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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to only bath my baby once a week?

103 replies

BonjourIvresse · 30/09/2009 20:13

According to my dear mother I am, I "ought" to bathe him more than once a week. If he's dirty or had sun cream on or something I bathe him more than that. I give him a top and tail wash with a flannel once a day, and of course a wipe down either end when its dirty. He's 6 months. I used to give his sister a bath every night at the same age and she had excema. My baby has lovely skin with no excema at all. Its not like he smells or anything

OP posts:
Olive11 · 30/09/2009 23:48

Ooops that was 'don't think' not 'thing' about wipes etc.

lovebubba · 30/09/2009 23:56

"colditz" saying if you hadn't over-bathed the child in the first place, the oilatum (and associated chemicals) may not have been needed at all. What a load of rubbish!!!! if a child has skin problems it is not because they have been bathed to much "Dr Colditz" lol

Asana · 01/10/2009 00:10

Heh. My DS is 22wo and prior to this week, had been bathed all of 10 times. I freely admit that I was lazy and was far too scared about dropping him/using the baby bathtub etc. I ordered a swivel bath seat to be used in an adult bath from ASDA now he can sit up unaided. That was delivered on Saturday and, since then, I've bathed him TWICE a day. I think I enjoy it so much because, for me, it represents getting over an irrational fear.

Don't worry though - I'm sure the novelty shall wear off soon enough and it'll be back to top and tailing with wipes then going over with a rough flannel and warm water once a day, with a bath reserved for the weekends.

Though I must now admit that:

  1. With the swivel seat, his bath takes all of 5 minutes (compared to the 15-20 mins it used to take with a baby bathtub, and the 10 mins top-and-tailing used to take)
  2. He smells a lot nicer now - JUST the way a Johnson's baby ought to smell (totally brainwashed by advertising ) In fact, have got him next to me and am sniffing him now - yummy! Though he does have pear purée breath ... (hate, hate, hate pears!)
clemette · 01/10/2009 00:18

Mine have a bath every night but it is not really to clean them... it is because:

  1. DH gets to have his quality time with them whilst they are in the bath while I race around doing washing/starting dinner etc
  2. They adore the bath
  3. I am not sure what else I would do with them when they reach that 6pm whingey stage and it is getting dark outside!

PS DD has had a abth almost every day for 4.5 years and has lovely soft skin so it doesn't always equate that it dries out their skin.
But OP - YANBU if that's what suits you. Here a bath is a firm part of the bedtime routine and I don't think DS (20months) would settle to bed without it.

nappyaddict · 01/10/2009 00:50

Moonlight does your DD have showers or flannel baths instead of baths in the tub or do you just top and tail her?

colditz · 01/10/2009 08:35

If a child has skin problems, over-bathing (note OVERBATHING, not bathing) can worsen them. Try actually asking your dr instead of slathering on whatever skin replacement chemical that comes to hand

Jajas · 01/10/2009 09:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

annoyingdevil · 01/10/2009 09:52

Couldn't agree more, mine get baths when they need it. DS is prone to eczema but rarely gets an attack.

When I was a child, it was the norm to have a bath once a week - and we were all a healthy bunch!

MamaGoblin · 01/10/2009 14:17

Why would you want to bathe a 6 month old more often than s/he needed it? It's not great for their skin, and they're highly unlikely to get covered in 'bad' dirt at that age.

DS had all of 3 baths by the age of 3 months! He hated them. At 6 months, I think we were still only doing it every few days. By about 9 months, we'd got into a bedtime routine that included a nightly bath, but look on it more as playtime than getting nice and clean. Of course, if he has a runny stomach or is sick, or rubs his fishcakes into every orifice , then we wash as needed.

Sometimes I get looks from other mothers when I say that I don't wash his (lavish, longish) hair every night. God, there's no way I'm doing that every day. Hairwash night is rightly dreaded in this house!

Blondeshavemorefun · 01/10/2009 14:36

bath every day - nice to have a calm down routine before bed, and have a chat about the day/school etc

i shower/bath every day - normally twice am and pm

Fairynufff · 01/10/2009 14:49

I hardly ever had the time to bathe my kids and still wonder at the 'settles them before bed' arguement....the last bottle/breast of the day seemed to do that nicely - taking all their clothes off and sticking them in water seemed the last thing an angsty tired baby needs...

That said. I am the original slummy mummy and although I would sneer at the friends of mine who were the text-book 'bath before bed' types... they all had squeaky clean peaches and cream kids and ALL of them learned to swim pretty much straight away because they were never afraid of the water. My 8 year old daughter is only just getting used to putting her head under water now because they were never used to baths/showers and got quite phobic of them.

I wish now I'd got them used to more frequent baths just because of that. But YANBU.

MoonlightMcKenzie · 01/10/2009 15:45

Well I wipe her hands before food, her face and hands after food, and I clean her every time I change her nappy and am pretty thorough. Occassionally I put a flannel to her hair, - usually when she is in her high chair. That's it.

S

pointydoug · 01/10/2009 18:18

All this bollocks about bathing/overbathing and skin problems is pissing me off now.

Consultants usually recommend daily bathing with emollients. SO you are wrong, peoples.

Overbathing with no emollients in the water might lead to dry skin, but that is not what most people are talking about when they speak of eczema.

pointydoug · 01/10/2009 18:19

Apart from that point, I am amazed that so many are so bothered about other people's bathing habits.

ElieRM · 01/10/2009 18:30

YANBU. Each to their own. If a child is fed, clean, kept warm, played with and loved, you are not a bad parent and other people's opinions about how often you bathe your children are irrelevant.

chegirl · 01/10/2009 19:14

For some children with eczema frequent bathing is not a good idea.
For some children with eczema not bathing everyday is not a good idea.

It depends on the child and why they have eczema.

My son has severe atoptic eczema and is allergic to all sorts of things including dustmites and pollen. He needs a daily quick bath to get rid of the dust of the day and provide a good clean base for his skincare.

But I otherwise I am not bothered about daily baths and my first DD certainly did get all that, didnt have time!

MrsSantosisafeminist · 01/10/2009 20:13

I bath mine daily because they are filthy (mud pies and snot anyone ) the older one is plastered in paint from preschool and they draw on themselves. they are reasonable eaters but do tend to get food in surprising places.They also love the bath...but DC2 does have eczema and we are on to the third lot of creams and now using prescribed bath emollient. I am totally confused now as there seem to be two schools of thought on bathing and eczema. Bath time is never a struggle her just a nice wind down at the end of the day (which DC1 needs because tends to get a bit hyper as bedtime approaches)

MrsSantosisafeminist · 01/10/2009 20:15

Aha Chegirl thanks - one more puzzle piece to work out.

nappyaddict · 01/10/2009 21:23

Moonlight so you don't clean her actual body iyswim. Just face, hands and nappy area? Went through a stage of doing that with DS cos he hated baths and showers. Is that same for your DD?

chegirl · 01/10/2009 21:35

I know mrssanto its bloody confusing isnt it

It took me a while to work it out and I had conflicting advice. Our wonderful dermatology specialist nurse was the one that helped the most. She told us that there were differing schools of thought but knowing DS as well as she did, quick baths using the right product would be best.

She was right. Soaking is not a good idea because it does dry out the skin and we live in a very hard water area. I would love a water softener.

onemoretimetoday · 01/10/2009 21:37

I can't imagine only bathing my kids once a week especially since I was told by our paediatrician that I should bath my DS who had terrible excema at least once a day and then cream him up to hold in the moisture. He's 7 now and has the most amazing skin. It's at least every other day here.

stuffitllllama · 01/10/2009 21:44

wow, it was always every day with all of mine, part of routine

StewieGriffinsMom · 01/10/2009 21:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MoonlightMcKenzie · 01/10/2009 21:53

Pretty much nappyaddict, although I tend to touch up as and when other parts (particularly creases) when I notice them.

nappyaddict · 01/10/2009 22:04

Bet you're glad DS doesn't have a bath phobia aswell as DD!