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

[Fluffylox]

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!

Yes. Bath every night for each child , just to keep the bath,bottle,book,bed routine ... they love the bath and I love seeing their smiley faces splashing around :)

I don't bathe my DC daily because I did at first with DC1 and his skin went all dry and flaky. Cleared up no problem when we went every other day.

Nothing to do with can't be arsed, everything to do with not wanting to cause harm to my children.

Eczema with both my kids. Bathing everyday would make it awful. They don't smell. Little one needs a bath after nursery. Older one after exercise. Maybe 3/4 times a week each.

Dd is 3.7 and she's had a bath once a week since we bought home from hospital. Aside from paint/felt tip/extreme food related incidents, she really doesn't get that dirty. And frankly, I can't be arsed running a bath every night. We don't get in from work until 6pm, at which point I have to do the tea. If I had to wait for hot water for a bath too, she wouldn't be going to bed until 8, and nobody wants to deal with an overtired 3yo.

I'd rather her have an extra layer of grime than have her hungry or tired. If that makes me lazy then

She does have a shower after swimming lessons though, so I suppose we're in the twice a week clan really.

DD has a bath or shower every night. Sometimes I try and not but she insists on it, likes the routine and winding down.

Used to as part of bedtime routine. He's 6 now and not particularly a messy kid so it's usually every other day.

Nope. Very lazy. When they start to smell generally. Lots of wipes to take the post McDonalds ketchup off and to remove chocolate lipstick.

Eldest now 14 and it appears to have done her no harm.

DS1 who is two appears to have fallen through the bathing gap since Xmas Eve-DP and I failing to communicate - thanks for post - good reminder!!

no but mine had horrific eczema , but top and tailed daily.

This thread made me look at the guide lines for eczema..and some are now recommending a daily bath...
I know all eczema cases are different - but I can say without a doubt for DD1 stopping her daily bath was like waving a magic wand - vast improvement within two weeks...I only put diprobase on her after a bath (actually now I remember by then I had changed to aveeno) but within a week (so after 2nd bath) I didn't need to use it ...
back mine got a face wash with a wet flannel twice a day, wash their hands (with soap) after going to loo - if they have pen on them I will try and wash it off ...but if it was their arms/face and water alone didn't bring it off I would be reluctant to use soap - even something like oilatum...and in that case a 10 min dip in a tepid bath wouldn't have shifted it either...and honestly I wouldn't have worried about it...they might still have pen on them the day after bath day ....

(and I can say mine are both mixed too - don't get lotions on them daily and aren't grey! )

BTW Anyone struggling with eczema/skin problems - apparently a common chemical preservative - Methylisothiazolinone (MI) - has just been banned...it use has been on the rise in the last few years and dermatologists think it is linked with an 'explosion' in skin conditions - worth checking your and DCs skin care products/shampoos and even things like washing up liquid/laundry detergent - it was even in Huggies wipes...

People with children with eczema Please try Aveeno cream (if you haven't already) - it was recommended to us and completely cleared up dd's bad eczema almost immediately

Ive always bathed mine every day apart from the eldest until he was about 3 months old anyway, i know they say you shouldnt as it take moisture away but luckilly mine havent had problems. I like to have the routine and also i can realy tell when they havent had a bath and looking a bit grubby. We let our eldest skip his bath a couple weeks ago as he was doing his evening nativity, first time for ages. He woke up in the morning and said he hated not having his bath, he had a grubby smell about him aswell so he got a shower before school something i dont usually do

Gampy - Aveeno didn't solve DD1s problems - but was as good as Diprobase - and not as smelly or messy...
DD2 had doublebase - which is good too...but her skin hasn't been anything like as bad as DD1s was on daily baths anyway...

So back2

Those children who do not smell / are not grubby - how do you know they were bathed the night before? Do you question them daily to establish this, or have you merely assumed that because they are not smelly, they must be bathed every day?

If dirty marks are removed, how do you know that this was done via a bath, and not merely wiped off with a flannel / strip wash?

Sorry, but if you claim to know the difference between children who are bathed daily and those who are not, just how have you established this?

So far, from what I can see, your claims are completely unsubstantiated.

Well I have not conducted a scientific experiment and I don't have a spreadsheet. Asking them if they had a bath last night is just the same as asking them what they had for tea and what was their favourite part of last night. Random inane conversation.

When we have to talk about personal hygiene as part of the EYF we cover handwashing after using the toilet, teeth brushing and talk about baths and showers. The majority of dc (3to4s) say they have baths every night before stories.

Its not so much the same grubby marks in place day after day its the sour unwashed smell. The grubb just confirms it.

My ds has the knack of getting filthy and not looking clean but he smells clean. Theres a difference of dirt on top of dirt then dirt on clean.

You would trust a three year old to be able to accurately relay the frequency with which they were bathed, back2 ? My DS would happily tell you he was washed every single night before bed with wide-eyed honesty but this would be inaccurate because he has little sense of time...

Do you really change their sheets if they go to bed unwashed one night?!?! See, to me, this is making work for oneself. I would rather spend that 15 minutes reading a book or playing with kids. Different strokes and all that.....

Good reasons not to bathe every night in my book include: hygiene hypothesis - a little dirt is a good thing; environment/ waste water plus cost; health/skin conditions; and can't be bothered-ness. It is not being a bad parent to admit you find some parts of routine family life quite tedious, time-consuming and pointless, and therefore reduce the frequency of those tasks. Having a bath every other night will not harm my kids...

My children are seven and ten and still not sure if they had a bath last night.

Pretty much. DS is 6 and showers b himself, just as part of his routine. DD is 7 months and we are doing baby led weaning with her, so she ends up with food everywhere and needs a good rinse :)

I just asked my 3 year old if he had a bath last night and he said yes, and today In fact according to him he has a bath every day.

What kind of nursery do you work in Back that you are regularly questioning the kids about their bathing habits? I have worked in childcare for years and don't think I have ever asked a child that.

I also can't recall a child smelling sour. I think maybe you have some obsessive tendencies around washing children Back and are seeing/smelling things that aren't there.

The thing about eczema is that one treatment doesn't work for everyone and a treatment that was working can become less effective.

Aveeno made my kids look like they had been sunburned, their skin was bright red and stinging.

I bathed babies and small DCs when they were dirty (nothing like every day, except in the suncream and sandpit season).

DDs are 12 &15, I think they shore about every third day, I don't keep track.

The only input I've had for years is, you have something smart to go to, make sure you remember to wash your hair or have a shower tonight your out tomorrow (if it's clear their hair won't look nice two days down the line).

The only thing that worked for the dc's eczema was swopping from baths to showers.

We used to have cupboards of creams and miracle potions, nothing worked. Within a month of changing to showers (plus a very quick weekly bath) we hardly ever touched the creams again. Our hard water is evil stuff. They have baths on holiday because the water is softer.

I bathed dd every night when she was little because she was my PFB. when ds1 came along a year later, it dropped to every couple of days. And with ds2 again every couple of days.
They are 15,14 and 10 now and shower before school every day and have done so since the age of 5. Because I happily admit I am a bit peculiar about stuff like this and I can't imagine sending them to school without having a shower.

I used to bath every day whilst getting into a sleep routine but now it's every other day unless they do something where they get really messy.