Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To bathe baby once per week?

234 replies

StarfishSandwich · 28/10/2018 21:54

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!

OP posts:
AllTakenSoRubbishUsername · 30/10/2018 17:46

I really think it's important to bathe them every night, as part of the bedtime routine as you say. And also to get into the habit. My two usually have daily showers like we do now, but still like a bath occasionally.

ToftyAC · 30/10/2018 17:57

Unless there was a vomit or crap explosion then topping and tailing every day sufficed and bathing my two boys once per week was plenty. They had a good routine anyway so didn’t need bathing for sleepy time

RomanyRoots · 30/10/2018 17:58

We bathed ours daily, they need it as they grow and make more mess with their food, and milk stinks.
Their skin can become sore if milk gets in any creases and isn't washed out, sometimes a top and tail doesn't do it.
A baby bath is a good idea then you don't have to sit in lukewarm water.

Plus, it's lovely time together, leave them on a changing mat with nappy off for a while.

Naturalspirit82 · 30/10/2018 18:13

Up to u, I say whatever works for u x

Thisisnotreallymyname · 30/10/2018 18:16

I think once or twice a week is fine. Too often strips the natural oils from skin.
As long as the child is topped and tailed it’s fine x

Parker231 · 30/10/2018 18:16

As many posters have said, you do what works for you. I can’t imagine doing daily baths for mine when they were little. By the time I collected them from nursery, taking them in the shower was much quicker.

Yonijust · 30/10/2018 18:17

No need for a routine.

How anyone would find the time every day is beyond me?

I didnt get home until 17.30pm, shattered, by the time I made dinner, cleaned up, sorted stuff for the next day, it was bedtime.

I used to bath DD late morning at the weekend.

Uniquack · 30/10/2018 18:17

I was on my own (ex hardly ever helped) with twins. There was no way I could've bathed them every day, even if I wanted to. I had a lady come in to help me bathe them twice a week and topped and tailed with flannel every day.

Now they're 10 they still only shower every second day, apart from washing their smelly armpits and nether regions every day. It's so much better for their skins. Obviously in summer when they've done a lot of sweating they have more frequent showers. FWIW, I only shower every second day as well, but I don't have any smelly commutes in dirty trains.

svalentine60 · 30/10/2018 18:29

I've never known any mother to not bathe her new baby daily.

Liverpoolgirl · 30/10/2018 18:36

My nine week old has 2 baths a week and a wash every day, I've read lots of pieces about how washing daily can dry out skin and weaken the immune system.
My 7 yo has a shower every other day.

Callaird · 30/10/2018 18:37

As a nanny, I always bathe babies every evening as part of their routine, it’s a sleep que and also helps them not to have a fear of water on their head/face.

However, your baby, your rules, if you are happy to top and tail a couple of times a day then it’s entirely up to you!!

shoesarefab · 30/10/2018 18:50

I have a 6 week old, my midwife told me to only bathe him once a week and just top and tail him the rest of the time because otherwise you dry out the natural oils in the skin. When I had my girls (10 and 7yrs ago), I was told to bathe them every night!

cyclecamper · 30/10/2018 18:51

I never bathed mine daily at that age. I did for a while when he was a bit older and I wanted to settle him in a routine. Now he's 5, I bathe him once or twice a week again. It's better for their skin and the environment.

When I was a nanny, I never bathed babies daily - older children
sometimes, depending on the family.

Most of our society bathe far more frequently than is necessary. As long as you wash properly, daily baths and showers are excessive.

JLo1979 · 30/10/2018 19:00

4 kids here and they were bathed once a week. Maybe on first it was a little more frequent but second and third had eczema and my husband is a medical professional so absolutely was against them being bathed more than that so when fourth came along it stayed at once a week with no bubble bath and unscented shampoo. Now they’re older they wash more often.

autumnleaves1234 · 30/10/2018 19:19

Bathing babies isn't just for getting them clean though is it? It's a time when they can kick their little legs with no nappy on and relax in the warm water. I'm sure we don't all take a bath just because we're 'dirty'. Think of how much better you generally feel after being in warm water
How long does it take to put the baby in a washing up bowl or baby bath?

Frazzledstar1 · 30/10/2018 19:27

We don’t do daily baths here, i found my lot just got too hyped up and excitable after a bath and took ages to settle. We bath every other day or every couple of days and I tend to do it a bit earlier, let them have a play down stairs to wear themselves out and then start bedtime

53rdWay · 30/10/2018 19:33

Depends on the baby autumnleaves1234, some of them think baths are torture devices and scream the house down!

havingabadhairday · 30/10/2018 19:38

DS absolutely hated baths when he was tiny. It was not relaxing for him at all and was stressful for me. So he was properly bathed as little as I could get away with. Wiped down with damp cloths a lot, the occasional shower (hated them as well).

From about six months he started loving them so had them more often.

MaeBug · 30/10/2018 20:30

We bathe our 7 month old every other day (or after swimming) and she is top and tailed every morning and as needed throughout the day- food in hair/ poop explosion!! We were told not to bathe her for at least a week after she was born, and then once a week thereafter as the vernix goop that they are born with helps their burgeoning immune system and protects their delicate skin from environmental irritants. We only upped the frequency when she started solids and started getting food everywhere and having stinky grown human poos instead of milky yellow splats!! She has peachy skin, has never had any nappy rash, or sores and, poo aside, always has that warm otherworldly smell of baby goodness.

ellenpartridge · 30/10/2018 20:51

My daughter started having her bath daily by 12 months but before then it was a lot more ad hoc - if she ever got particularly messy with food, mud etc we would do it then, otherwise every couple of days. When very young I agree once or twice a week seems sufficient! Our dc2 will probably get it more regularly though as it will be easy to put dc2 in with DD

Eemamc · 30/10/2018 21:00

My daughter hated the bath for the first four or five months. It was like we were dipping her in acid. Very stressful for all of us. Otherwise an angel child...slept through the night at 8 weeks, really easy going. She was completely fine being bathed only once a week. Health visitor agreed too. She suddenly one day just didn’t mind them anymore. Now we bathe her most days as part of a routine. She wasn’t really getting dirty until we started weaning anyway. I say completely fine. Whatever works for your family. They don’t really get dirty at that age tbh!

Welshmum16 · 30/10/2018 21:08

You don't need to bath them daily and to be honest our midwifes and health visitors say it's better not to as you just wash all their natural oils off them all the time. Top and tail washing is fine.

My DS is 2 and he probably has 2 baths a week and a swim in the week. The days I work I can't bath him as we don't have time, we get home he eats I give him a little bit of time for it to settle and it's bed time.

Thesnobbymiddleclassone · 30/10/2018 21:09

At that age we did around three times a week but always after visiting people.

You shouldn't do it everyday as it's actually bad for their skin.

pollymere · 30/10/2018 21:23

Baths gave dd eczema and woke her up, even without soap. Even the lavender sleepy one! We just did top/tail unless poonami. Baths were done in the sink very rarely. She did love being held in the shower though too! She probably got a full wash once a week, or sometimes less.

Touchmybum · 30/10/2018 21:53

Listen mums just use your bloody commonsense! Of course you will wipe them down if they shit all up their back (my 2 girls!) or down their legs (my son!)

Life would have been easier for me if there had been social media 21 years ago!!! I bathed DD1 religiously every day, because I thought that's what you were supposed to do. I had to get Oilatum for her bath as it just dried her skin out!!

DD2 got a bath probably every other day, having realised the drying out effect on a baby's skin, and well, because of having 2 under 2.

When DS came along, he got a bath if I happened to remember!!!

Makes no difference now they are in their teens and twenties!