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.

It feels like a lot of people on this thread have not lived in dry climates. It really is totally different to any kind of humidity/damp in the air.

I always liked to have an evening rinse-shower in dry climates but that was more for the psychological feeling of "washing off the day" than because I was particularly in need of washing.

Pre-pubescent kids are even less likely to need proper washing in low humidity.

Fine to have a shower as part of a bedtime ritual but a dry climate just produces cleaner bodies.

@Dutch1e

Thank you for saying this. It is so dry here that if I leave a sandwich out for 20 mins the bread will be crispy.

If they don’t smell, aren’t sore etc it’s obviously fine. Once they start producing BO they will be showering more often. Pretty sure for a time mine had a weekly bath, but then as they became pre teens it was daily or every other day. They are 16 & 19 now and both shower daily so they once a week baths didn’t set them up for any terrible hygiene issues as young adults

Op you keep saying you bathe them when they get dirty or smelly or if they request a shower, but for most DC they would do something that week that meant they got dirty enough to need a shower. E.g. swimming, PE, playing in the garden, painting, cooking. Just general dribbling and snotting as well

Also yes maybe many years ago it was more normal to bathe once a week, but had showers been as accessible and cheap as it is these days they probably would have washed more often. And plenty of people did a daily strip wash.

@ThreeTreeHill you're absolutely right.

@ThreeTreeHill

To elaborate, we have a set shower once a week and then in between as needed. Most weeks it ends up being more but some weeks it is just the one.

Also it's other posters who have been mentioning hygiene practices in times gone by.

If most weeks they shower more frequently then it's not once a week is it?

I agree.

As with all medical conditions, eczema requires extraordinary treatment. It is an abnormality and requires managing differently to healthy skin. No one recommends treating our bodies the way those with disease have to treat their bodies. People who can eat gluten don't need to behave like coeliacs. Those who can't tolerate dairy wouldn't start suggesting no one should eat dairy. You have a skin disorder. Your skin can not tolerate daily washing. Most of us don't have a skin disorder. We can fortunately wash daily and enjoy very clean and odourless skin.

@ClumsyNinja if your 14 year old son showers that infrequently and doesn't smell then he is a very weird, dare I say impossible anomaly. Has he not yet reached puberty? EVERY teenage boy around puberty smells. That's not an opinion. It's a fact. Sebum production increases. BO starts, pubic hair traps sweat and urine. Testosterone soars and with it comes a whole host of smells. Its biological. If he doesn't he might have an endocrine disorder

I live in Arizona. It does not get drier then that lol. It's so dry hereonly catus really flourish

Once a week is absolutely ok op! Don't let this thread put you off, this is mumsnet, where anything other than OTT level washing and wearing a jumper more than once is 'disgusting'.

@Purpleafro8 It's not just skin. It's your immune system.

Our immune systems are strengthened by exposure to germs. Not washing your back or neck does not improve your immune system. Not washing your hands may improve your immune system. Or you may contract a disease. You may enjoy filthy hands to boost your immune system but most of us wash our hands throughout the day.
Meanwhile leaving your breast/chest and shoulders and inner thighs unwashed does nothing to boost one's immune system. Unless that is you expose these areas to germs and then lick yourself regularly

My son has eczema and I try to last him as long as I can without bathing him as the water tends to cause a flare up. It’s hard as he’s only four and constantly gets messy but if give him a quick wipe over then it’s better for him!

Once a week is the bare minimum in our house too but it pretty much always ends up being 2-3 times a week due to various incidents, I'm sure it's the same in yours. In summer it's much more frequent because they spend more time outside, getting sweaty and covered in suncream and sand and swimming in probably quite bacteria ridden lake water and paddling pools etc.

@ThreeTreeHill

I suppose, there are plenty of weeks where it is just one. It varies a lot.

Ok, you can all call me grim for this but here goes...

I wash both kids (3 and 1) once a week. I don't use soap, just a flannel. I don't use shampoo, just an apple cider vinegar rinse if I feel they really need it (every few months). I give key areas a wash daily in the sink with a flannel.

I have also recently ditched the soap, shampoo and daily showers, and now just bath once a week too, water only. I wash my hair every two weeks with water only.

No bad smells (I've asked several brutally honest family members), everyone looks clean, and the multiple skin conditions we all have have just disappeared. Acne that I've battled for decades and the kid's eczema have both gone. My hair looks great, it's not a frizzy mop any more, actually has defined curls, and I save loads of time and money.

(Ducks for cover)

I'm with you on this one OP. I think people wash far too much these days and feel its almost as if the more you wash, the more you need to wash.
In our house, we aim to bath the kids every 4-5 days. Grown ups every 2-3 apart from summer when it is daily.

Don't be the parent of the "smelly kid" at school. I vividly remember the ones when I was a child. They were bullied mercilessly and ostracised for it. My DD always tells me the tales of the ones in her class and it's quite sad. I always remind her of this when she decides to be water-averse.

I think it's important to get DC into good personal hygiene. A shower or bath at least every other day is minimum, but preferably every day. It means their hair doesn't get washed enough. How often do they clean their teeth?

When they get to about 11 they might need 2 showers a day. Teens can be stinky, even with deodorant, if they do a lot of sport. On occasions my Foster son has showered 3 times as did 2 or 3 lots of sport.

Jesus, there are some filthy buggers about.

I think once a week isn't quite enough and wipes are useless

But has someone who manages eczema I understand. I shower about every 3 days and wash (face, pits, bits) morning and/or evening

A bath once a week with water only, for a grown adult?

Crikey, I would be absolutely HONKING!

We all bath twice a week and don't smell. I'd only wash in any way in between if I needed to. I couldn't care less what people think. If people only know that your kids bath once a week if you tell them then there's obviously not a problem is there?

To me it's no surprise that people are struggling with heating and water bills when the whole family are having showers every five minutes and probably washing all their clothes every time they wear them. I'd imagine at some point in the future this sort of over consumption of energy and water just won't be possible.