Looking for people who left it as long as possible before bathing their newborn

[nappyaddict]

Anyone left it as long as 3 months? Or until they were crawling? Or eating solids?

And how often did you do it from then on? I've heard of a few people doing it every 10 days.

Obviously hands, face, nappy area, neck folds are still cleaned throughout the day with plain water.

My youngest was born with creases that cracked and bled within hours of being born, I didn't bath her for over a week and even then just in plain water, no soaps. I continued to bath her every week or so and slowly her skin recovered, she was prob on daily baths by about 6 months.

tbh I cant see any benefit of not doing past 3months, once they start crawling etc they def will need baths!

We bathed after the first week. We don't bath DS1 (2) every day as it dries his skin, so it tends to be around 3 times a week. DS2 (11 weeks) gets similar at the moment. We are being careful in case he has the same problem. I am more keen to bath DS2 more as he is a little chunk with lots of folds so he needs a good dunking to get all of them clean.

I don't know how long you plan on waiting but there's normally a poop incident when wet wipes just won't cut it any more.

We bathed after the first week. At first we just bathed every 2 or 3 days as that was plenty. We washed face and nappy area every day.

DO is 6 months now, on solids and starting to move around so has a bath every night as he gets grubby.

Think it was about three weeks, mainly because he was always asleep. He's five months (almost) and at best gets bathed once a week. He doesn't get dirty!

Dd had her first bath at 9 days old, and her umbilical stub fell off into the towel ewh
She probably ended up having a bath every other day by 6 months, moreso because it's part of her bedtime routine.. She likes a good routine!

I gave mine a bath in the hospital to wash the blood out of her hair, then carried on every few days afterwards.

I gave mine a bath in the hospital to wash the blood out of her hair, then carried on every few days afterwards.

Don't remember tbh but didn't use soap or shampoo on DC1 until over a year.

Ewww the thought of not bathing a baby for 3 months... Sorry but yuk!!

Dd was bathed in hospital but when I had ds they had stopped that so he was bathed as soon as I got home after 2 days.

& is bathed every evening as part of his bedtime routine.. Dd is 11 & a right soap dodger I have to remind her to shower every other day in the winter & every day in the summer!

I was told not to wash my youngest for the first few weeks as she was early and furry

After that it was only about once or twice a week in winter as it was way to much hassle.

In the summer when they had been out I found that suncream made them look dirty - think the dirt stuck to it a bit. Also they ended up with grassy knees and bits in their hair.

Now they are older smellier it's every other day in the shower but I can see this having to go to every day when it's warm they stink

I wouldn't bathe dd2 for a week (we were still in hospital because I was ill) and one day they left my notes in the room. There was a separate sheet in there saying I refused to bathe her and that this must be passed on to the HV as I was potentially neglectful.

My goodness I kicked off (I kept the sheet and asked to see the ward manager). I'd "topped and tailed" morning, evening and at every change that required it. I'd established breastfeeding. I'd cut down on painkillers in order to feed her. She was clean, fed, and we'd moved the whole family from home (I'd been air-ambulances from an island) to be together.

The sheet was shredded before my eyes, I was given free access to all my notes and the staff responsible were in trouble.

What, in all their fussing about baths, they hadn't noticed was my crushing descent after only a week into full blown pnd. I wasn't bonding at all (it took months) and was going through the motions.

And they were fussing over bloody baths.

She'd her first "proper" bath at about 8 weeks, and it think that was more for dd1 and ds benefit!

My twins were born at 34 weeks and while in NICU they still had a lot of vernix on them. All the nurses did was wipe then down a bit. Up to a week later I noticed the vernix in the fold of their skin. They said to me it was the best moisteriser in the world and that we shouldn't wash it off.

They had their first bath with only water at 12 days old. After that we bathed then three times a week with just water. Now at 20 months I still don't use any soap on their skin and when we wash their hair we use a small amount of Weleda Organic Calendula.

6 weeks for us, but they were in SCBU and they don't bathe them because of temperature issues. They had real cheese necks by then even with wiping etc, it was a bit grim really. When we got home, once a week, sometimes less because it seemed to aggravate eczema.

Now they are nearly three - whenever the need it which is pretty much every day at the moment!

I know someone who didn't bathe their babies for the first 6 months (except with a flannel as you describe).

I don't use soap or shampoo on my 18 month old unless she's had suncream on. But she's had a daily bath since a couple of weeks old - she really enjoys it and skin seems fine.

It's jolly difficult to get neck folds, underarms etc properly clean with just a flannel, especially if your baby is quite chubby.

I didn't bath DS until two weeks after he was born.

About a week after born.

After that bath every other day but water only until 12-18 months. Now a little bit of earth friendly chamomile shampoo

2 weeks at least.
Why do you ask, Nappy addict?

Ds got his first bath just before the 6-week check because I'd heard they told you off if you hadn't. He was a very clean baby - no possetting, only one poo incident ever where I came off worse than he did - so until solidsa flannel really was sufficient and my sensible friend with 3 kids said don't bother unless aat least one of you will enjoy it. He hated baths so only had one a fortnight until about 7 months when suddenly loved them - and once using the potty they were necessary daily.

I have a triplet Mum friend who didn't do it for 6 months. Obviously topping and tailing, but she was on her own and just couldn't do it safely. And doing it individually would've taken hours she didn't have.

They're still alive .

Ds got his first bath in nicu at ten days old. At 5am

To this day I don't know why, I was rooming in so maybe it was my demonstration? But at 5am!?

Ds squawked through it all and was straight back under photo therapy.

We were discharged on Christmas Eve so his first bath at home was on Christmas morning.

He has always had baths most days, has mostly always enjoyed them and his skin and hair are in great nick

I bathed every day as I found doing a wash down more hassle tbh. Never topped and tailed them.

We did it at ten days, then weekly to 4/5mo when we started a bath/bed routine and now nightly as he gets food everywhere.

We left it a couple of weeks. We washed DS with cotton wool and water in his bottom, face, hands etc. Then when we did bath him we didn't use any products for 2 months. He loves bathtime though! And he now goes swimming too and his skin is still soft- only natural products and olive oil on his skin.

I don't think babies get 'dirty' before weening TBH. I ca see you might get away with a strip wash or cotton wool and water. I would say though, I think there are benefits of getting your baby comfortable in water/ baths/ swimming

My second dd hated being bathed. She went hysterical. So she was washed with a flannel until she was over 1, and then she got to a point where she would get into the bath if I was in with her.

I attended an "early days" NCT course. The course leader said, "there's absolutely no need to bath your baby..."

I interrupted loudly with "exactly! I never bath my baby!"

"...every night," she continued. No one laughed.

My DS and I were struggling the first few months and bath time was a horrible experience for all. For medical reasons we couldn't get DS's head wet so in our paranoia didn't want him near water at all for a long while. We did bathe him maybe once every ten days in average, but I didn't really see the point. We could make him just as clean with a sponge bath. (Make sure you clean behind their ears though - it was weeks before I found a milky crust behind his ears! )