Once a week baths for baby and four year old

[quillfram]

Is this okay?
Neither the baby (9 months) or the four year old seem remotely stinky. We wipe their faces, necks and hands every day.
Am I the only one who doesn’t bath their children every day..?

Mine got most days as she loved the bath so much - it was playing

I would certainly let her go a few days without a bath or shower - every day isn’t good for skin for adults or babies or children

I remember telling the midwife that I’d not yet bathed my 8 day old baby

her response was so what, he’s a baby, where’s he gone to get dirty. As long as his butt is clean he’s fine.

Always daily for me as part of a routine. Bath, book, bed - I wouldn’t feel once a week is enough especially for a 4yo

Daily for me. Part of bedtime routine. Plus my son was utterly filthy 😆

My 2 year old has a bath every night after dinner. Sometimes it’s more of a dook in and back out and other times she’s in for a play or needs a good scrub and hair washed about once a week. It’s part of her routine she enjoys and can get so dirty at nursery or eating her dinner I’ve always found putting her in the bath easier than washing with a cloth when she thinks it’s a game to run away. No skin issues.

Each to their own and everyone finds what works for them.

We do every other day, especially in Winter. Daily in Summer if caked in suncream daily. Hair wash once a week, twice max.

I was actually told by a paediatric dermatologist at our hospital that in the UK we have a massive problem with over washing and stripping both our skin and scalps from natural oils. This expert said there is no need to shower or bath daily, or use multiple different products.

You should wash their genitals every day. Even with a flannel.

For a four year old? Why?

I don't always wash my own genitals every single day, why is a child different?

Well you should be washing your genitals every day, you will stink.
A 4 year old pees and poos out of their genitals and bum so they need to be washed daily. As do you.

I hope I don’t have stand behind you in the queue at the supermarket.

My children 2 and 4 have been bathed daily since they were born. No skin issues whatsoever. Personally I think once a week is absolutely not enough and despite what you think you can tell children who are only bathed weekly. It’s literally more faff topping and tailing then just chucking them in the bath. Would u only bath once a week urself ? No.

This is absolutely gross

I very often notice that young children smell of poo and feet. I think its the natural wet wipes people use these days and of course there's no baby powder like in the 80s but in the way you dont notice how noisy they are, you are probably immune to the smell. What happened to a bath before bed?

Babies not so much because they get their bottoms washed daily and face. One they’re in nursery every day if not other because they’re so mucky. Summer is every day for sure, clean pyjamas and clean comfy bed helped them sleep better.

At a year and in nappies and a four year old hopefully playing outside a lot I'd want to be bathing them more thsn once a week.

Yes I agree, it’s also instilling good hygiene practices into them from a young age. Now that they’re old they ask for a bath or go for showers themselves because as children they bathed daily.

People lived for years with a weekly bath. It is possible to have a thorough wash without a bath. My uncle was the youngest of 6 children and was known as scum because they all used the same water and he was the last one in.

Once a week is fine.

Grim 🤢

I bath my baby everyday; it’s part of her bedtime routine and she loves it. Some days she has bath after breakfast too (depending how messy she gets!), and some days I put her in the bath if she’s being grotty. Water is a great re-set!

I found it very stressful bathing a small baby so just did it every two days when DH was there to assist. But my babies were thoroughly washed and rinsed twice a day anyway (and nappy area washed with every change). By the time they were toddlers the nightly bath/bed/book routine was in place. I never stressed if we had to miss a night sometimes - maybe grandma had stayed later than usual, maybe the boiler was broken, maybe we had an exhausting play date.
i grew up with only one bath a week but we were one step above poverty. The immersion heater was only used once a week on bathday, rest of the week we washed using water heated on the gas hob as the gas meter didnt need feeding!

Some children with eczema can only be bathed this much

It doesn’t even have to be much of a bath, a few inches for a few minutes only, a quick wash over and into PJs. Hair can wait until once a week but I think a quick dunk for especially a 4 year old is needed.

What about their bottoms

once a week is nowhere near enough to properly wash their genitals & bottoms.

Ah but things have progressed now. In yon olden days before central heating, showers, on tap hot water that you didn’t need to wait for the emersion heater to heat up or boil pans of water, washing machines with quick washes and tumble dryers became standard in most households, everyone stank so it wasn’t particularly noticeable.

I was also the youngest of 6 in the 1970s and we all shared the same bath water once or twice a week and it was vile looking back.

Why would have a strip wash standing at a sink when you can just jump in the bath or shower which takes minutes.

Thankfully we have progressed and I’m glad we have.

Nothing better than feeling clean and fresh IMO.