does my mother know best?

[nappyaddict]

for the first month of my babies life i did not bath him - just top and tailed once a day with water and i only used cotton wool and water with drapolene when changing him.

when he was a month old i started bathing twice a week and began to use things like baby bath, liquid talc, baby lotion, baby wipes etc and i wash his hair once a week with the baby bath.

i will probably use proper baby shampoo and bath him every day when he is a year old and i will definitiely not use normal products until he is at least 3. atl east all this is what i thought i would do..

now my mum keeps complaining he does not have a baby smell but after reading various books and articles i always thought what i did was what you were meant to do. now i am worried people will think he is riffy. what do you all do?

Sounds normal to me. I was advised not to wash ds too often by HV and midwife as it could dry their skin unnecessarily. I didn't start doing frequent baths till he was crawling and even now (he's 6) he only gets a bath every other day with just a quick clean with a flannel inbetween (unless he's filthy).

I didn't bath my dds everyday. Every other day was enough. Even now (they are 5 and 3). Hair gets washed every bath time.

I doubt very much that people will be thinking he's 'riffy'. Don't go looking for a baby smell. People wont even notice. How many times have you said;

"Hmmmmmmm doesn't smell like a baby, I wonder what it could be??"

babies smell like themselves anyway - not Johnsons.

You're kind of both right -- what you do is perfectly normal and reasonable, but it's not strictly necessary. We bath DS pretty much every day (actually, at 19 months he seems to have decided that he prefers showers) but only use "product" if he's really dirty. Mostly it's just plain water, with shampoo maybe once a week.

Very sad that people think a baby should smell of chemicals.

also i have exczema and a few people have told me to prevent dry skin appearing which i am concerned about to alternate between water only and using baby bath. my old HV said as a rule of thumb bath once a week up to when the baby is crawling, twice a week up to the age of one and every day after this.

What does she call "a proper baby smell" - whiffing of Johnson's baby lotion?

A clean, fresh baby smells delicious ... without that whiff from a chemical concoction that the manufacturers have convinced us is what a baby smells like.

Fancy complaining about how he smells ... sorry, but she's totally out of order.

What are you supposed to use on him other than what your using, what's left? Mine only smell of that 'baby smell' when they first have a bath, which is about once a week, (they are 4.5yrs and 8months). I think that 'baby smell' is associated with talc and that is actually not the best product for babies, esp girls with their bits iykwim.

baby smell I think equates to teh smell of Johnsons baby talc - (just read wigwanbams post and agree)I bath ds once or twice a week as I did with dd (primarily becasue i worry about skin drying out)

reading this makes me feel sick with broodiness.

My ds (2.8) developed dry skin/mild eczema at 6 months, and I've mainly put it down to bathing him every day with baby bath, etc. I have found that even baby products (Johnsons is the worst for him) make him dry and scaly so now he has a bath every 2-3 days with plain water or a bit of E45 Junior bath if he's REALLY dirty. I have eczema too, so the tendency is there.

I think babies in our parents generation were covered in talc and stuff and that's why they had that 'baby' smell. Personally I prefer the smell of skin, my dd smells lovely when she's all warm in her grobag and I know it's just her own scent. FWIW, she didn't have her first proper bath until she was 5 weeks old, only had plain water and a bit of baby shampoo on her (lots of) hair and her skin is beautiful and soft.

Mind you, if you're really worried, John Lewis sell baby perfume, seriously. That'll cover up any nasty niffs .

We had to bath DS every day from day 1 cos he was a very sicky baby - unfortunately he'd tend to be sick just as we laid him down for a nap, so most of the time he smelt like sour milk!!

I used baby shampoo and softwash - he didn't really smell of it for very long though even if he wasn't sick!

My gut response to the thread title alone was "NO" and having read the thread it's pretty much still the same. I bath my dd every day and use baby bath and baby oil but tbh she is usually sick within an hour and then smells of stale milk. What you are doing is fine as it's what works for you and your lol. It matters not one jot that your dd doesn't smell a particular way.

Trouble is we get so much conflicting advice - a certain book says bath every day (for the purpose of a routine), HV says once a week, your mum says when necessary......AAARRGH!!!!!!!!!

I've bathed both mine daily (unless we have a late night out) since they were about a month old. Funny, my mother said that ds smelt "musty" early on, when he wasn't bathed as much as dd had been. She wasn't being critical though - it was true! And he's always had a slightly more hamsterish smell about him than dd (I love it though ).

I think you're doing the right thing. I'm sure your mum means well, but I don't think she's right on this one. Actually I think the reason why she can't smell his "baby smell" is because she's not his mother. Keep following your instincts, you're doing fine.

Even my 5 and 3yos don't use any bath products whatsoever, except when they get their hair washed once a week with baby shampoo. The only other products we use on them are junior toothpaste and the blandest of bland moisturisers when needed.

Babies' skin just doesn't need all this gubbins. OK, sometimes they have problems with dryness or eczema, but unless there's a problem why slap all sorts of chemicals on them? Half the problems are caused by other chemicals in the first place.

Our parents' generation, and many other people too, think that babies have a particular smell - but it's really the smell of the stuff that's used on them. After all, would you expect my baby to smell like yours? Of course not, they each have their own individual smell, just as we do when we don't mask it with deodorants and perfumes.

As a baby my ds smelled to me of those slightly spicy German biscuits, whereas dd smelled vaguely lemony. As they've grown their smells have changed, and I couldn't describe them now, but they are the children's own smells, and not (except for a day or two after shampooing) the smell of some chemicals - however pleasant - that have been rubbed on to them.

For her first few weeks dd only got bathed twice or week, other days I just top and tailed. Now she gets a daily bath because it is part of her night-time routine and she loves it. No products though - I just rinse her in plain water. A little baby shampoo once a week because she is a hairy little mite (only on her head, though ).

Your approach sounds good to me.

i forgot to mention in the OP after about a week of starting all those products i stopped because frankly i couldn't be bothered!! now i just use baby bath but i ran out the other week and he didn't have any for a fortnight! personally i prefer his natural smell than that "johnsons" smell. thanks for the support!!

If all your mother has to complain about is a lack of "baby smell" then you must be doing pretty well.

definitely wouldn't worry about it. your baby doesn't need to be bathed in chemicals every day to make him smell nice! amazing really...

What you're doing sounds absolutely fine to me! All these baby soaps and shampoos dry out their skin anyway. You're better off not using them.

If you need a moisturiser, try using plain olive oil massaged into the skin after the bath when they are still a little dampish!
We did this with al of ours as babies and they all still like a 'rub' about once a week or so, even dd1 who is 6 now.