Kids sharing a bath

[BrakeLights]

Both DD and Ds love long baths but there's rarely enough time for both of them to have one on the same day. A few days ago I put them both into the bath tub at the same time but then wondered if it's hygienic.

Ds is still in nappies and I clean him very thoroughly before I put him in the bath but DD uses all kinds of public toilets and honestly I'm not sure if she always wipes properly. I think she does but who knows?

Also I'm worried if ds goes to the toilet while in the bath. A wee probably wouldn't be dangerous (but still disgusting for DD) but if he poos? Should I put a swim nappy on him?

I shower both of them off after the bath anyway but am still worried about them giving each other an e coli infection or a UTI or some other infection.

You are really overthinking this

They'll be fine

Children have bathed together for centuries

Give yourself a break all will be fine

I am no doctor but feel confident in saying that no child in the history of the world ever got an infection from sharing a bath with a sibling. We all shared baths in the 70s and 80s, without being showered off afterwards (what a waste of water and we didn't have showers anyway) and everyone was fine. Stop worrying. If you live with other people you will encounter their germs. It is normal and necessary for a functioning immune system.

What's making you so worried about this OP in the first place ?

I bathed mine together for years (4 boys) think we had one incident in that time also never showered them off afterwards. They got in had a wash played and got out usually lots of mess and fun was had then they got ready for bed and had supper.

if someone poops scoop it out take the kids out and move on. Kids will get uti - I looked after many as a nurse but usually just prone to them etc not because they were bathed with a sibling

Don't put a swim nappy on him in the bath

That is just bonkers

Of course it’s fine. They are little kids sharing a bath.
It’s been done for centuries and I’m sure the past children would have been filthy before sharing their bi annual bath

As I said the risk of infection and the ick factor for DD if the little one does do a wee or poo in the bath.

I'm glad to hear it's not an issue.

Another question. I've read somewhere that bubble baths or bath bombs are very drying. DD has got had eczema at the moment. Would they make it worse?

DD has got had eczema at the moment. Would they make it worse?

Generally yes in my experience with eczema. Something like Childs Farm generally better.

Ok, thank you.

You are worrying for no reason op honestly. In the unlikely event that one of them does poo in the bath - they wont.......... cos you'll be there watching and spot the signs and whisk them out before they do.
In our house we never fuss about germs at all and yet we are rarely ill - I like to think thats because we have a natural resilience owing to being so exposed to bacteria.

My boys have 100% weed in the bath while the other was in it. No ones died or got an infection as far as I'm aware. I'm pretty sure one has pooed in the bath with the other in too. Just pluck them out and restart. They'll be fine.

Until a couple of generations ago whole families shared baths one after another. I bathed with my brothers, my kids were bathed together, it's normal.

It's not advisable to have frequent long baths if you have eczema though, apparently some of our hair and skin issue's today are connected to too frequent washing!

You clean them before the bath, then you bath them, then you shower them off? YABVU and will likely ruin their skin. Get a grip.

Almost ever set of siblings in history has done this (mine certainly do), and I’ve never heard of anyone showering kids afterwards.

You are massively overthinking this. Washing off, bathing, then showering. That is very excessive.

Just the bath is fine. My 2 have always had shared baths from as soon as dc2 was born. Sometimes one if them pooed. In which case we whipped them out and started again.

No-one ever got sick from sharing bath water.

Same. Just last week I heard a blood curdling scream from DD because DS had stood up and weed on her in the bath 🙈 DH definitely didn't empty the bath out or shower them off - I just heard him say 'stop weeing on your sister!!'

Oilatum in the bath is good for eczema. Avoid bath bombs etc.

Agree with the above - Oilatum junior is what we use for ours. Definitely no bubble bath or bath bombs, much to their dismay!

You're massively overthinking the weeing in the bath thing. Over the years I'm sure mine have shared many a bath with wee in it. We have also had to hastily get them out when one of them has done a poo (luckily they're older now).

I take it that you never take them swimming then????????

Yeah my kids have survived sharing a bath. I had all 3 in the bath together when youngest was a baby and he pooed. We all laughed and dealt with it, everyone survived.

When my older two were younger I used to pop them in the bath with toys and they would play in there for a couple of hours(I would top the water up so it was warm) and while they were busy I would sort washing and put it away etc(my house is laid out in a way I could still see them).

My two (boys) share a bath. Several weeks/poo incidents but no one has caught an infection from it. For poos definitely get the poo and the kids out of the bath, drain it and start again.

Bacteria don't much like soap, bubble bath, shampoo etc so the bath is a fairly hostile environment for them. As long as DC aren't literally drinking pints of bath water, the risk is pretty low.

Ha ha ha, beat me to it! Why do you think the waters so warm 🤢

I do this with DS! I'm just starting to think about stopping it as he's just turned 2 and hasn't pooped in the bath for a couple of months. But he used to fairly frequently poo in the bath so I had to have a swim nappy on him, it wouldn't be fair to DD otherwise!

I used to always bathe with my brothers, only enough room for two in the bath, used to forced to take it in turns to get in with the youngest, who would always poo