to not bathe my toddler every, single night?

[fishnugget]

Some of my friends do this and I just think 'WHY?'

AIBU?

I bath my 4 and 2 year old every night. Purely because they're bloody filthy! Admit some nights is a quick in and out.

Face, hands and bottom get a wash once or more times a day. Swimming with shower once a week. Bath once a week.

I wish I didn't have to, unfortunately she uses food as a hair styling product so I have no choice at the moment!

Every night here. It's part of the bed time routine. I had the same when I was a toddler/kid... Dinner, play for a bit, bath, get ready for bed, quiet time and book. For me, it's not necessarily about cleanliness.

Just RTFT.. If we are at friends/family then we don't bother, just a baby wipe wash and pjs on! Like some pps I also know people who leave early or ask to use your bath as their kids can't possibly break routine! Leaving the mess and dirty bloody nappies for me to clear up....

I do. Because a bath is fun, it winds them down, cleans them, and prepares them for the next step of bed. Small children can’t tell the time but they know that after bath comes bed, so it’s no shock. It’s their sleeping cue.

The whole “family sharing a bath on Sunday evening” is gross

That's what happened to my granddad as a kid. Disgusting

I bathe my 2yo every night but she loves it. Yes, there's been occasions when it hasn't happened but I don't stress over it.
Don't worry about how other people parent- as long as you're happy with your routine/decisions then that's all that matters

I don't bathe my son every night. He's 16 months. Mondays and Fridays unless he's particularly filthy or he's been covered in sun cream all day. He gets too excited in the bath for it to be part of the bedtime routine and I just can't face chasing him round to get him undressed beforehand and then chasing naked dripping wet him round after to get him dry and into his clean nappy and pj's (he will not lay down nicely on a changing mat).

My 9 month old has a bath every night. Mainly because she loves it and it's part of her routine. When she was a small baby she dribbled a lot of milk into her neck fat and we found it got very sore and red if she didn't have a daily bath. It's not a faff at all.

I don’t bath mine every night. 3 times a week seems enough unless he’s particularly grubby. @babadoc I think the inference in your post is unfair. Just because a child isn’t bathed it doesn’t mean they’re going to bed dirty. Well done for doing what you did in your circumstances but that doesn’t make you a better parent. I’m fairly confident I’m doing okay, despite not bathing him every day.

My 3 year old and 10 month old have a bath every night. If they don't have time for a bath before bedtime as we've been out, they have a shower. I cannot say that I've ever been stressed out by bath time. It takes 20 minutes!
My 10 month old wears a nappy so it's important to give him a thorough clean (obviously he is wiped when changed) and my 3 year old loves the garden.

I used to bath every night, it just took so long and dd kept adding things to her routine it was getting out of hand. Now she has a bath every 2-3 days, with a shower in between if she's grubby or particularly spicy. On top of the various songs, dances, stories and many, many emergencies that need to be dealt with before she can sleep (the lamps not right, she heard a monster, needs a drink, has to tell me about something that happened, the cat looked at her funny.... we all know the drill right?)

Dd also has a mass of super curly hair so we follow the curly girl method and she gets a hair wash once a week.

Mine likes it, and even if he didn’t a) he’s still in nappies so I think he needs a wash for hygiene reasons, and b) he spends half of his time scrabbling about in the sandpit or playing on the lawn so he’s actually pretty dirty most days.

I didn't, and still don't now he's 4. However in summer he does need a daily bath, because filth seems to get stuck to his suncream, and he is definitely sticky and grubby by bedtime.

DS also has a load of curls. We use E45 instead of soap or shampoo, and his hair isn’t frizzy. I do agree that shampoo daily isn’t good for baby hair, but there are alternatives. He often has sand or paint or food in his hair so it definitely needs a wash of some description. Maybe it’s just boys? Or older toddlers, he’s 2. He wasn’t this messy at 1.

I posted over the weekend as I had "bathed" my older 2 in the paddling pool

The toddler (17 months but globally delayed so not yet walking!) is bathed everyday as she has eczema.

then chasing naked dripping wet him round after to get him dry and into his clean nappy and pj's

That’s genuinely my favourite bit, he is so cute shrieking and running away giggling

Older kids are every other day, except when they have sunscreen on (I do them daily then!)

I have four DC and have never bathed them every night, it’s bad for their delicate skin. I bath every other night generally.

Every other day here.....bathing every day can be bad for young skin, DD1 has eczema and we were advised to avoid daily baths.

It depends on the the age of the child, when they’re small a bath helps them to fall asleep and probably becomes routine.

Mine used to scream as if we were trying to kill him and absolutely hated baths. It was not relaxing anyone and didn't help anyone fall asleep.

He's slightly better now, he doesn't scream. Instead it takes a good 45 minutes to get him in unless it's an emergency (wee or poo on himself, spilt something icky down himself etc.) when he'll grumpily concede it has to be done straight away.

Any other water is like a magnet, of course. Last summer, a few times I'll admit I just assumed the paddling pool and the hose had got him clean enough.

YANBU for not bathing yours every night.

YABU for judging those who do.

Yeah don't bother. Bathing was a play thing not a sleep-inducing thing for mine. Don't listen to people morally judging you for not daily bathing. Sleeping with a bit of dirt doesn't kill them. Reminds me of those adverts for Comfort or somesuch where the implication is that mothers who bathe = good and mothers who don't = bad sluts. Do what you like.

I don’t do it just for hygiene purpose only if I’m honest, because if he is dirty he gets cleaned in the shower with me or with his dad. Whenever I shower he is with me and I don’t shower daily ( 3 times a week). His dad showers daily and if baby is awake early with his dad he usually goes in with him. So he gets the hygiene from showers.

However I try to keep messy play and I stripped him to the nappy during his dinner time and give him the opportunity to make a mess, and so give him a bath if that worked out Well.

But I mainly aim for the bath every night because it’s a good chance for me to unwind while he has fun. 20 mins of him being engaged while I get my head straight and usually ask his dad to watch him while I finish stuff..

I don’t fill up the bath just a tiny bit of water to splash about and then a bucket of watermelon so he has the depth for his toys.

He gets a final rinse before he gets put in his pjs. But it does engage him and get him drowsy for bed which is the main point.

Technically he is in the water more then once a day most days :S. But no shampoo unless it’s needed.

I used to be against bath and so on until I realised it’s a guaranteed 20 mins of him being engaged and gave me the opportunity to worry less about him making a mess in the afternoon so I adopted it as of two weeks ago (he is 16 months) and so far its working.