To wash my kids once a week?

[HuckleberryBlackcurrant]

I have 3 DC, DS 6, DS 4 and DD 4 mths.

When my first child was born, he had eczema and sensitive skin, we live in an extremely dry climate with weather extremes, so our Dr recommended bathing once a week.

We do not have a bathtub, only a baby one we put in the shower for our daughter now. The boys have of course outgrown it.

As our other children have come along we have kind of stuck to this schedule.

We of course wash them any time it is needed, for nappy blowouts, when they are ill, if they get extremely dirty or sweaty, or if they request a shower.

But barring any of these, a weekly bath it is.

Recently I was spending some time with my sister, she commented that she needed to bath her daughter. I said oh really, I thought you only bathed her yesterday! My sister said she bathes her at least every other day.

My sister lives in a different climate than I do, we were at my parents' for a visit.

My sister was shocked when I said we only bath/shower our children weekly, and brought up that they wouldn't be used to regular showers when they hit puberty. I replied that that is a conversation we will have at that time, but for right now they aren't producing BO and there is a lot of research to suggest that excessive washing dries out the skin and depletes natural oils.

Myself and my husband shower every other day unless we have been sweating a lot.

My sister said that she thinks this is a bit 'grimy'. I'm feeling terrible now that maybe we are bringing our children up with bad hygiene habits?! I never notice them smelling bad, apart from my 6yo who is learning how to wipe, and if this occurs of course we have him shower.

We of course wash hands and face daily, as necessary.

DS baths every night. He’s not been through puberty yet but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t smell great if we left it a week between baths. His hair would definitely not smell good - we only wash his hair every third day or so and it starts to whiff a bit if we leave it any longer. I think it’s setting him up for good habits in later life, but he doesn’t have eczema or dry skin so we don’t have that to consider.

DH and I shower every day and I wouldn’t be massively impressed if he only did it every other day.

Are you saying their bums and genital areas don't get washed every day? If so then that's very grim.
Not bathing every day is probably fine but some areas do need a good wash.

@GalileoHumpkins

We use wipes in between showers.

@WolfFoxHare

DS doesn't have eczema any more. It seems to have cleared up. We just kind of stayed in that pattern.

Wipes are useless, you need soap and water.

Yeah once they are potty trained they can’t wipe properly and stink of wee so yes they need a proper wash. Not hair wash every day, but a quick dip or shower.

Yeah I think once a week is a bit grim. Fine to have once a week proper thorough bath and quick shower every other night

A 6 yo might not sweat but they are pretty mucky in general and probably won't be very thorough wiping their bums. Most 4-6yos I know get pretty dirty throughout the course of the day

I'm completely with you op that every day is too much, but I think twice a week.

My boys can be pretty minging but even the worst of them ds2 who is 9 washes at least 3 times a week. Once a week seems like very little to me.

I think years ago, it was the norm to only bath kids once a week.

I think it's fine.

Wipes are not good enough for in between showers. They should at minimum be washed with a cloth and water.

Wipes between showers is grim, sorry, and probably not any quicker really than a shower. I don’t think once a week is enough. Kids don’t clean up properly after wee and poo, they get stuff in their hair and need a really decent face and hand wash daily which is easier just to do in the bath or shower? We wash ours daily. Entirely up to you of course

I think it’s fine too. My youngest only has a wash about once a week and he always smells lovely and had lovely shiny hair. He had bad eczema when he had more regular baths and showers.

I only bath my 7 year old 1-2 times a week and she doesn't stink 🤷🏻‍♀️

@ThreeTreeHill

I check the boys every day and if they are needing it we do shower them in between the official 'wash day'.

Personally this sounds a bit long to me, especially if they’re running around and getting sweaty. When my son had eczema I was actually told that it’s better to wash him daily. Every other day at least I think. My 4yo would definitely smell (and be covered in food, sand, all sorts!)

@DGPP

If I notice them being dirty or smelly I wash them. If not, I wait until the weekly wash!

Yeah maybe at least use a flannel and soap? 🙈

Bathed all of mine every night practically since birth. Kids get grubby, well they should get grubby. Dirty knees, pen/paint on them, face covered in dinner! I couldn't imagine to baby wiping/damp flanneling that off.

Our toddler is 1-2 a week, depending on how grubby they’ve got. We only wash hair once a week unless they’ve got food stuck in their hair.

I come from the generation that bathed weekly, but we would flannel wash pits and bits daily.

@Newsenmum

If they get sweaty I do wash them. In our climate they really don't sweat as much. We live in Idaho, USA.

I've never understood bathing children every day. It's so bad for the skin. My 15mo has a bath twice a week and that's NHS recommended.

We only hair wash once a week though (unless it’s obviously dirty - I check)