How often do you bathe your under 1 year old?

[Mscandylamb]

Hi all,

36 weeks preg and just have a question to ask about bathing under 1 year olds. My anxiety is that my baby might drown in the bath so Im not sure I would like to bathe her every day.. Also i'll be on my own raising her in my own flat so things will be much more of a struggle.

Does anyone have any tips to keep their baby safe and clean ??

You don't have to bathe a baby every day. But I'm concerned you are so anxious about this - was there a trigger specifically for baths or are you anxious about other things too?

Babies don't need to be bathed every day; especially newborns as it dries out their skin. That being said there is no need to be anxious they will drown - you will be with them all the time and when you get used to it you will be confident handling baby even when wet. We have a little plastic baby bath and my baby is 13 weeks. We are now bathing most nights as she is a reflux baby who is sick a lot and we are developing a bedtime routine. When she was tiny we preferred a "top and tail" wash with a 2 part bowl. All the best x

Hello,
My LO is 15months and I think we did 1 planned bath in the week end and then others in the week to help if any situations require it : vomit, explosive pooh, use water to calm before bed...etc.
We bought a special bathtube for baby which is so much smaller than your adult one. Did you look into the tools you can buy to help you with this?
Also, at the hospital before being discharged and if you feel anxious about doing it a first alone, then ask a midwife to do one with you, they will!!!
By all means, look at all the specifics rules of security for a baby and toddler in a bath.

I am certain it will come naturally to you. I was a single mum to oldest from when he was born and also lived in flat. Have you bought a baby bath?

When my babies were tiny I would bathe them every other day. When they got to about 3 months I did it every day and they are still bathed daily now at 3 and 7. It’s good routine before bed for mine 😊

Thanks everyone for your replies! Today I bought a £10.49 baby bath from argos and it looks huge for a newborn even tho it says it can be used from 0 months. Im sure the anxiety will pass once my baby is here and I have a regular routine with her. Well forgot to mention my baby and I will be staying at my mums for a couple of months post birth so atleast I will have some guidance before moving back to my flat and braving it alone.
I haven't looked into any special tools or what not, just gonna rely on instinct and common sense.

We didn’t bath our baby every day until he was three months old, before that it was every few days, save if he’d been sick / explosive poo! We never used a baby bath for the reasons you say - just looked so big. We bought an angel care bath seat from mother care - it goes in your bath and it’s like a bath seat they lie on, our baby loved it!

I've always bathed mine once or twice a week. No more until they started putting peanut butter through their hair

Absolutely rely on instinct and common sense! That's the absolute best thing you can do.

Me and my friend call parenthood 'anxiety of the week' as it feel that we have something different each to be worrying about weekly.

I used a baby bath in my bedroom at first as there was more room to sit and feel comfortable, when he was newborn he had a weekly bath and if he needed it but by around four months we got into a routine of a bath every night. He loves his bath and it's a nice routine we have after his tea before watching night garden. He's one and has a bath every night still.

I bathed my baby every night, but I enjoyed the experience though, and the bedtime routine, the same every evening helped settled dd to sleep well.
If you are nervous, ask your mother to stay with you

I bath mine every day after the first few weeks, but I'm don't think that's the norm.

Twice a week until she started nursery, now (15mo) about every other day. Sometimes more often if she needs it but she has very dry skin and it's not good for her unless she needs it.

I bathe my son every night. If your child is active (crawling or walking.) I feel like you should be bathing him/her every night. But to each their own: apparently hygiene isn't at the top of the list to some people.

It's not essential at first, and for a long while tbh. We bath DD daily because it's a good routine to be in for us, signalling that it's nearly bedtime. I do remember taking forever to get her in and out the bath the first couple of times though - and when I was a baby my parents were so scared of bathing me that they rang round for my uncle to come over and do it! It does get easier. DD is now 17 months and will practically hop in the bath herself and switch the taps on.

In the early months, about every week or two. Closer to 1, about once or twice a week.

But lone parent aside, there is so much you’ll need to deal with that I would try not to worry about that. You can’t actually leave them unattended even for a second until about 2, so drowning isn’t even an option. Being anxious is shit though and I would urge you to get some support for that. There’s no reason to feel like this when you should be enjoying your baby.

DD is two and still only gets a bath 2-3x a week - she just doesn’t need it more often than that. That said, she’s an unusually clean toddler - she really doesn’t enjoy getting dirty. When she was younger, we tried the bathing most nights thing but it just didn’t suit her as she would get totally wound up, it wasn’t relaxing for her at all. She’s also always had beautiful skin (once we got past the neonatorum toxicum/cradle cap stage) so I’m working on the theory that if it ain’t broke...

Once a week unless they have covered themselves in food such that a flannel won't cut it. We're perfectly hygienic thanks lovely.

Get a Shnuggle bath - that's what I'd have wanted if I was on my own.

www.amazon.co.uk/Shnuggle-Baby-Bath-Bump-Support/dp/B00SNM4KS0/?tag=mumsnetforum-21

They are a different shape which makes them easier for newborns. Or since you've already got a bath if you can't return it, get this bath seat - all my MN group ended up using it and it looks 100x better than the one we had.

www.amazon.co.uk/Angelcare-Soft-Touch-Bath-Support/dp/B00AWMV9CY?tag=mumsnetforum-21

DS2 is 5 months old and gets bathed some weeks once, some weeks 3x - it really depends what else is going on, we don't have it as part of the bedtime routine.

It's very very unlikely that they will drown in the bath. Of course you must not ever leave them in the bath even to grab something from another room, so make sure to prepare what you need in advance, perhaps get something like a shower caddy with all of baby's things in it, then set up a changing mat with towel ready on it near the bath before you bring your baby to be washed. If you do find you have forgotten something, either do without it or take your baby out and wrap them in the towel to bring them with you.

You don't need to use soap to begin with so your baby should not be too slippery. I would just use plain water until you start weaning. Use one of the flannel mitt things to wash them with. Once you start with soap, your baby should be more stable at sitting and might even be able to sit in a bath seat where they are sat up. Just use a tiny amount and do one body part at a time so you can keep a grip with the other hand. I recommend a baby soap with a push top lid like hand wash, so you can do it one handed while keeping a hand on the baby. They tend to scream at first so a bath will want to be short anyway.

Good luck :) It is nerve wracking but you'll soon get the hang of it.

Oh if you're staying with your mum for the first 2 months you'll have hands on help for baths then - I'd take advantage of that as they are tricky and scary when they are tiny. But you soon get better at it.

We gave them a bath 2 or 3 times a week to start with but once they got to about six months we took them in the shower with us - much quicker and they loved it.

Dd 8.5 months has a bath every night. She loves it and is part of our evening routine.

DS is 11mos and has a shower or bath every 2-3 days (which is plenty hygienic whoever the pp was that said people should bath every day). He usually baths with me which is nice so remember that's an option (if you're confident you can get in and out the bath holding a baby - I've always been fine but I know some might struggle).

Don't worry about them drowning. You're going to be right there watching them. Honestly, you'll never take your eyes off their gorgeous little bubble covered face.

Hilarious that someone actually suggested people are unhygienic for not bathing their babies every single night

Op you only need to do it a couple of times a week if you want, newborn stage they aren't doing much anyway and as long as they are clean and dry it doesn't matter about actually getting them in the bath every day.

You won't be leaving the baby unattended - so don't worry about drowning. You'll find your instincts kick in and you'll pick things up as you go along. Just try to relax and enjoy

Sorry didn't mean to offend anyone. I have an active 16 month old so thinking of him only having a bath once a week sounds unhygienic to me. I'd never get in bed without having a bath or shower myself so I couldn't imagine my son getting in bed after he's been running around all day. Nothing better than a nice warm bath, nice and clean pjs then getting comfy in bed. I'd feel so dirty getting in bed after a day of being out and about. (Personal preference and experience.) Not saying anyone else is dirty for doing that. I'm saying it's how I personally would feel about myself s

When they were little babies, about once a month! We just didn't feel they needed it. Baths got a bit more regular after age 1 but we've never bathed them every day.