How often are we bathing kids?

[Honeybeebuzz]

We have a 1 year old and a 4 year old, bath time is usually twice a week and they also get a shower after the swimming pool. A friend recently advised she baths her kids every night? I thought this wasn't great for their skin but now im not sure. I shower at least once a day but didnt think kids need that as they dont sweat

Mine are every night but they go to an outdoor based nursery and get filthy and we find it chills them out before bedtime.

This is true. I used to listen to the children reading in both my children's and grandchild's primary schools and because they sat next to me I could smell the ones that didn't get bathed often. It wasn't just coming from their grubby clothes but you could see their filthy nails and dirty hair. No excuse for not bathing/showering your children most days( unless a medical reason), I managed to bath mine every day as a lone parent.
What's surprising on here is that the once or twice a week bathers don't mention washing their children's bodies on the in between days, just faces and hands. So apparently some children are only getting their necks, ears, bottoms and feet washed once a week, yet people say their children don't smell, they're blind to the smell presumably. If they actually were doing a proper full wash at the sink on the in between days they would realise it's just as quick to put the children in the shower or have a quick bath.

3yo DS has a bath every night as part of his bedtime routine just as he has since he was tiny. He likes to play in there for a wee while after dinner 😊
Hes always too busy shoving his dinner in his face to give me proper conversation at the dinner table but he gives me all his good chat at bath time 😊

@spriots Don’t worry - if yours are oddities then mine is too 😂 People that say kids don’t sweat need to come and see mine after he’s ran around non stop for an hour at soft play 😅

Every single day !! They r 2 and 5 months. They’ve both always been bathed every single day and lotion on so have never had dry skin ever. It’s easier bathing them than topping and railing them. My toddler is always mucky by end of the day and they both sweat plus I always think if u wore nappies n pissed in them all daily surely u would want a proper wash. It’s awful but when ppl say their kids get bathed once or twice I week I always think that’s gross and u can tell by their wee hair etc

Tuesday and Friday are the only nights my 6 and 8 year olds don't bath.

some of the comments on this thread are exactly why I hate soft plays etc. everyone, man woman or child should bathing or showering daily. There is absolutely no way toddlers don’t need baths more than once or twice a week.

They're 5 and 3 and get bathed twice a week, sometimes three times. They don't stink or have dirty hair! We work FT and there's enough to fit in the evenings as it is.

Pretty sure bathing children daily was unheard of when we were DC.

So mine is every night but that's only because he has a skin issue which means he needs a heavy emollient to be added to the bath water and then he has cream on after.

It's part of the bedtime routine now!

But when I was a kid it was just once a week. Bath and hair wash on Sundays 😁

Unless they have got particularly grubby that day, 2-3 times a week is pretty standard, OP :)

Once a week bath and a shower after swimming. Occasionally extra if they do anything particularly grubby. The 3 year old will sometimes shower in with one of us too in the morning but the baby doesn't.

Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays haha
Unless they are minging then in between but always hot flannel wash daily I have a stack of flannels hot wipe daily and fling in the wash. Defo do not smell!

I would love to bath them every night but between hobbies, homework, work, daily life I just find it an impossible task!

This is a wonderfully detailed and judgemental post. And yet, you are still wrong.

Twice a week is fine. Children don’t smell if they had a bath two nights before.

Children who smell at school will be due to neglect - unclean clothes or clothes dried too close together, weeks unwashed hair, dirty sheets on the bed, unclean living environment, etc.

Exactly. Everyone is different. We are twice a week as my husband and l both have dry sensitive skin

Your 4 year old will be pooing and wiping themselves and a 4 year old won't be as fastidious in wiping themselves properly like an adult would. For this reason, even though they are unlikely to be very sweaty, they needs a bath every day. A 1 year old will still be in nappies so also really needs a bath every day.

Agree

I can’t believe some people are saying once a week??? My children are filthy after nursery/school. Plus the youngest is in nappies and the eldest isn’t great at wiping yet…bathing less than most days would feel grim and a shortcut to sore/itchy bottoms. A bath doesn’t have to be long, surely easier to dunk than faff scrubbing nails etc. plus it’s nice and relaxing for them.

All 4 of mine, every day. Tea, bath, bed time story with milk.
They are now teens/early twenties and all wash every day still. I assume, as the older 2 don't live at home now.

Ds age 5 has a bath 3 times a week, sometimes twice. Daily would be a waste of water!

Dd age nearly 2 has to have a bath daily as it's part of her skin care routine that a doctor put together for her.

I remeber only having a bath once a week for a long time as a kid, I smelt.

Every night.

Every evening when little now a teenager twice a day

Totally agree about not comparing. There will be loads who insist that not bathing them every day is "grim". Well, it's not, kids don't sweat like adults, a bit of play dirt never hurt anyone. My parents and their generation here in Ireland used to call it "clean dirt" 😁. But if you start listening to the clean freaks, you'll place totally unnecessary standards on yourself to absolutely no good effect. Do what feels right to you.

I used to bath mine pretty much every night but that was largely because they loved it and because when they got overtired (which they often were by tea time), they could get really hyper and silly. By that time of the day I was exhausted and short of patience for their shenanigans, and putting them in the bath really helped calm them down. It was a nice bit of quieter time where we could have some good chats and pass the time before stories.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what you’re doing though, and I agree that it’s not good for their skin to bath/shower too frequently, especially for kids with sensitive skin, eczema etc.

3 year old- twice a week and occasionally an extra bath if particularly messy.

9 month old- only once a week but she has ezcema and I found cutting down on baths helped clear it up more than anything else.

Twice a week in winter, usually a bit more often in summer if they've got extra sweaty or filthy.

My 6 year old showers roughly every other night. In summer more as he gets really sweaty at night 😅