WIBU to stop washing my kids

[treaclepumpkin]

So, I'm back at work this after having had my second son and trying to get into a morning routine that works. Usual procedure has always been for everyone in the family to have a wash each morning and evening. This is how DH and I were both brought up, so have always done this.

But I'm wondering, do other people perhaps wash their kids less? Especially as they don't really sweat or anything? For context, I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old, so still quite little. DS1 bathed only in the evening until he started nursery at age 1. DS2 has started nursery this week and so is now also having a shower in the morning too.

Agh their poor skin!

My dc's skin couldn't survive that.
We started we nightly baths and dropped it down to every other day.
Now they are tweens they are stepping up to daily more often.

I've never heard of anyone washing their kids twice a day! We bath ours every other day maximum.

Bath once a week for mine if I remember or more if toddler has fallen in an especially muddy puddle. Faces washed morning and night, hands before and after meals, bottom washed with a flannel if they've had a really wet nappy.

I used to give my DD a very quick bath most mornings when she was a baby and toddler, just to freshen her up after a night in a nappy, and a proper bath at night as part of her bedtime routine. It was how my mum did it with us. She's 9 now and has a bath or a shower every night before bed but in the mornings it's just face, hands and teeth and always has been since she started school.

My 8 year old gets a bath every night during the week days (prefers a bath on a morning at weekend or school holidays)and washes her hair every other night, with regular face and hand washes throughout the day as she is a messy bugger Haha. But my almost 12 year old that started puberty at 9 (so yes she gets very sweaty !! Etc plus her period) so she gets in bath every night and washes her hair every night and I sometimes need her to get a quick bath twice a day (gotta love pre teens and their hormonal bodies).
When they were both babies I just bathed them once a day usually at night time and several quick wipe downs when needed

My family is Jamaican and we were brought up to wash twice a day. With dettol in the bath!

I'm 35 and only just now reading this thread considered this difference between us and British habits is more due to climate rather than culture or hygiene.

If I'm tired I might skip a night time shower but would never leave the house without one in the norning.

Twice a day? Bad for the environment. Bad for the skin. We are not fish.

Babies have delicate skin and natural oils.

I bathed mine twice a week when they were small. But I wiped their neck, face and hands with a wet flannel or wipe after eating, and obviously cleaned them when nappy changed.

Teenagers need washing way more often!

Sometimes I bung the boys in the bath in the morning when I want extra time to get ready. I have no idea how many evening baths they have a week as it's pretty ad hoc

Yeah op. I bath/shower my dd at night and in the morning either a quick shower or in the sink, I don't always use soap. But always moisture her too.

I don't like the thought of trying to wipe her with baby wipes, I wouldn't feel clean if I had to wash myself this way. And I think a quick shower is easier than a flannel.

For me she looks lovely and fresh when she's had a shower in the morning, and by looking at some kids in her baby classes, they haven't been washed in the morning and their hair is all over the place.

FWIW we're not African and my dd is 20 months.
Just do what's best for you op !

If you washed them at night, then put them to bed, there is no way they can need washing in the morning, unless they had a poo accident overnight or something.

Also, they don't need a bath every evening unless they have got dirty. I suppose it depends how they get on with food. Some kids plaster themselves in it, right through their clothes and in their hair. Mine didn't and also if they got muddy, they were generally in outdoor clothes that I'd wash. I didn't bath them more than once per week when they were little. They have nice skin a decade later, I never put anything on it (creams etc).

We do the same as you OP and we are British and living in the UK.

I can’t imagine only showering the children every few days ! 2 of them have been to Beavers tonight so late to bed so just did their teeth. They will all shower in the morning though.

A couple of times over Christmas they just did teeth and a wash in the mornings but it’s definitely not the norm here,one of them really sweats overnight too.

I could never go to work without a shower myself.

DC will all have a quick shower in the morning.

I have two the same age. They have a bath every night but that is because they like it. We don’t wash them in the morning. Perhaps we should .

Bathed in the evening here and quick wash down with flannel in the morning for my DS who's 4. I have an older DD and used to do the same as you OP, bath in the evening, shower in the morning. I've subsequently made her used to having a shower in the morning that she stays in for ages. Decided I wasn't making that mistake twice and it's easier with DS this time around. I can have him up washed and ready in 15 minutes.

You isn't need to shower them twice a day. Make life easier for yourself

11 year old and a 7 year old.

7 year old bath every night but occasionally skips it if very tired etc. Morning is just teeth and hands!

11 year old, either a bath at night or shower in the morning.

Washing kids twice a day is IMO unnecessary!

I’m lucky if I can get my kids to do their teeth in the morning! We don’t have time for a full wash.

Both of mine have eczema, we were told two baths a week maximum as the water was drying out their skin

3.5 year old DD (with long hair) gets bathed 3 times a week and wiped down as needed in between. So much less stressful (used to bath nightly)

My DC are grown up but in the early 90s they had bath in the evening before bed from about 3 years old, before that top and tail as toddlers, In the 70s it was bath on a Sunday evening before bed.face and hands each morning. Teeth were cleaned in the mornings only after breakfast DGM gave us apple 'to clean your teeth' at night for supper. I have a lot of fillings

The kids bath every night, wash their hair every other and have a flannel wipe down in the morning

I have a 5 year old. Bath her usually 2 to 3 times a week. Don't moisturise her.

Little kids get dirty. They need a bath every night (well mine did!) and moisturiser straight after to prevent dry skin. But in the morning it was just hands and gave and a flannel if they'd had a wet nappy/pull ups. And teeth brushing. If a brush went through their hair I was winning.

Even as teenagers it's either morning or evening, they don't need both. If they they had a shower in the evening and the sheets are clean (we seem to wash sheets much more often than others) then it's literally roll out of bed, brush teeth and out of the house.

Flannel wash in the mornings. Bath twice a week.

That's an awful lot of washing. When you say washing do you mean plonking them in a bath of water or do you mean getting out the shampoo/shower gel/soap? If the latter, I'm surprised their skin hasn't got really dry and reacted?

We have a toddler who goes to outdoor nursery and plays outside a lot. He has a bath every night as part of his bed time routine. But the bath has minimal or no bubbles usually, just warm water and lots of toys. It's more a playtime than a wash. And we wash his hair with shampoo around 3 times per week unless there's been a serious food squish situation.

He still wears nappies. In the morning his bum gets a wipe when we change his nappy and get him dressed. He doesn't need a bath or shower to clean him in the morning when he had a bath the previous night.

I say all this as someone who religiously showers and washes their hair every morning (and occasionally twice a day due to exercise/going out...). I would never wash my child that much and I recognise that showering/washing my hair twice a day on the odd occasion I do it is bordering obsessive (just cannot stop myself it feels so nice to be clean!!!! )