How often do you bathe your children?

[wellington77]

Question. Is in the title! The reason I’m asking is because a friend said to me that the give their 4 year old a bath every night and was shocked when we said twice a week unless she’s got dirty from something such as playing in the garden . But in the meantime my daughter has her face and hands washed everyday and bottom etc with wet wipes everyday as she’s still not dry at night. I wanted to gauge whether I am the odd one, she is or we are all different? I was told by the gp years ago that bathing everyday for little ones as bad for their skin or is this just babies?

I wouldn't not wash myself daily so why wouldn't I wash my children

Because you're an adult, with sweat glands that produce body odor and possibly other bodily functions like periods and hormonal changes going on that necessitate daily washing. Young children don't have these same needs.

If you want to bath or shower your dc daily then of course do it (no judgement here, I just personally couldn't be arsed). But comparing an adult to a toddler in terms of washing needs is comparing apples with pears. If your toddler smells of BO, they need to see a GP.

5 year old 3 times a week. Daily for a child is totally unnecessary imo and a total waste of water unless there is a special reason e.g my toddler dd needs one daily as it's part of her eczema care plan.

Generally we do every other night, however - this will likely increase in summer when they have been smothered in suncream all day

When DS was in nappies we bathed him daily for hygiene reasons. Then when he was potty-trained he was coming home filthy from nursery so needed daily baths for that reason.

He’s 7 now and we could skip a day, but he does a lot of sport so would need a shower at least 4x week. So it’s just easier to do every day. He likes baths anyway so no hardship for him.

I never really get this idea that small children don't smell.

Mine definitely do. They get sweaty, their bottom wiping is not always amazing, they play outside every day and get mud and dirt on them, they often have paint or ink on them from school, often they smell slightly of their lunch...

They smell for different reasons to adults but they still smell.

Some children do seem to be less messy and active than others but mine 100% would not be odour free if they didn't get a daily bath or shower

Every night when DS was at nursery and in Reception class as he was always filthy from his activities there.
Less now he’s in Year 1 as he is usually clean when I pick him up.
He hates baths these days so I try to limit them to necessity rather than habit.

My daughter is almost 4… she used to have a bath from age 2 I think 3/4 times a week, she was never a bath lover and doing it every night became a battle and a chore so we just bathed her when she wanted one (in the mood for one) or really needed one, now she asks for a shower every night.
I don’t think everyday is necessary.. kids don’t sweat like us and that age dont get greasy hair.
everybody has different opinions, there is no right and wrong!

My 5yo gets bathed or showered twice a week, but occasionally more if they've got really dirty, or it's been super hot in summer, or she's been swimming etc.

My 2yo gets bathed once a week, but as above more if there's a reason. He is under dermatology for eczema and the consultant said we should stick to once a week washing wherever possible as that's enough at that age and better than drying his skin out more often.

However, obviously nothing wrong with washing them more often if they don't have eczema or whatever.

When my kids were little it was just a shower every day. Bath everyday up until about 18 months.

DS is six and shower every night.

Much quicker than a bath and uses a lot less water.

Every day. I don't think wet wipes get them really clean.

Ours has a bath every day, but she enjoys it and it is part of her bedtime routine.

I probably only had 2-3 a week as a child though and I was fine so I wouldn't judge anyone else.

Oo didn't this split the polls a few weeks ago? That thread got mean!!

I reckon you do you tbh. My children are very small, so haven't started getting 'smelly' or greasy hair yet, they also have eczema so we avoid over washing. We do a shower or bath after swimming once a week to wash the chorine off, and then sometimes one other time which will depend on the mood on the day (baths can cheer my toddler up no end. If her skin was better I think I'd put her in every day). I don't really track it that much. Agree with pp that in the summer with paddling pools and suncream frequency increases. Skin is also usually better in the summer so am less precious about it.

Mine had a bath or shower every day.
Once you have done a poo your bottom is dirty until you next wash it properly which in my opinion is in the bath or shower. If you shower you can just clean the dirty sweaty bits, should you have a skin condition. You don't have to 'soap' up the whole body every day.
Having a shower shouldn't take a lot of time or use excessive volume of water if you are quick. I'm in and out in less than 5 minutes if I'm not washing my hair.

At that age it was usually daily as it was an activity and delayed and sometimes banished what we called ‘the witching hour’ where everything would end up as some kind of catastrophe!
dinner, bath, books, bed. Just a nice way to round off the day.
I didn’t work and had the time to do this, I imagine if you’re getting home from work and nursery and need to throw a dinner on the table and get them to bed quickly then this may not be possible daily but they still shower daily now at 19,18 and 13 so good hygiene habits have stuck with them!

When the kids were little they were bathed daily, as much as to get them clean as to build a decent calming bedtime.

Everyday. When they were all little I'd chuck all 3 in together. They're a bit older now and tend to just shower themselves. Because it is so ingrained in our routine, I never have any grumbles about washing. Unlike my niece who was a once a week baby and now kicks off at 11 if asked to shower.

When they were babies up to about 3yrs, we bathed our two virtually every night as it was part of their bedtime routine, to get them ready for sleep. Also being in nappies and the messy eaters that very little children are, it just felt necessary to have that frequent submerge! Aged 4-7ish, ours were not so messy at eating, obviously out of nappies, also obviously not sweating or hormonal and we could rely on other things to get them to bed (clock, reading, tv etc) so we cut down to 3 times a week. Now the eldest is 9 and starting to smell after physical activity and other bodily changes, so she is back to virtually daily showering/bathing. Just think you can review and adapt their routine accordingly to age, routine and individual differences.