Bathtime and water temp for a newborn

[MiniLlace]

Ok I am feeling pretty clueless when it comes to newborns (DD due in November!) - how soon after birth did you start the evening bath routine, straight away or is it advisable to wait a period of time before starting it? .. once started what temperature should the water be? .. and when did you start using 'products'? .. many thanks for any help for this clueless mum to be ...

I didnt do a daily bath for dd or ds and when I did do a bath it was often in the morning. Re: water - I tested it with my elbow or you can buy bath thermometers to help. I used plain water for a few weeks but had to use baby shampoo as my lo's were born with a lot of hair that got quite messy.

I bathed DD twice a week and then increased to three times a week as she loved it so much. Used baby bath and shampoo from about 8 weeks as she was born with very dry skin but this cleared up by then and she's been fine since. Now 10 months we've been bathing every other night for quite a while.

I tried testing the water with my wrist but always ended up with it too cold so would recommend a bath thermometer - they're pretty cheap and give a better indication.

Don't get baby oil though - vegetable oils are better for their skin, as I learned after I had acquired a cupboard full of baby oil!

Start your evening bath routine any time that works for you. We bathed in the morning to start with as we were all in a better mood!

I have a 4 week old (2nd child so possibly a little more ..lax.. laid back this time round and we just put her in a warm bath with one of us twice a week. At other times we just strip wash her using cotton wool and warm water. Have never used thermometer, just elbows.

I never gave anyone a bath until the cord fell off. Until that, and depending on how cold the flat or house was, just bathed in elbow warm water (which needed refreshing with hotter water now and then or it got quite cold) or topped and tailed more often. Babies can get very chilled after they leave the water, so room temperature needs to be pretty warm and have a big fluffy towel or two right there ready for wrapping, nappy and little warm clothes all laid out, then a blanket for wrapping in.

i bathed my dd1 and dd2 within 24 hours as due to the mucky stuff on them. Make sure the room is warm before bathing them, ive always used the bath thermometers (it usually luke warm water) and plain water too. Dab a tiny bit of baby shampoo on their head and have a bottle/breast milk ready as soon youve dried the baby and is in clothes.

If you want the totally relaxed approach advice from me, here it is:

Daily, while breastfeeding and itching to go and pull older siblings apart before they kill one another, distract self by picking the black fluff stuff that gathers between fingers and toes and sometimes in hand creases which is particularly fun to pull off.

A few times a week, investigate ears - inside and behind and see how long you can go without using a cotton bud - in same manner you would if trying not to chew a fruit pastille.

Every day in public, feign surprise at how grubby baby is under the neck as she cranes to look at some new acquaintance in the street thereby exposing neck muck.

Utterly randomly, use the baby bath. Such as when you have bought new clothing item in Sale and think baby really ought to be clean for the occasion. Also when you realise someone else is going to be holding him/her for prolonged period. This involves a 50 second bath squeezed into already rushed schedule of house cleaning and the annual vacuum and dust of premises before visitors arrive. The more rushed the better. Guilt will also seeing you attempting a baby massage with the massage cream that is in a cupboard somehwere and takes 45 mins to track down, but you are NOT giving up and this baby wILL be massaged - even if only once in its life, that day will be today!

dip elbow in ,thats the standard test.

ROFL at hobbgoblin. Thats my life.

My approach to water temp is no ice and no steam. Water is awful for the skin - so don't put yourself under pressure to have a shiny baby smelling of product. Have a shiny baby smelling of vanilla - the sebum their skin produces smells of vanilla and Johnsons compied it for their products. If it's let build up it is really lovely, the smell makes me feel sleepy.

Congratulations - exciting stuff!!

We did evening bath from about 2 wks.
Full baby bath tub as he prefered that.
No products at all until he was 2. Elbow test for temp - much cooler than I'd expected.
Good tip is to put your arm under them then hook finger and thumb round the top of the arm like a bracelet. Stops the scary sliding!
They don't need a bath every day, but ds seemed to relax after it and we enjoyed patting his lovely wee body.

DS is 2 weeks now and has had 3 baths so far. He loves them and DD enjoyed having him in her bath with him in his bath chair. DD (age 4.5yrs) only has a bath twice a week, plus a weekly swim so DS wont be bathed anymore or less than her. We didn't use any bath products with DD until she turned 2yrs old and then we used shampoo as she finally sprouted some hair! DD isn't used to bubble baths so isn't missing them when DS is in the bath with her.

Our bedtime routine for DS involves top and tail, Pjs, milk, story (read by an insistant DD), sleeping bag, cot... 20mins later, downstairs sleeping on us until milk at 10.30pm!