If you have a newborn how often do you shower/bathe?

[FeedMeCoffeeOrGin]

I only ask as was talking to a friend today about how often people shower and I said 'Gosh when DS was born I didn't shower for about a week' and my friend was genuinely disgusted by this..

Tbh at the time we weren't going out anywhere and had no visitors for the first couple of weeks so wasn't bothered about being a bit smelly lol

For the first few weeks it could sometimes be 3-4 days as DS was SUPER clingy and the king of cluster feeds!

Now that DS is older (5m) I shower regularly but damn it seemed like a luxury in the early days!

So yeah, anyone else as grim as me when they had a newborn? 😂

I'm actually just remembering that with my second child he was large and came very quickly and did a right number on my pelvic floor temporarily. I wet myself a few times for the first couple of days. So probably showered more than once a day.

Every day, I feel groggy until I've showered, other people seem fine with it but I hate it. I just put the Moses basket on the bathroom floor.

Every day including with my second when I was a 100 percent a sole parent, just put baby on mat on bathroom floor, 3 min shower, done.

No need to be a martyr, honestly!

With my first literally whenever I could because I got horrendous night sweats and couldn't stand to smell myself in the morning.
With my second I would wash daily if I could but not my hair.
I feel better mentally if I have washed. So I made sure I washed every day if could.

Every day. Showering makes me feel awake and fresh. Plus when you're breast feeding, it's important to keep your breasts clean. It's also incredibly important to keep your vagina clean if you've had stitches. There's always time to shower!

A newborn and 3 other DC here. I shower every morning without fail. Wash my hair every 3rd day as usual.

Thanks for all the replies!
This was more just a thread created out of curiosity as didn't really think much of it when I said it to my friend but their reaction got me thinking haha
I completely understand that some people can't go without a wash! And now he's older and will happily sit in his chair I shower daily, so no longer the stinky mama bear I once was 😜
Right, I'm off for my daily rinse! 😁

Daily when he was a newborn. Left him in the crib or put him in the bouncer. The terrible twos were harder as you were never sure what he was up to!

This...shower every morning for my mental health !!

I showered every day

Either once dh was home in evening or when baby was sleep or as got older sometimes she sat propped up with cushions in a washing basket and toys /snack and came in with me

It's not neglect to put your baby down to have a shower for 5 minutes. Sorry but you're not a better mother for never putting your baby down and neglecting your own hygiene.

Everyday! There's no reason to let basic hygiene slip!

Hand over to dad.

Don't most newborns need a sleep 1.5-2 hrs after waking so in those early days isn't there a sleep between 8-10am (I mean sometime between not for 2hrs) where you can get yourself sorted. Obviously more difficult if there is a toddler in the mix.

How bizarre. I showered every day and every night. I would just out baby in the sleepy head or bouncy chair outside the bathroom door.

🖐another grim one here...about every 3/4 days in the madness of newborn stage. Now she's 5 months every other day. I also go to sleep in leggings and long sleeve top, so when I wake up I can chuck clothes over the top for the school run...I feel hygienic enough and it doesn't bother me 🙂

This thread just shows how different babies are and how judgemental mothers can be. It's quite clear some mothers posting here haven't experienced a velcro refluxy or under developed prem baby with higher needs; the choice can be shower or crying baby and many of us prioritised baby over our desire to shower daily. It doesn't make us grim.

That's true.

However I had a high needs newborn with a lot of medical concerns and I still showered every day. I found it crucial for my (already shredded) mental health. I don't like the idea of normalising the idea that new mums can't even have a few minutes to themselves.

I had a very fast shower, usually interrupted by crying (or phantom cries) while DH held the baby. If he had said 'no, lots of new mums don't shower, the baby doesn't like it, he'll cry the whole time etc' and not supported me, I would have been in a much worse state.

Women are entitled to prioritise their own hygiene for a few minutes a day. Frankly, those with Velcro and sick babies need it most of all.

Babies sleep!

DD was really clingy and had tongue tie and colic. She wouldn't settle with DH. In the early days I would manage to shower 2-3 times per week but did bits and pits at the sink every day.
DS was the opposite so I showered every day with him.
You can't have a 2 minute shower in our house, it takes more than that for the water to warm up.

Some babies only sleep on you.

Daily. As usual. I'd have felt hideous if I didn't.

Daily. I don't think I would have managed with no shower. We did routine from day 1 so I would get up 7am every morning and then shower when it was the first nap at 9ish. We went out every day too & needed a shower.

Nonsense. How do they sleep at night? What if you had older kids? You just going to neglect them?

Lucky you then that you've never experienced it.
I do have an older kid. I put my baby in the sling and cracked on but I couldn't shower with the baby in the sling. And no for a few weeks she wouldn't be put down at night. She literally slept on me and there's plenty of threads on here with mums who are in the same situation.
Don't be so judgemental.