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Parenting

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Original poster

slightly embarrassed to ask but does everyone bathe their children every day??

152 replies

Fluffylox · 30/12/2013 11:08

I have a 3yo and a baby but only really bath them about 2/3 times a week, baby I'm not so concerned about as currently still too little to get into a mess but should I really be bathing eldest every evening?sometimes I just seem to run out of time of an evening! And if not how do you mommies of daughters make sure the girly bits are cleaned every day I try chasing her around in the morning with a sponge but not really sure if that's sufficient really!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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cantheyseeme · 30/12/2013 11:54

Yes with dd1 she has long curly hair and it needs washing every day, no with dd2 as she doesnt get dirty

TheGreatHunt · 30/12/2013 11:55

My two get dirty but not every day. If they've had a messy day then I get them in the bath. But we've got very good waterproofs, so it's usually just hand and faces that are dirty.

cantheyseeme · 30/12/2013 11:55

Dontmind haha spot on
FOOD IN HAIR!!

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TheApprentice · 30/12/2013 11:55

No, its completely unnecessary. Obviously fine if its part of your routine and children need/enjoy it but mine are bathed a couple of times a week and its plenty. When I was young it was once a week. In the middle ages it was once a year!!! To the poster who said its just laziness I think you are being judgemental. don't forget we all have different priorities - it depends whats important to you.

EatDessertFirst · 30/12/2013 11:56

DD(5) and DS(3) bathed pretty much every day for the sake of routine. However, if DD is properly exhausted from school nodding into her dinner /DS is playing calmly not jumping off the sofa I leave the bath in the hope of maintaining calm which benefits all of us after a long day. Obviously I would bath them if they were properly dirty but the odd one missed is really no big deal.

We are all early risers so there is plenty of time for getting clean in the mornings.

UriGeller · 30/12/2013 11:56

I have an almost 3 yo and an almost 1yo. We bathe them every other day (or so). Ds has excema and bathing really dries him out so we limit baths because of that. The baby gets hands and face wiped every few minutes (it seems like) and a cleaned bum every nappy change.

As kids we used to have a bath on a Sunday evening and that was it!

Mishmashofstyles · 30/12/2013 11:59

Twice a week here with children with eczema. Shame really as they love a bath and it'd be nice to have more for the fun of it, but it doesn't agree with their skin.

WelliesandPyjamas · 30/12/2013 12:00

I don't feel daily bathing is good for skin in winter. Most of the time I aim to bath/shower one child a night in rotation. This helps my sieve-brain stay on top of it There are 3 dc so they will go 2 days without a bath at a time. The eldest is now 10 though and has a tendency to get very smelly despite deodorant and fresh shirts every day so I think it's time to increase frequency in his case!

JRmumma · 30/12/2013 12:01

Nope. 4mo here and 2-3 times a week. Its not part of bedtime routine yet as we don't have one and i don't bathe in this weather if we ate going out again that day as i worry about not properly dried ears in the cold (but that's probably just me).

JuneauWhoIAm · 30/12/2013 12:01

Twice a week at the moment, more often if needed.
Summertime is everyday alright.

For those with girls with long hair does it not take ages to blow dry?
DD1 has long thick hair and it's a nightmare to dry. DD2 is heading the same way.

atomicyoghurt · 30/12/2013 12:04

Dds have a bath every evening. They are 3,4 and 5. They all go in the same bath. They love it, their skin is fine and they wash themselves with flannels.
They wash their bits themselves.
If their skin gets dry they moisturise.

We've always done it this way and just added the next one in as soon as they had their jabs. It's part of the day and they enjoy it.

BobaFetaCheese · 30/12/2013 12:05

Once a week and flannel washed all over every other day here.

V.sensitive skin in our family (thanks to me) so anymore and it brings Ds1's arms up in a rash.

atomicyoghurt · 30/12/2013 12:05

I dry my girls hair with a hairdryer and the ones with thick hair takes an age (especially since it has to be a cool setting).

We only wash hair once a half term!

legoplayingmumsunite · 30/12/2013 12:05

3 times a week here (plus they go swimming once a week). When we just had a PFB we bathed every day but it's really not necessary and delays bedtime, my girls are 4 and 6 and drying their hair before bed takes forever. DS is 16 months, he gets wiped down with water down below every time he has a nappy change but since he has eczema even 3 times a week for a bath is a bit much.

On a historic note 'TheApprentice in the middle ages there were communual wash houses so people washed regularly (about the same amount we do), it was slightly later that people stopped washing so regularly (bath houses gained a bad reputation for being the place to meet prostitutes) and Queen Elizabeth was the one who washed 'once a year whether she needed it or not'. It's not very healthy to wash that little though.

ShoeWhore · 30/12/2013 12:06

Every other day here. I don't think daily is necessary or all that great for their skin.

PeazlyPops · 30/12/2013 12:07

I bathe DS (20 months) every night, it's part of his dinner / bath / bottle / bed routine.

Betty56 · 30/12/2013 12:07

Newborn is bathed in the morning and wiped dowm in night.

Dd (5) is bathed morning and night. Dd Whilst toilet trained does not wipe as well as we do so definitely needs a bath and change of underwear before bed.

lade · 30/12/2013 12:15

I used to bath my DD1 every day, but when she was little her skin was terrible, even though she always bathed in oilatum. The doctor advised we reduced it to 3 times a week, we did and her skin improved dramatically and we haven't looked back since. Bathing every day is really bad for their skin, so we don't.

DDs are 10 and 7 now. Whilst DD2 only baths three times a week, we have said to DD1 that she should really shower every day now that she is getting older. Before that, though it really isn't necessary.

PiratePanda · 30/12/2013 12:19

DS3: Every other day, but dirty hands scrubbed with soap immediately, ditto face wiped. Hair once a week. Extra bath only if his clothes get wet through. He never smells and never looks dirty.

OddBoots · 30/12/2013 12:22

No, their skin got dry if I bathed them more than 2-3 times a week.

TeaAndFag · 30/12/2013 12:23

Why would you NOT bathe them every day?? My 2 are plonked in the bath at 6pm every single night without fail, it's part of their routine!

colditz · 30/12/2013 12:24

Because its unnecessary and can very very harmful to their skin.

TheTeaLeaf · 30/12/2013 12:27

When they were little it was every day. I can't stand that stale milk smell babies get if they are not.

Now they are 10 and 6 and it's every other day, anything less and their hair gets greasy looking and I don't like that.

TeaAndFag · 30/12/2013 12:27

Skipping a bath for an all over strip-wash maybe once or twice a week I can understand, but only bathing your child ONCE a week?

SoonToBeSix · 30/12/2013 12:28

No , about once or twice a week.

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