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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:

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colditz · 30/12/2013 12:30

I can't understand why social standing is more important to you than the integrity of your child's skin, but hey ho. Everyone is different. Some people really value appearances, I get that.

Meglet · 30/12/2013 12:30

Mine are 7 & 5, they have 4 showers / baths a week. Plus a rinse off shower after swimming. So 5 a week.

unlucky83 · 30/12/2013 12:32

Twice a week for mine ...from birth to 11 ish - although DD1 (almost 13) has a shower every other day now.
DD1 had really dry skin and hair and a bit of eczema- used to bath daily in oilatum and cover her with diprobase, use cholesterol heavy duty conditioner on her curly hair and she still had problems ...switched to twice a week and saw a massive improvement.
DD2 has always had 2 a week - also dry skin and a touch of eczema - but nothing like as bad as DD1s was. If she gets dirty - food in her hair etc I might just rinse her off under the shower - no soap or shampoo.
They used to share the bath, then DD1 got in after DD2 but only does that now if she needs her special shampoo (has a scalp condition - if it flares she has a special shampoo she needs to leave on for 5 mins twice -so doing it in bath makes more sense - and up to recently when she had a fair length cut off her hair I used to have to help her do it) she does then have a rinse off in the shower.
Anyway not laziness! Daily showers/baths are not good for the environment either!
(And long story - but we have a dodgy boiler we can't fix/replace yet - so every shower/bath involves crossing fingers that it just keeps going!)

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MostWicked · 30/12/2013 12:33

It's not hard to run a bit of water and dip them in and out. Just laziness IMO not to.

Don't be so ridiculous!
Bathing every day is not necessary, doesn't make you a better parent and for many children, can be harmful.
I had to stop bathing mine every day because it was causing dreadfully dry skin and painful rashes.
A simple wash down is better for more delicate skin, with a bath a couple of times a week.

TeaAndFag · 30/12/2013 12:33

I cream them well after their bath, they both have lovely, clear skin. I was always bathed every night as a child,and do so as an adult, don't have dry skin....horses for courses I suppose

Pannacotta · 30/12/2013 12:36

Bathing everyday is overrated and bad for kids skin.
Nowt to do with laziness.

Audilover · 30/12/2013 12:37

Twice a week in our house.

madamginger · 30/12/2013 12:37

My 3 get done every other day, its bad for their skin to bath more frequently.

noblegiraffe · 30/12/2013 12:37

Are you lot dipping your babies in water for form's sake not on water meters? Such a waste!

My two (11 months and 4) have a bath every other day. They're never dirty or smelly. Some kids I see are right dirt magnets though, so I can see why they might need a nightly wash.

colditz · 30/12/2013 12:38

So you replace the moisture you've stripped off - you want a medal?

It's actually harder work to organise a strip wash - it's just laziness to stick them in the bath then have to fix their skin with chemicals.

lilyaldrin · 30/12/2013 12:40

I aim for twice a week with my 3 year old. Usually don't bother Monday-Wednesday nights as he is tired after nursery so it's mainly Sunday and Thursday. Often he asks for a bath or gets in with me once a week too

lilyaldrin · 30/12/2013 12:42

I very rarely shampoo DS's hair too, so it never gets greasy.

200Cigarettes · 30/12/2013 12:44

2 yo dd has a bath every evening as part of bedtime routine. 4 month old has bath twice a week.

MrsSteptoe · 30/12/2013 12:46

Most evenings. DS is 10, and I think it's a rite of passage for boys to go to bed without a bath during the holidays for as many days as you can get away with. (Hit my limit on the third evening and dropped him in the tub.)

lljkk · 30/12/2013 12:48

No I don't.

TeaAndFag · 30/12/2013 12:56

colditz, I don't 'replace the moisture I've stripped off' every night, no. Just when I feel they need it. My 2 are dirt magnets and personally I wouldn't be happy putting them into clean pyjamas in a clean bed, with an unclean body.

randomAXEofkindness · 30/12/2013 12:58

I run a bath most nights, and the one's who want to get in get in (they're 4,3,1). I do it because they enjoy playing in the water, and because I hope that it will wind them down as part of heir bedtime routine (doesn't always work that way!), not because I think it is necessary. And I don't use any soap.

I think it's a luxury really - they're quite expensive (we're on oil with an old boiler, so about £2 a bath).

I think your lo's will be fine

Back2Basics · 30/12/2013 12:59

It's not painful, my dd has eczema and had loads of bath lotions and potions which keep her skin lovely.

I work long days am a LP I don't get in till after 5 after picking my dcs up from the cm, I then have to cook and clean and sort out stuff for the next day.

I have noticed people with messy houses tend to have messy dc to. It's lazy not to take care of your kids and yes they do smell if they're not regularly washed. Where I work you can smell the difference between the clean little dc. And the ones that don't get bathed everyday.

Frusso · 30/12/2013 13:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hollyandbooze · 30/12/2013 13:01

I do. Part of bedtime wind down. They enjoy it and it helps them wind down. I shower every day.

Just like feeling clean.

RockinAroundTheXmasTreeHippy · 30/12/2013 13:01

Nope, not good for their skin at all(on the advice of Doctors & Hospital) topping & tailing is fine & bathing/showering once a week until the hormones kick in & they get smelly of course

TravellingToad · 30/12/2013 13:04

I do, part of the bedtime routine and I find the evening drags without having the bath as an "activity" (I know, sad!)

But I only have one DC, when we have two DC (in 3 weeks time!) maybe it will be harder.

Xfirefly · 30/12/2013 13:05

I aim for every other day. top n tail between, unless wev had a poop explosion....like just now

Patilla · 30/12/2013 13:05

DS is five and since starting school has dropped to twice a week and sometimes one of those is the showers after swimming.

He has been so tired that he has been unknowingly going to bed at 6.15 and as I'm dealing with a baby and DS on my own in the evenings I prioritise reading together eating together and hearing about his day. I've noticed no detriment to his cleanliness but then I try to reinforce things like hand and face washing after meals.

DD aged 8 months gets washed more like 3 times a week but then she gets muckier with weaning.

I suspect these numbers will go up in summer as the kids play out more but not to daily.

TeaAndFag · 30/12/2013 13:06

Back2Basics, couldn't agree more!!

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