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.

Jesus, this is awful.

You have to wash with soap and water to get rid of the bacteria that causes BO. You can’t just put deodorant on top every day, the bacteria will just keep on growing.

Your child will be the smelly kid at school and you won’t notice because you’re used to it.

It’s basic hygiene. Please do better for your child.

This!

You may not have had issues yet @jellyfish2121 but I bet their teachers notice!

A good slather with conditioner helps with hair tangles, then comb with a wide toothed comb, a couple of mins going over with the hairdryer to get hair almost dry then into a plait if they’re going straight to bed. I washed my DD’s hair every night at that age and hers was down to her bum almost. She still washes hers everyday and always gets remarks on her long gorgeous smelling shiny hair. Really doesn’t take long 2/3 times a week even.

You could get them towelling dressing gowns to put on straight from the shower and while drying hair. I used to blow a bit of hot air from the hair dryer inside mine’s dressing gowns before they put them on so it was toasty warm then keep the dryer on them while they got pjs on!

Older primary age DC will shortly be getting into puberty stage, especially if they’ve got BO!, so I’d start a more regular washing routine now and consider shorter hairstyles! We often get nose blind to our smells. Please don’t let your girls be the smelly, greasy haired kids at secondary school.

Isn't it cold though, standing at the sink more or less naked or at least from the waist down or waist up at a time whilst bits are washed individually?

It seems to be so much more effort to do a strip wash and make sure all the soap has been cleaned off properly without hiding in the nooks and crannies than simply stand under a shower for 2 mins and let the running water do the rinsing job properly, whilst being nice and warm at the same time.

I'd say baths are perhaps more skin-oil stripping as the body is soaked in a tub and usually for a longer period, but running water droplets of a quick shower shouldn't be. Showers can literally take 2 minutes, quick in and out.

My children (3.5 and 15 months) both get eczema with too frequent baths/showers. They have a proper bath 2 times per week (Wednesday and Sunday), and we emphasize washing hands and face throughout the day. Additional showers would be added if they were ill, visibly dirty, smelly, or came into contact with loads of chemicals or bacteria (wild swimming or a pool, etc).

Daily baths don't work for my children, regardless of how "grim" or "disgusting" other posters may find it. I can imagine that in a drier climate, we would only do one proper bath per week plus the additional showers as needed.

OP, you are not neglecting your children. If they are happy, healthy, fed, educated, and loved, then they have everything they need. They are probably quite happy that rather than prioritizing unnecessary daily baths, you are ensuring they are not in pain from cracked and bleeding skin.

Ewww yes YABU and grubby. Every other day is the routine you need at a minimum. The poor kids.

Dd8 has a bath on a sunday and a shower on a Wednesday. Sunday so clean for school and Wednesday as she has swimming lessons that day so needs to clean afterwards.

Baby dd has a bath every other night but it’s a sleep time routine and it’s only a shallow quick one to soap her up. She smells really ripe if we don’t 😂Sometimes during the week if I’m bathing baby, dd8 will get in with her to play with her so they wash together.

I remember we only got washed once a week and it was 3 of us put in the tub together 🤢 that’s just grim on grim.

When I had DD1 I washed her once a week for years, thinking this was the norm as it’s what my mum always did with us.

When she got to 5/6 and started wiping herself with no/little help from us, I saw she was missing bits, so knew she needed to at least have privates washed daily. So around this age, I used to shower her bits with soap daily, bath her every Wednesday and Sunday and Sunday was hair wash day.

Now she’s 7, I notice her hair gets greasy mid-way through the week, so we now shower bits daily, bath and hair wash Wednesdays and Sundays. I just accommodated what she needed; although saying that, I don’t wash my 20 month old once a week now - she gets two baths/hair washes a week and I wash her bits with a soapy flannel daily.

Daily checks on their nails as well- washing hands/nails and clipping them. I remember being on a placement during teacher training and a TA was concerned about a child as they always had dirt in their nails. This was years ago, but just stuck with me so I’m constantly checking/cleaning/clipping them.

I bath mine daily purely to tie in with the wind down hour

Sorry OP it's not enough. I bath DD every other night and I feel bad it's not every night!
I'd say twice a week, bare minimum.

Do you have boys / girls?
TMI but DD sometimes gets a bit sore and sweaty down there and a bath helps.

I remember only having a hair wash in the bath once a week as a child but my mum mum made sure we had a wash every day.

You aren't the first to bring this up, and I am left wondering what teens you know, to be honest. Most kids who are bath/shower averse develop a massive interest in washing when puberty hits and thoughts turn to romance, even the boys. It seems to overnight go from 'can't get them in the shower' to 'can't get them out of it'.

I had weekly baths pre puberty. Once I hit the 'interested in boys' phase, washing suddenly became incredibly important.

My 18 month old has eczema and only has a bath once a week. She really doesn't need it anymore frequently as doesn't get particularly dirty besides her hands and face after eating which get cleaned with a wet flannel. I think when she's a bit older and not being cleaned thoroughly at nappy changes then she will have to bathe more frequently.

How do you manage only showering every other day is it a very cold climate and outdoor facilities?

My DC have eczema and shower twice a day regardless of the weather and is fine. I think once a week is very grim. Sorry OP

I'm reminded of the Four Yorkshiremen but in reverse.

My DC have two showers a day AND a bath.
My DC live in the bath, I only get them out for a shower.

Etc

Terrible for skin, the environment and for getting clean.

@Utterbunkum you haven't worked around teens much have you. I can assure you they aren't all like your dc. Some of them reeeeeeek. And many of them have greasy hair.

Interesting reading all the different thoughts but is no one concerned about their water usage or gas bill in heating up the water for these daily showers & baths? Or all the time you could be using to do other things? How do you even have the energy at the end every the day? I don't believe it takes any child only 2-4 minutes from start to finish including go upstairs, clothes off & put away, use toilet wash hands, shower, wash, rinse, dry, clean clothes on, put towels away.
It really seems over kill to me why any child would get so dirty every single day to need a complete body cleaning. They wear clothes which cover most of their body anyway, wash hands throughout the day before food, after food, after toilet, when get home etc, brush teeth.
I don't see the point in more often unless its hot in summer sweating often & to wash suncream off.
No one is up that close to be sniffing their feet & bums! Deodorant is good for b.o, it's only just starting here not a daily thing & does cover it well. When it doesn't, or sweating starts more then yes showers will increase somewhat.
Yes to those saying my DC could wear a shower cap to keep hair dry but even that is a faff with long hair & will make the process longer. I've noticed greasy hair starting by end of the week so may need to increase hair washing but hope not yet.
Oh & nails are kept very short which helps keep clean, plus hand washing, never dirty nails as that could make them sick as touching food.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much @jellyfish2121! Most showers are electric and cost virtually nothing for five minutes use. Deodorants aren’t designed to cover BO, they’re supposed to be used on clean bodies to prevent it.

They're not necessarily muddy or sweaty every day jellyfish2121, it's more about overall freshness. Kids aren't great at wiping bums effectively every time. They get covered in felt tip and grimy from playing or rolling around in the playground. Deodorant is not for covering up a BO smell, it's to prevent it as PP said. Hair that isn't washed that often can get a build up of grease which is harder to shift.

As for the energy, I just found it because I wanted them to be fresh daily. Now they are older they go off in the shower by themselves every evening. I've never had to beg them to shower or wear fresh clothes or wash their hair or clean their teeth thoroughly. Their hair, skin & teeth are all in excellent condition, daily quick shower hasn't given them eczema. Not saying daily showers must be done or else kids will be filthy and smell by day 2, but it's not a bad routine.

I wash my daughter every 5-10 days on either Wednesday or a Sunday she's 3.5.

I wash every 5-8 days. I used to wash every other day but i reacted to shower products and had to be tested for liver disease as I was so itchy all the time. I switched to solid products and especially with my hair I don't need to wash it anywhere near as much. I only use soap I'm areas where it is needed and not generally on my arms and legs for example. I no longer have the itching which has plagued most of my adult life. I think we definitely wash more than is necessary
When I have depression it can be 2 weeks between washing that's too long.

Electric showers are very costly to run, we noticed a huge difference in electric costs moving from a house with a combi boiler the shower ran off to one with an electric shower - even with some of it offset by going from an electric cooker to a gas cooker.

Anyway, you'd all be horrified by DS. ASD with sensory issues, he showers once a week and wears the same clothes day and night, and only changes when he showers. He's nearly 11 and his lack of washing is getting very noticeable. We're desperately trying to find a solution, we got as far as him cleaning his teeth twice a day, wiping his face once a day and the proposal to use a foot spa when a trip to the dentist put us right back at the beginning. We're now back at the cleaning his teeth once a day point.

He at least washes his hands regularly.