To bathe baby once per week?

[StarfishSandwich]

He’s 7 weeks. I thought this was totally normal and fine. He gets top and tailed as and when needed - certainly daily! But I don’t feel like he particularly needs bathing. We always bathe him in the bath with one of us so daily would be a complete waste of water. I keep reading about people using baths as part of the bedtime routine and it’s just occurred to me that this means that lots of babies get bathed daily.

AIBU and scummy? His skin is flawless and he doesn’t smell FWIW!

[rubyroot]

Bathed once a week until about 4/5 months when I tried to establish routine- then every night. By around 8/9 months I felt it was getting a bit too much to bath every night so now twice a week and it had no effect on sleep. I think these night time routines are a bit over rated. He has a routine, he goes in walker then has nappy changed and in sleeping bag and then bed. Sometimes I read to him, but that will become an every night thing once he shows a bit more interest

[EastDulwichWife]

If you don’t want to fill up the main bath every night you can buy a baby bath. We used the schnuggle (sp?), which I think works with as little as 2 litres of water. Handy to have as part of a night time routine, doesn’t waste water (and light enough to throw the contents on the garden afterwards!). Agree they don’t reallt need one daily unless particularly sucky!

[Belina]

imagine going for a week without washing pee and poo properly off you how would you feel

[00100001]

belina the op CLEARLY STATES that the baby is being washed every day (and presumably being cleaned up after every nappy change) just not having a 'full bath'

Why do think this baby isn't being washed at all in 7 days??

[Unihorn]

@Belina what an odd comment. Do you feel the need to bath after every trip to the toilet? Is your toilet paper not effective enough? I grew up with a weekly bath too, as did most people I knew, and it wasn't even that long ago.

[BackBoiler]

I always bathed my babies daily and they were fine but my youngest was a winter baby and she got a bit dry bathing daily. Every other day seemed to work ok.

You are going to get a multitude of answers so if you top and tail and have plenty of clean clothes and nappy changes fair enough.

[BackBoiler]

Actually thinking about it my kids liked to do a lovely up the backer after a bath! The warm water must have stimulated their bowels!

[BagelGoesWalking]

Less is more. Many tend to overwash very young babies and it can really dry out their sensitive skin and exacerbate any dry skin/eczema. Lots of so called baby products contain SLS which is best avoided.

When they're more mobile and eating on their own, it's a different matter. As long as milk isn't left on folds of neck and bottom is clean, that's perfectly fine.

[BagelGoesWalking]

"I always find this baffling that people will make sure they have a shower everyday but then only bathe their children once a week."

Because young babies aren't out and about, travelling on public transport, being coughed and sneezed over, handling money, sweating, using makeup or working on building sites 😬

[crimsonlake]

Personally I would and did. I think a nice bath really properly cleans after wearing a nappy rather than just wiping with wipes.

[frostywalkshotchocolate1]

That all depends on YOUR baby, poo explosions, reflux (pukes constantly) etc, I would both my baby every time she had a blow out.

[frostywalkshotchocolate1]

@BagelGoesWalking they also don't really sweat any all of the other lady / men gross things

[londonrach]

My dd has very dry skin and i used to bath daily. After another trip to the gp he asked me why i felt i needed to bath dd daily. We bath her now 2-3 times a week. Her skin is alot better now. Seriously dont worry you doing the important bits.

[Bibijayne]

Baby boy (10 weeks) loves baths, but they also dry out his skin, so we do them a couple of times a week. He also smells of baby, which is rather lovely.

[Bibijayne]

We do bath him if he has a big blowout though, regardless of when he last bathed. There's only so much wiping can do!

[Raydan]

Haven't had time to read full thread but wasn't there was a study published earlier this year about how a baby needs to develop its skin flora colony, similar to your gut microbes. Frequent bathing can disrupt this and lead to issues like skin sensitivity and dermatitis. I bathe my 8 month old twice a week.

[dogyayornay]

I've never seen such hilarious responses on a thread before! It's a 7 week old baby not a 45 year old with a sweaty commute and 9 hour desk job with deadlines to meet.

Much healthier IMO. I'm pretty shocked so many people are stripping all the oils out of newborns daily. Once a week is more than enough, especially if you're top and tailing everyday.

[Vegetablegarden]

No and I find it weird that bathing is pushed so much. Especially over other more important issues like bonding, mental health, feeding, adjusting, safety.

Fine if people want to, but for babies it basically strips away their natural oils. So it’s not even that great for babies! I bathed mine once a week.

When they are sweaty teenagers they definitely need more!

[Vegetablegarden]

NHS guidance...

You don't need to bathe your baby every day. You may prefer to wash their face, neck, hands and bottom carefully instead. This is often called "topping and tailing".

[AvoidingDM]

Lots of people find its possibly easier to wash bums in a bath than to "top and tail". The might not be sweaty adults but the wear nappies I'm not convinced that wipes are that great at removing all traces of wee and poo.

[Mississippilessly]

We bathe our 7 week old every night but only because that seems easier than topping and tailing - how do you do that succesfully without them getting cold?

[00100001]

you know, you can wash a baby who is not in bath with other things than wet-wipes... :/

[00100001]

"- how do you do that successfully without them getting cold?"
by doing it in a warm room? they aren't going to freeze in the ten minutes they are possibly naked.

[53rdWay]

You just wipe over the parts in question with a cloth and warm water, then dry if needed. Why would they get cold doing that?

[53rdWay]

(you don’t even have to use warm water, but I found it led to less screaming!)