiple young children every single evening before bed?

By the time we're all home, I've supervised homework and reading, then spent ages cooking a meal and eating it with my DC, it's gone 6.30 - sometimes later depending how long dinner takes. DS2 needs to be in bed by 7 or he can't keep his eyes open. It takes ages to fill the bath and then DS would happily spend hours in there (seems like a waste of money I sorely lack have to half fill the bath for a 5 minute bath too). By the time he's out it's well past his bedtime and that's before we read a story.

@Roomba fill the bath while they're eating dinner and put them in the bath together?
If they're not dirty then it doesn't matter though

Batch cook some stuff so you don't have to cook fresh every night which I can imagine is a pain if you've been out at work all day.

DD 4 has a bath most days, she isn't always particularly filthy but she does enjoy a good splash

11 year old. 2 times a week usually. Needs two people to manage him and he has to be in a reasonably cooperative mood. Every day is too stressful and also increases the risk of (nightmare) ear infections.

At 9 & 11 they should be managing their own personal hygiene and showering frequency.

Is your ExDH refusing to let them have a shower/bath? If so you need to bring it up with him as that is very unreasonable of him.

If they have free access to a bath/shower and are choosing not to use it, then at 9 and 11 you need to address that directly with your children, and remind them of appropriate hygiene standards. They really should be managing this themselves at their age.

Both DS have a shower every morning and sometimes they have a bath in the evening too (say 3 out of 7 nights). Not showering for a week?! yuk!

Age 2 and 10 every night before bed

Baby dd 13 months every night.
Ds ages 4+5 every other day but every day in hot weather because they sweat! Fresh pj's every night regardless.

I bath my 2 (nearly 3 years and 1 year) every night. Sometimes we skip Saturday if we've had a busy day but that's it!

Why didn't your kids not just get a shower themselves while they were there?

5 & 7 here, shower every morning, I think it's a good habit to get into for later life, it's just normal for them.

Every night since they were babies, now they are late teens it's usually twice a day because they both do sport. Bath was the beginning of the bedtime routine and my oldest son used to sag with relief when he got in the bath. I've never had to argue with them to bathe.. Clean is such a nice feeling!

Ds1 is 12, I try and get him to shower daily because otherwise he smells. Ds2 is 9, I aim for every other day but he's very resistant to washing! Ds3 is 3 and it's every third day as routine, extra if he is particularly dirty or asks to have a bath or shower.

Every 2 days. Kids are 3 and 9 month.

Unless they're filthy and we've been out then when needed.

Daily for baby ( she's a sick monster and inevitably manages to get sick in her hair too so quick dunk in bath for her.
Teen is daily shower or bath

Do they smell? Some people can go a week or more without a shower and it not be noticeable. Depends on your body bacteria and your own physiology.

I grew up when showers were a fairly new thing. Not many houses had them. Baths were once or twice a week, and there was no noticeable difference in hygeine standards. Mn though you’re filthy and disgusting if you don’t shower 3 times a day and wash all your sheets and towels daily :)

Tbh i have no idea how often my teens wash. They smell fine though.

Mrsm they do at home so I don't get why they don't at his but there are 7 children in that house so that might have something to do with it (from stbexh's point of view not mine). My 3 year old gets grubby so has a shower daily. I've spoken to them yet again about needing to ensure they have a shower there.

Depends on the level of grime they've managed to accumulate that day. Love the faux horror and point scoring at what other people do though.

Daily

DS is five and hates baths and showers, has done since he was a baby. I'm lucky if I can get him in the bath twice a week.

I did persuade him last night to let me wipe him down with a damp flannel.

Once a week is not adequate in my book. I know people used to shower and bath less but they probably also smelled!

My daughter, who is 7, has a shower every night and washes her hair every other night. Yes occasionally a night gets missed it we are out late or something happens, but the norm is a shower every day (or a bath). Even when she was very little we did a bath every day. I think it is just nice for them to feel fresh and to wash the day off.

I also think it's important to set up a hygiene routine in childhood that they get used to and carry on through to adulthood. Washing should be once a day along with toothbrushing twice a day. No brainer in my books at least, but appreciate each to their own.