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 😬

Pretty much every day and twice on period days is a perfectly normal, clean answer. And what's her husband's opinion got to do with anything?

Mine had a bath every night. They loved it and often they would have a quick shower in the morning too. One had eczema adding emollient to the bath and shower made it manageable. I loved it because I got a nice sit on the floor while I watched them, I always took a cuppa with me.
I remember the smell of children who did not wash when I was at school. It was unpleasant. I do still see children at the school who really smell, I have heard their parents saying children don’t need to wash. I think maybe some people have a poor sense of smell.
If they are teased for being stinky then wash more but otherwise you do what suits you.

Pretty much suggests she sometimes doesn’t. Grim.

Mine were bathed every night after dinner. DH and I took turns, one did baths, the other dishes. It gets much easier when they can shower on their own. I think mine were 5 or 6 when they started that. It felt like I got an extra hour to myself each night once they did that.

No one wants to go near a smelly flange. You must have one trying to defend someone who sometimes doesn’t wash

Kids 6 and 9. They shower every evening before bed, without exception. They are always filthy! They are
pretty self sufficient these days other than needing to turn the shower on and off for the 6 year old…and reminding them to hang their towels up afterwards. I don’t understand how people’s kids stay so clean. Mine do sport almost every day too.

Lol. If I shower on Friday evening, put on clean underwear then, clean underwear on Saturday morning, and sit on the sofa all day, I am fine going to bed that evening and only showering on Sunday morning without stinking up the house. And yeah, I wouldn't then have sex. So?

Both me and husband work full time and both kids were always bathed every night. Now they are older, they shower every day. Basic hygiene

Bath every night. Tween often has a shower now, but still once a day minimum

Honestly if I sound judgmental at people not being clean and doing the absolute basics that’s fine 🤣 I remember my partners family saying I clean too much, I don’t I just have a routine and at this point it’s just keeping on top of it.
Some people aren’t bothered being clean and they’re the houses you know not to have a cuppa in 🤣 the same with kids, certain houses I just wouldn’t send my kid to, but they’re welcome round mine! I can’t even imagine what you must see at work. My partner a gas engineer and he’s seen allsorts. I wouldn’t let my kid be the smelly one in the class, it’s not fair on them

If a child before puberty smells after school, something isn’t right. Post puberty - yes, that’s a different topic.
But before puberty, you are either not washing their clothes properly, are using polyester clothing that holds smells, or need to see the GP!

"No one wants to go near a smelly flange. You must have one trying to defend someone who sometimes doesn’t wash" ?

Up until now it never occurred to me I am supposed to be permanently ready in case someone wants to go down and me yet doesn't have time for me to shower, lol.

My mother is the same age and used to have a Sunday night bath by the fire. She would have stand up washes by the sink with a flannel and soap everyday, as I think most of them did, maybe wash their hair over the sink too.

Yuck! That is just not enough!! A proper shower one a week or fortnight. That is not a good habit.

I’ve been told this too! It’s not us who are strange it’s them! I’ve seen some absolutely grim places, I wouldn’t dare take my shoes off!! If I absolutely have to the socks get binned! Once I took a pair of slip on as I knew I’d have to take my shoes off and I had to bin them!! I can’t comprehend how some live!

That was always the way for us as well, and to be honest, my teen still does this routine now.

Every other day for our five year old, obviously unless they are visibly dirty. And more frequently and their skin dries out; less often and their fingernails are grubby.

Every day. Stuck them both in the bath after dinner with some toys and sat and chatted or read my book. It was good wind down time. One of us would do bath and bed while the other did cleaning up the kitchen and tidying up bit.

You are wrong.
There are some houses you wouldn't catch me in more than once, and thankfully my daughter quickly learned the polite 'no thank you' when offered food or drink.

It's not you, it's them.

And I genuinely think society is failing as parents can't find time to cook, clean, bathe the children or read a story. I have no idea what's going on.

For me it wasn’t about them being clean, bath time was a great break between the day and getting ready for nighttime and bed time. The kids settled down in the water, had their last bit of fun and I might have been known to have a glass of wine!

So mine had a bath every single day!

We do this - DC aged 8y, 4y and 4m. Baby would be bathed more often but we were told in hospital new guidance is to only bath once a week to prevent childhood eczema. The older 2 suffer with eczema which is part of the reason why we moved to once a week as despite using various (and also no) products they still suffered when they were bathed/showered more frequently. Over the summer it was more often due to lots of garden play / paddling pool / etc. DC8 plays football so may have a quick shower after training/matches if particularly sweaty or mucky. But as a general rule it is all bathed / showered once a week on a Sunday night.

3 times a week ish. Always on a Monday after swimming, usually a Friday ready for the weekend and 1 other time during the week.

We bathe her baby sister every night so if she feels like it she can just jump in with her and have a wash.

Do it every day. It’s time to chat, play, do times tables. Only needs to be 10 mins if you’re busy. I’ve a relative who didn’t get into a daily routine as a child and is now a very smelly young adult. He literally pongs.