How often are you bathing your primary aged children?

[RedRobyn24]

My daughter is 4 and has just started reception. I also have a 9 month old.

At the moment I bathe both of them (sometimes together usually apart) every other day. Is this what other people do? I try not to wash DD1’s hair more than once a week

Are other parents really doing this every day?

To be honest this is a wider question about how the heck parents find the time for everything. I’m a SAHM as well, don’t know how two working parents do it AND make sure their children are eating well and the house is cleaned and the dog it walked and the reading home work is done… but also the child has downtime to just play as well 😬

Everyday bath and 2-3 times a week hair. Mainly because my child hates baths so I made it a non negotiable part of the day to get them used to it.

This is vile and neglect. Once a week!! Shocking poor girl must stink to high heaven. You’re probably nose blind 🤮

Shower and hair wash every week day.
Bath and hair wash Saturday and Sunday.
Can't stand the thought of any of us going to bed without having a shower/bath and hair wash.

Everyday. Especially as kids they’re running around and getting sweaty, schools are full of germs also.
I’m surprised everyday isn’t the norm on this thread! Surely good hygiene shouldn’t be restricted to twice a week?! Same for myself, shower everyday. The smells from people in shops I seem to be stuck behind in a queue make sense now 😐

My kids are 2 and 3. They have a bath every day except the odd one where we’re out at family or late back from somewhere. Wash hair once a week.

Everyday is too much for delicate skin. If they don't stink and aren't mucky - then face and hands are fine.
We DO wash hand whenever they come inside though...

Same here. If we're short of time, the bath is very quick - just a swish about in the bubbles and a rub down with a sponge. DD is 7 and I wash her hair once a week, but that's not enough anymore, so it's going to have to be twice a week.

I honestly don’t know how people manage to wash their kids every single day! Maybe I’d do it if my DD (7) came home covered in mud from head to toe, but she never does these days. She used to bathe a bit more when she was little, but getting her in the shower now is like negotiating a peace treaty!!! Luckily, she has swimming twice a week, so she always showers afterward and washes her hair at the same time.

One a week!! 😳
That’s really not ok. Kids are active and messy and dirty. Not to mention the fact that her privates get used for toileting several times a day. It’s really really not normal to only wash once a week. Does she not do any sports or active playing?
My DS showers every night. He’s 8 now and before the showers, he had a bath every night to wind down but also because when he was a toddler there was always food/dirt etc somewhere. Kids should go to bed clean in my opinion.

Usually every other day. Used to be every night, but they both developed dry skin (and that was from using special soaps etc - nothing harsh!). Also, this might be an ADHD thing, but I found bathtime would wind my eldest up a bit, possibly too much of a sensory thing, so when she was between about 1 and 4, we only bathed every three nights and late afternoon rather than just before bed.

As a Mum of two slightly older children, my reflection is, be kind to yourself and be pragmatic. A nursery child will sometimes come home with paint in their hair and dirty finger nails where they have been playing in a garden. They will need a bath that night! But sometimes a top and tail is fine, when everyone is tired and things aren’t going to plan. My DD hates hair wash so it’s twice a week at the moment. My DS loves a shower and will happily wash himself every night. Do what’s right for you, not what others do. I am sure your kids are happy and you are doing just fine

Mine are washed head to toe every night in the bath or shower. No negotiable in my house.

Exactly this. No excuse to be dirty. No wonder people had to be told how to wash their hands in covid, barely doing the bare minimum of good hygiene. There’s products for sensitive skin without going without a wash. I’ll get the unwashed coming at me but seriously there’s no excuse to be smelly and not teaching your kids to be clean. No one wants to sit next to the smelly kid at school, it’s not helping them either.

Out of interest, those of you who don’t bath or shower your children every day, how often do you wash yourselves? I just can’t understand not bathing them daily. It’s part of life.

Except for unusual events, just once a week just like when we were kids. Now I need my hair washed more often and so does he we all do twice a week.

Guessing the kids on here that are having their hair washed every night are not curly!

We used to bath my son pretty much every night until he was about three and then we realised he would just sit in the kitchen and talk to us while we made/our dinner and then we could read a book and toss him in bed about about seven. I think when they’re younger you’re desperate to get them to calm down and in bed so you can have a bit of peace. We go with twice a week now he quite enjoys having a shower - he’s 4.5 years old.

It's truly bizarre how we went from bathing weekly in the sixties and seventies to daily showers. And how judgemental everyone is about it. Unless you have a dirty job you just don't need it.

I have boys, they have short hair and roll in mud and just generally are dirty or have pen on them or paint, glue, sauce etc at the end of a day, so it's every day for us.

Don’t listen to any performative parenting nonsense on here.

Bathe them when they need it, some kids are incredibly messy and get bathed more than once a day. Other children are naturally less messy and only need to wash when they’re dirty.

People love to make themselves sound superior to others. Watch this thread turn into a mother shaming nightmare.

😂 ah the mumsnet massive… completely disconnected from reality.

Monday, sometimes Thursday, after swimming on Saturday. So on average 2.5x per week. Thankfully they’re also at an age (8&6) where they can take themselves off to shower solo if they need to in between our “fun” bath times.

Every day but I don't use soap every day (eczema).

I don't know how people get theough the evening without it, doesn't it drag?!

Never had any issues with dry skin and mine have pretty much never skipped a day. My 11 year old comes home with muddy legs from school from playing football, general school unidentifiable stains on their uniform 😅 pen, food, totally sweaty in the Summer months, sun cream etc. Its fairly common some Year 6 girls have started their period aswell. By 11, i’d be surprised if any of the class are not having a bath/shower every day.

I think you can probably get away with skipping a day if they are really young (although why would you want to if its part of bedtime routine?), but definately not older primary. They need a good wash after school and it would be more effort for them to try and wash everywhere with a flannel than just jump in the shower or bath for 5 minutes 🤷🏼‍♀️

Best thing to do is build it into the routine same as eating dinner, brushing teeth, bedtime. Sounds like the OP needs to find a routine so it isnt an issue.

I don't have kids but I bathed my cat recently as he had gotten some sort of stain on himself. He absolutely hated it. I will never put him through it again.

Speak for yourself! I was born in 1960 and was bathed every night without fail. Which is probably why I don’t understand you lot not cleaning your children.