To boil and cool my baby's bath water?

[belephant]

Posting on AIBU for traffic as bathtime is fast approaching, sorry if it's not appropriate for this board!!

I was just FaceTiming my mum when I said in passing "ugh it's bath night tonight, I'd better start getting the kettle going soon" and she looked at me like I was stark raving mad and told me to just use tap water like any sane person would. I had a quick google and can only see stuff coming up advising cooled boiled water for wiping newborns' faces. My baby is 5 months old for reference. I'm struggling to actually remember where I even got the idea that it had to be boiled and cooled from.

So go on then, should I be boiling it or am I lost in the realm of 'PFB' and FTM anxiety?! 😁

Babies the world over bathe in normal tap water. Time for a reality check.

@belephant
sorry not read through all comments, just yours. Wanted to let you know, when I had my first the midwife told me I had to bathe them like that. You’re not alone with PFB.

I was told to use cooled boiled water to wash my baby's face- I think I did for a few weeks. You get into routines and this one has just stayed a bit too long. It's made us all laugh anyway, OP. Hope you enjoy this habit coming to an end now.

No, absolutely not.

I have never heard the like.

3 children in and the only thing I boiled the kettle for was gunky eyes, have you really been doing this to fill a bath for 5 months 🤣 dear god your electricity bill. How many kettles is a bath? Thanks for making me laugh, but just use tap water, your baby isn't drinking the contents of the bath 😅.

No you don’t need to boil water for a bath or face. After baby 1 I didjt use water and cotton wool for nappy change either. Just water wipes. It cracks me up - I know it’s heindsight but when you are a fist time mum, you don’t think how other mums manage who have 3/4 young kids / babies or mums of twins etc (which i was). No was would a mum with 3 under 3 be able to boil water for a bath. They just plonk baby in with the rest of the kids 🤣

Years ago it did used to be recommended to use cooled boiled water to wash baby’s face and especially their eyes. I remember doing that for a while.

But once baby is splashing & playing there’s no point really.

How sweet that you’ve kept taking such thoughtful care of your precious baby @belephant but you an relax a bit now.

Not even in NICU, where babies were tiny and delicate, was that done! Sterile water was used for the face but for baths it was tap water!

I'm so glad to hear that your baby survived his tap water bath 😂 it suits us commoners just fine 🛁

You should always use cooled boiled water for newborn babies’ eyes - I learned that at antenatal. We were taught to cleanse their eyes first, then the rest of their faces while they are on the changing mat, then do their hair if it needs doing, then nappy off and in the bath.
But I have never heard of anyone boiling water for the bath unless there has been a failure in the water quality and the water board advises it.

That is really sweet, OP. You can tell him about this when he's a teenager. 😊

This is the most endearingly batshit thing I’ve read in ages - you sound like such a loving, caring Mum! Good on you OP but please, for the love of sanity just run the bloody taps 😂

Boil and cool to wipe away sludge from an infected eye. Conjunctivitus for example.

Oh bless you!

That's a new one on me, and I've heard a lot of PFB stories in my time 😂thank you for the laugh OP!

Can't believe how harsh everyone's being. Bless you for worrying for you little one. You've done no harm btw, but save yourself time and money and use tap water from now on xxx

I remember sending my husband out to buy bottles of sterilised water, don't feel bad!

Only if a baby had a slightly sticky eye you could dab gently with cooled boiled water. IIRC.

You know, I've heard about the using sterile water for cleaning a newborn's face but I think that's only really necessary until around one month of age. Using it for anything else though is just causing you extra work for no reason, I fear... My DS is now 7 months and the poor lad has coped okay with just tap water from the bath directly. I dread to think how much electricity you've used boiling the kettle so many times to fill a bath for them 😅

Are you actually joking?!

Nobody does that! Just run a normal bath then check it’s a safe, baby friendly temperature!

Nooooo! How do you think that's normal?

Has baby never been swimming? 🤣

Aw you wee lamb, OP
dont be too hard on yourself! Some things trickle in, in amongst the chaos and other things are forgotten
im sure we all did stuff like this : they are so precious and youre so bananas that these things seem logical
my own was waking a sleeping baby to change pee pee. Why? Leave them be!
we also messed about a lot with various combinations of water trying to make bottles, until we got the Prep Machine - it was at that point i was like " WtAF have we been doing for 10 weeks!?"

It costs a fortune to book a kettle too.