Am I actually supposed to wash her?

[Natzer]

OK I feel really silly asking this question but I will anyway.

DD is 13 months and has a bath every other night before bed, if it's a non bath day she is topped and tailed with cotton wool and water. When she is in the bath I shampoo her hair and use a flannel to clean her face and hands. (she has mild eczema btw). But - am I supposed to be using soap or similar and actually be cleaning her body? Because I never have, I have always imagined that the bath water (with Oilatum) would clean her.

Sorry for the ridiculous question but am I really doing something wrong here?

TIA

Sounds Ok to me, but then again I had to be told by a dr to clean dd's ears

I wash off visible dirt.
The boys wash their hands about twice a day.
Otherwise just sitting in the bath I reckon is enough.

Dh washes ds. Genitals, hands, face, feet and neck all get a wash, the rest of the body is sort of rubbed over with a soapy hand and rinsed.

If your dd is clean and smelling as fresh as a daisy, then I'm sure what you're doing is fine.

I recognise your name, where you on the Aprill 11 thread?

I always give ds a bit of a wipe when I do his hair (using shampooey hands). If I tried to wash him he'd definitely complain - he thinks I'm annoying enough for demanding he gets in the bath, then actually getting him wet, only to then make him get out again and dry him off.

Hi ILTMI, yep from the April thread.
She doesn't whiff luckily. I did buy some halos and horns body wash today so maybe I will make more of an effort next time . Will see what the eczema does with that too.

Is there nothing in this motherhood thing that I won't feel guilty about?

As a fellow eczema sufferer I would say you are right to go easy on the soap. I've got my eczema pretty much under control but too much soap, and anything perfumed can cause a flair up.

I use soap on DC hands, emollient in bath and an emollient based soap substitute most of the time.

Sorry if this sounds patronising but it's worth remembering that some soaps are much more irritating than others. Generally the brighter the colour and the stronger the smell- the more irritating they are. Also, every item in the Johnsons range brings me and DC out in hives.

I don't know either but dp bathes ds, also 13 months every night (because he loves it) hair wash every other and a shampooey hand wash - face, hands, neck, bottom etc, just to freshen him up. I also top and tail in the mornings just because I think its nice! I'm confused about ears though.

Ooh blimey, I feel a bit slummy, I bathe DD 14mo once a week whether she needs it or not!

Hiya
DS had v bad eczema when younger. We were told various things by various experts from washing every day to a bath once a week.
In the end we deduced he actually needed clean skin for the eczema not to become infected.
We use dermal 500 prescribed by the doc which comes in a pump, and we use exactly like soap.

We do a bath every other night (16mo) and I wash hair and with those suds do face, behind ears, neck, hands. Then with a sponge I do bum, genitals, feet, legs, tum. DS likes it and it is quite necessary k think as his favourite thing is grubbing in the garden

I don't use soap on the DC's. they're 5 & 3. Once the shampoo has bubbled over them and they've been showered off they come up as clean as a new pin .

I'll use soap or shower gel in a couple of years when they do start to get sweaty or have been charging around at school or day.