Would it be silly to only bath DS (1.5 yr) every other night due to...

[ilikeyoursleeves]

...our recent electricity and gas bill- £505 for a quarter OMG OMG OMG

OK it's been a cold winter and we've had the heating on a lot but I think that's the biggest bill we've ever had. So we are thinking of ways to cut the bills. DS has a bath every night (in the big bath) and it's been part of his routine for ages now. Given how grubby he gets each day and that it helps him know that bed is approaching, I don't really want to stop bathing him every night and TBH I'm not sure how he would feel just 'going to bed' without his routine bath. But equally we need to try to cut the gas we are using.

Any thoughts? Hpw often do you bathe your LO's and does it work OK?

We bath DS every other night now and he is fine with it. Just give him a good sponge of his hands and face before bed on non-bath nights.

Try it, you'll never know otherwise.

I sympathise re cost of bills too £800 for 6 months here...!

twice a week is fine for my lo's

If you want to continue given him a bath every night why not just make it really shallow - big one once a week, shallow for the rest

That way a deep bath would be a real treat

I still use a baby bath for my 24month DD to save water.

You really don't need to bath them every night... My DS1 (5) is only allowed a bath every other night, due to skin problems. I'd rather it was less often but he loves a bath and we have now got his skin under control.

DS's are bathed every other night and dh will use it afterwards (he showers on the days they don't bath!). I shower in the morning but turn the water off while I wash my hair and body and then turn it back on to rinse. YOu'd be surprised at how much water you use needlessly in the shower

Mine have a bath very rarely. I'm a big fab of using a measuring jug and giving them a good scrub that way. Saves time too

big fan

Ours are bathed every other night and they all share.

God - dd only gets a bath once a week or so! But she has a shower at swimming, and a shower if she's mucky.

Does he like showers?

Not at all! My DS gets a shower once a week at the swimming pool unless he's been rolling around in mud or been sick!! (He would get a shower at home if we didn't go swimming every week ) Until they start puberty they really don't need more than a weekly shower (or bath)

Mine at that age bathed about once every 7-10 days!

I started doing "flannel washes" with my two on the nights they were back from nursery too late or were just too tired to start the whole bath thing. Just filled the sink bowl with water, put it on a big towel and they splashed about while I gave them a sponge wash. They actually completely LOVED it, it was a real novelty and saved water/fuss/time.
They popped their pjs on afterwards and were still fully in 'going to bed' mode just like after a normal bath so no problem changing the routine at all.

The dc used to have a bath EVERY night, absolutely religously. Then, for some reason or other we missed it for a few nights, and the bedtime routine wasn't affected at all. Now I try and remember to bath them once a week . As soon as it gets a little warmer in the evenings, bath time will be a plastic box of water out in the garden. Outdoor bathing is seen as a real treat in this household!