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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Bathing a baby - is everyone overthinking it??

51 replies

MrsRose2018 · 19/05/2020 21:37

So this is my first baby so please correct me if I am wrong but, it sounds like everyone massively overthinks bathing a baby?

We just had an NCT class discussing bathing a baby and I coincidentally read the NHS guidance on birthing a baby yesterday and it’s all

don’t take off all their clothes
first wipe their face
then wipe their arms
then take off their nappy
then put them in water
then wash their body
then wash their hair

Like I said, never had a baby but my mum friends, and certainly when I was a baby, just plonked their baby in a warm baby bath and then just....washed them?

Do you need this all rigmarole?

TIA x

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Windyatthebeach · 19/05/2020 22:01

Dd is 30. Washing hair was done first back then!!

FourPlasticRings · 19/05/2020 22:04

You don't need to hurry to bath them at all in the beginning. And they don't really need soap either. Best to delay the application of products to their skin until the latest possible point to reduce risk of irritation, eczema and allergy.

TheABC · 19/05/2020 22:10

Just chiming in my agreement; top and tail with warm, plain water and forget about the faff. I used to love bathing with mine cuddled on my chest, but be aware they tend to go for the boob if you are breastfeeding (and then wee).

Parker231 · 19/05/2020 22:11

Ours had baths with us until they could stand up and then we scraped the baths and they came in the shower with us instead. So much quicker and easier for hair washing.

SquirtleSquad · 19/05/2020 22:12

I'm in the plonk and wash club here too. All 3 DC turned out just fine (ish )

Cheeeeislifenow · 19/05/2020 22:18

You do the eyes first in plain water, you wipe once, it's because of risk of infection.
Yes you can plonk them in the water if you must but the way they teach you is the correct way.

TheCraicDealer · 19/05/2020 22:24

We were told to do this whole routine both by the midwife at our NHS antenatal classes, and then again by the HCA before we were discharged after the birth. Both times I was just thinking, "nah not doing that". DD has had her bum wipes after getting her nappy off and then she goes in her shnuggle bath. Plain water for the first few weeks, and we still only bath her every other night.

Hall84 · 19/05/2020 22:28

Schnuggle bath and straight in here! Unless she comes in the bath with me. Useful tip from our NCT course was tuck the towel in the top of your trousers so you can pull them into you and straight wrap round rather than being out of the water and towel for too long. We got lucky though and at 14 weeks old if the witching hour gets too much straight in the bath. Calms her down like nothing else!

Poppinjay · 19/05/2020 22:31

I'm not sure that the advice ahs caught up with the fact that homes are usually well heated these days. Having bathed a DD through the winter in an almost unheated house, I can see exactly why you would try to do some things before they are naked and wet.

For DD2 it was easier because the house was heated.

How do you get their creases clean in a schnuggle bath?

badg3r · 19/05/2020 22:33

🤣 I have never seen this guidance but successfully managed to bath our kids! I just got in the bath with them. I t ink we washed them once every week or two tops till they were crawling and eating solids. They always smelled delicious!

BertieBotts · 19/05/2020 22:34

It's just the thing they put into antenatal classes because they know you'll forget absolutely everything else. And you do. When you're pregnant all you can really focus on is the birth. You say you want newborn tips, but you can't really take them in. Then when you have given birth the enormity of that experience pretty much wipes out everything that came before it anyway and you're suddenly faced with a newborn. You don't have to do anything with them at first, just cuddle them. At some point you have to give the first feed but you generally still have midwives with you at that point, so that's taken care of. Then you have to change a nappy. Changing nappies, dressing and feeding is really all you have to do for the first few days. And sleep safety. I don't think DC2 had a bath until he was about 10 days old! Then everything else sort of comes on gradually, so the bath is probably the most complicated thing that you'll do, even though as you say, it is quite simple really.

BertieBotts · 19/05/2020 22:35

Why would the shnuggle bath make it difficult to clean creases? Which creases?

NoMoreTwistNoMoreTwist · 19/05/2020 22:40

Why aren’t you meant to take off all their clothes? I’d think someone was mad if they bathed them with their clothes on.
I found a baby bath seat easiesr, so I could have both hands free to wash and get out etc. Just washed with a flannel whilst they say in the seat and then lifted them up with one hand to do their back!

Poppinjay · 19/05/2020 22:40

Why would the shnuggle bath make it difficult to clean creases? Which creases?

It looks like they wouldn't really be able to stretch out much in one, although I am only going by a picture on a website.

My DD1 used to get eczema in any crease that hadn't been washed within a day or two so I might have struggled with a bath that made them hard to reach.

Just wondering really. No offence intended.

Colouringinbook · 19/05/2020 22:40

Plonk in bath and quick wash here. They are slippery little things though. Hair washing was definitely a two person job for the first couple of months - I'm very envious of people with bald babies.

ODFOx · 19/05/2020 22:45

All mine were tiny and cranky, so I kept them swaddled while I washed their faces and hair, then bathed them in the kitchen sink/ washing up bowl , wrapped them in a warm towel on the draining board and did baby massage ( revealing one bit at a time to keep them warm).
Worked for all of them and much easier on your back ! My eldest was almost a year old before I had to use a bath.
I was taught the 'crook of the arm slippery baby method' at the hospital with the first one, but never used it.

GrumpyHoonMain · 19/05/2020 22:47

I bought one of those bathtubs shaped like a dolphine with the netting that you could put the baby into. I then used a shower on him. He loves it (he’s 5 months now).

amazedmummy · 19/05/2020 22:49

We have a baby bath that he gets plonked in, we have a mug of fresh water that is bum free that we use to wash his wee face and that's it. I do need to figure out how to transfer to shower though and when because we don't have a bath.

BertieBotts · 19/05/2020 23:24

I wasn't offended, I was just wondering :) mine haven't had eczema so perhaps I haven't paid that much attention to their creases :o Sorry if my question came across as aggressive, it wasn't intended that way!

I wish we had had the shnuggle, I wanted the tummy tub but it was too expensive for what it was. Ended up just putting him in the big bath with DH, and that's what he still does aged 21 months. Doesn't willingly sit down when he's in on his own and he REALLY doesn't like it if I try to get in with him - it totally freaks him out!

CoolNoMore · 20/05/2020 06:07

This is weirdly overthought, surely. My Mum and MiL were both a bit obsessed with bathing advice though - MiL must have told us at least five times that we don't have to bath the baby for the first two weeks, it's just too stressful (?!). We did, because it was fun and DS seemed to love water. My Mum was on the other side of things, and once stood over me as I bathed him, tensely suggesting that I didn't need to wash his tummy and that I should do something else.

I was having a nice time. DS was having a nice time. Everyone outside our immediate family is now banned from baths!

YorkshireIndie · 20/05/2020 08:48

Really easy to clean in a shnuggle bath. It makes it easier for my husband who has a disability to use as you do not need to hold the baby with one hand. Baby boy manages to make a splash 😂

Crystal87 · 20/05/2020 13:23

Yes it's overthinking. The main thing is to have everything prepared beforehand and to make sure you don't get any soap in their eyes. The rest is just patronising.

Gallacia · 20/05/2020 13:28

I had no idea how to bath a baby, I had my son 7 months ago and the hospital "didn't have any baths available" and didn't have any one available to help me (I was numb from my c-section)

DH came in and wiped baby down with cotton wool and warm water, no one said it this was right or wrong.

When we got him home we just done what we thought was best, tbh it was scary but common sense kicks in.

I have to admit... we hadn't washed his armpits and realised a few WEEKS later that they were slightly red, we felt stupid. He was absolutely fine though, but I felt so guilty.

TreestumpsAndTrampolines · 20/05/2020 13:35

I think we barely did anything at all until the cord dropped off, then DP went in the bath with him to give me a break.

DP took him in the shower too, because he's hairy so grippier, and I was worried about holding onto a slippery baby while standing in a slippery hard cubicle...

strugglingwithdeciding · 20/05/2020 14:43

Mine are older teenagers so guidelines probably changed I remember being told wash hair. Etc first but don't think I did , mostly topped and tailed first couple weeks with odd bath but just straight in using bath support

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