Bathe or not to bathe!!

[BrownEyedGirl32]

Hi there, first time poster so bear with me!

I have a 2 week old ds and am unsure when the best time is to bath him. He sleeps a lot apart from when feeding or suffering from colic/wind. The books say that he should be awake to bath him so do I wake him or do it after a feed when he has a little wake time. Am a bit confused as first time mum! Have been topping and tailing him but really think it is time to introduce him to water!!

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

We used to bath him whenever he had a blowout, or he was fractious and inconsolable. This did mean that there were days when he had 3 or 4 baths with me or his dad (since with an annoyed baby, I enjoyed destressing in the warm bath too)

Oh, I was told to be careful until his belly button had healed, so you might want to top/tail a little bit longer if it's still scabby...

I don't think I bathed DC2-DC4 until they were at least 5 weeks old. Just wipe down until then.

We bathed DD most evenings from when she came home - we found it was less hassle than to top-and-tail . I think we started aiming (very loosely) towards our current routine of tea-bath-feed-story-bed. It seems to have worked well for us as the routine really helps with DD's going to sleep too.

If this is the kind of bedtime routine for your DS as he grows, then it would seem sensible to bath him in the evenings, perhaps after your evening meal. I wouldn't wake him up to bath him but try and time it for shortly before a feed, which may mean waiting a few weeks if his feeds are irregular (at 2 weeks we had to ensure DD was fed every 3-4 hours).

We bathed DS after his morning feed until he was 4-5 months old as he was too fractious in the evening. He would then generally have his morning nap straight after his bath.

Bathe him after a feed. What sort of bath have you got? I have a tummytub and it's brilliant for getting wind up & soothing a fractious baby.

I would get the room really warm, warm the towel on a radiator. Make sure water nice & warm. I'd use plain water to begin with. Make sure you swish round all the creases and folds, neck, in between fingers, behind ears, armpits etc.

Dry thoroughly too.

Take a picture if its his first bath

Thanks for all your advice. It's very much appreciated! Topped and tailed him and washed his hair tonight after his evening feed and I think he may have even enjoyed it!!

Have a tippitoes bath which has a wee bum rest to stop babies slipping down. Will try once his belly button healed.

Will remember and take a picture. Don't want to miss these precious moments. Easy done when you're so shattered!!

We had a premmie - 31 weeks and she was bathed after about 10 days as i remember my hubbie was first to bath her in the second hospital we were in. Really its only a swish and a splash and great for getting them used to water in and around their head and bodies (for hair washing). Whislt she is much older now i don't insist on daily bathing - twice a week with swims on top and shower down after but she is a real water babe now and NEVER had a hair washing/face in water issue at all

Hi! I'm a first time mum too and I've just been bathing my son after feeds when he is sort of awake. I tend to feed him for about 20 mins and bath him whilst he has a break then put him back to the breast after bathing.

Top and tail for as long as you need to.

DD was four weeks old when we first bathed her. Only then because I wanted give her a bath.

Agree with Mobly get everything nice and warm & take a photo.