Is it really necessary to wash your baby every day?

[TicTacsMum]

That's it in a nutshell really.

I met up with a couple of mums from antenatal today and one of them bathes her son every night and washes his hands & face every morning. The other bathes her daughter every second night and does a thorough top & tail very other day. Not really sure what this involves but seems to strip top half and wash, then strip bottom half and wash.

DD gets a bath every second or third day with either her dad or me (or all 3 of us together) I wash her nappy area pretty thoroughly each time it is changed with washable wipes and giver her face a once over most mornings. I wash her hands quite a lot as she always has them in her mouth.

Am I a scummy mummy?

I am a ScummyMummy so I say no to daily baths unless it makes you happy.:)

Blimey! Of course not!

how dirty do they get ?

wait till they're getting dirty before you consider frequent baths important

top and tail is more than enough

I bath ds most nights unless he's fallen asleep before I can get him into it!

Tbh I do it more for the routine of it than the cleanliness issue, besides I love bathing him. Although we don't put anything in the water due to his dry skin.

I was his face after every meal as he smears it everywhere, the same with his hands.

when ds was a baby the hv recommended that he was just bathed once a week and top and tailed in the meantime.

No way! Unless it's the height of summer and they're all hot and spotty. Or if they eat bananas like my 10-month-old dd does....
I think an awful lot of parents bath their children every day, and I don't think it does them any good.

The only thing I would say, with little babies, is just check their armpits/ neck folds/other crinkly bits so they don't get sore without you knowing it.

Thank god. I felt like the dirtiest mother alive

Nope. We wash DD2 every couple of days b/c she enjoys splashing in water. We don't use baby wash on her but every other bath, though.

She goes in w/her sister, who does get a bath daily, but b/c she likes to play w/her toys.

I gave my ds2 a bath yesterday and couldn't honestly remember when he'd last had one - a week ago I think . The days had just slipped by - he gets plenty of top & tails though. Often its a week with the older two as well but they get daily washes in the important areas too.

We used to bath DS every night, more out of routine than anythinng else. He now has one every other day, as he's good at settling himself at night etc, and it didn't seem so important. He's 17 months, and by the time bath night comes, he's a grubby as hell. I don't know how he gets so filthy. I have been known to shove him under the shower when he is just wearing his nappy, and reaslises he's pooed. He has a nasty habit of putting his hands in it and smearing it all over his face/body. This job is too tough for wipes alone!!!!!!!!!

nah, thats what baby wipes are for innit?

It is if they poo up their backs.

I bath ds every night because:

It helps his routine
It is the one part of his daily life that dh loves to do
He really enjoys it
He's a really sweaty baby

Bath dss who is 3.4 every night for routine really and have since he was a baby, wash on a morning and wash hands before meal times.
We negotiate on hair washing as he can't stand it.

Thanks folks - just wondered!

Thanks folks - just wondered!