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.

I kind of agree with your sister. In that I have always bathed mine twice a week unless they looked dirty or they were a bit smelly etc. Now they are a bit older they need to wash more and trying to get them to wash more is like pulling teeth. So many pointless battles about how they need to wash. I wish I had washed them every other day from the get go so it was always there routine.

I was bathed once a week as a child and I hated it. Even at a very young age I felt dirty, and knew I looked dirty (believe me other kids were quick to point it out!). I can remember being in primary school begging my parents to have a bath and being told I was silly and them refusing to let me have one 😯
Maybe if they had been better at advising me how to have a good strip wash inbetween it wouldn't have been so bad but I distinctly remember the black tide marks on the collars of my white school shirts because I never thought of washing around the back of my neck!
My kids have been bathed daily since birth and now shower daily as teenagers. I never want them to feel like I did as a child.

But in general there would be a proper strip wash with soap amd water in between, not just a wipe down with wipes….

I shower every 2nd day due to dry skin issues, but on non shower days, it’s a proper soap and water wash down for face, pits and bits!

Yabu. Shower them every other day.

If you could get them used to a quick shower every day, just one minute to soap under arms and between their legs, your life will be much easier and more hygienic as they get older.

I don't think one bath per week is enough. I remember that was how it was in my childhood for various reasons including very old fashioned parents and poverty. I felt ashamed and my feet would certainly smell.

Exactly. I have tried loads of creams also on tablets aswell. nothing stops the pn fire pain after a shower and u till you have to live with it you can not understand. as I said upthread had a shower yesterday eve skin on fire sat on bed 15 mins or more waiting fir cream to sink in. didn't sleep to well as irritated. now will have to put more dream and carefully pick what I wear today so don't irritate it

no products on earth prevents the stripping of the skin water does. unless you have experienced it and gone through the pain you can't comment.

Definitely, just a quick shower to wash the important parts is much easier than a strip wash at the sink. I could soap my entire body with a shower puff and rinse in less than 2 minutes.

I couldn’t imagine not washing the important bits in some way, on a daily basis though, I’d feel disgusting.

Never understood this obsession with flannels. Just get in the bloody shower. It’s not hard. Some people really have not left Victorian times.

I can’t get my head round weekly baths. I was a child in the 50s and I can count the number of days I haven’t had a shower or bath over my entire lifetime on my fingers. The only time I haven’t got in the bath/shower is when I’ve been really ill. I feel disgusting if I haven’t bathed.

People who do a flannel wash, how?
Where do you stand? Do you do it by the basin or standing in the bath? If it's by the basin surely you are dripping soapy water everywhere and I can't imagine getting all the soap off with a flannel. I like to give soaped up areas a thorough rinse in the shower or bath. I hate the idea of soap residue between my genital folds. I also can't imagine scrubbing my vulva with a flannel. I use my fingers so it's gentle

I bath/ shower my children every day , same for myself... its a bit gross to bathe your kids weekly, bit neglectful tbh it takes 5 mins for a quick shower ..

The same as you do for someone who is unable to shower or is unable to move from bed
Hot water, lather up soap on flannel, wash
Rinse flannel in hot water, rinse/wipe soap off well. Or use a soap substitute
I cared for people who hadn't had a shower or bath in decades and none of them had a smell

For any sensitive areas people generally prefer a sponge and something like hydromol instead of soap

YANBU we bath/shower & hair wash on Sundays so fresh clean ready for the new week. It's a battle for us because DC have long hair & hate having it detangled & brushed after a hair wash & also hate the cold part when towel drying. That's despite having the heating on & towels on radiator to warm up first. With long hair it's become time consuming & not a 2-5 minute shower as others claim. It's a whole process & afterwards the brushing & drying. There really isn't time for it during the long weekdays with school, clubs & working.

No issues for us so far & DC are older primary school aged. New clean under wear daily. Wash hands & face in morning brush teeth twice. Hands washed throughout day. Daily underarm deodorant for occasional b.o now getting older.

It's possible to bathe or shower without washing your hair.

So are you actually saying that your children's armpits( which you say have started to smell occasionally), bums and feet only get washed once a week? If so that's really disgusting, they will smell. If their long hair is the reason for one bath a week then cut their hair or use a shower cap to keep it dry. I grew up in the sixties and seventies and we bathed almost every day, on the occasions we didn't bath we had a full flannel wash at the sink, so not a day went by on which we weren't properly clean.

Just wash them daily
Wipes don't clean
No kid wants to be the smelly kid 😞

Aren't their fingernails grubby too? At the very least they need their hands washing regularly on top of genital areas?.

@BuffaloDance2000

I keep their nails really short and then of course wash their hands, so no

Mine have either a bath or a shower once a day, usually before bed. They are 5 and 9.

Once a week is grim. I would say every other day is acceptable.

Kids get mucky, sticky, get food on themselves, probably don't always wipe themselves properly after the toilet etc....

I think a nice bath or shower and clean pyjamas before bed is lovely.

No one is saying wash your hair every day. You put your hair up into a shower cap. Then it is literally a 2-4 min process to wash your bits in the shower and around your neck, boobs etc. your feet get cleaned. Its fast.

@Paw2024
The same as you do for someone who is unable to shower or is unable to move from bed Hot water, lather up soap on flannel, wash Rinse flannel in hot water, rinse/wipe soap off well. Or use a soap substitute
I cared for people who hadn't had a shower or bath in decades and none of them had a smell
But when you wash someone in bed you put a waterproof under their bottoms so the a water doesn't go all over the bed. I can't imagine getting all the soap residue off with just a damp flannel and if it's more than damp and you are standing up by the basin then surely water is running down your legs

DS gets awful eczema if we wash more than once a week so I’m with you

I've never used a waterproof sheet to wash someone in bed ever
You have to really wring the flannel out, it's not dripping at all. I mean you can just stand on a bath mat or towel but no need to
Like if you use a hot cloth cleanser on your face