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How Often Do You Bath Your Kids?

How Often Do You Bath Your Kids?

How often do you bath your kids? It’s one of those questions isn’t it? One where the answer seems to vary between families.

Little Piglet had one of those weeks where she has burst her nappy with monster poos more than 3 times. They have been monstrous and no amount of wiping would have sufficed. She had a day bath this week and her first shower at my friends. She is a delight.

This then got me thinking about how frequently we bath our kids. I’ve chatted with friends, everyone is so different and has their reasons for bathing less. Not enough time, children with skin issues, tiredness and just generally thinking daily baths aren’t needed.

I come from a very clean (possibly overly) family from my generation to my grandparents. I have memories of my lovely Grandad showering daily and he always smelt so lovely of Lynx or some aftershave and this was always the way, until he struggled to care for himself. My Dad taught and was paranoid of leaning over a student and smelling, so would bath in the mornings. We were bathed daily as children and I still have memories of my Mum telling me politely at around 8 years old, I was smelly and needed to wear deodorant!

I remember our NCT classes telling us not to bath our newborns for at least a week due to the lovely vernix on their skin, aiding bonding between parents and baby. My Mum was horrified; oh times have changed. We didn’t wait a week but did wait a bit!!

How Often Do I Bath My Kids?

I bath both my daughters daily. I think it is needed. If my youngest has a poonami (which is quite often) and is only wiped, she needs a bath! Possets of milk get under her neck and in her hair and shes need a clean. Also no matter what people say, I have smelt sweaty baby head and don’t like it.

The gremlin is quite a sweaty, grubby thing. She is like me, always warm and gets food everywhere. That or face paints!! She needs a daily bath. She is also trying to wipe herself after the toilet and doesn’t always do the best job. This can lead to soreness and irritation, so I do think a wash helps with this.

Neither of them have any issues with their skin, thankfully so this isn’t a problem.

bath your kids

It is also all about routine as well. For a long time I have bathed with the gremlin and now Piglet is here, she joins us too. It has really helped with getting her to bed at the same time each evening. She knows bath time is coming and is ready for her last feed and bed. The gremlin was the same. Both love a soak and a play in the bath. It is also lovely time for me to spend with them both before hubby does stories. I’m lucky that we have time in the evenings to do this. Yes it can be a chore and we love the break but for the girls, it is what they do. The gremlin finds it strange to miss a night.

This post was written a couple of years ago now and nothing has changed. My little man is bathed nightly and the girls still enjoy a bath together and with me; I loved hopping in with them.

I find it fascinating how we are all so different and is it due to how we were brought up? I have friends who shower twice a day and others who think nothing of going 2-3 days at a time. For me the latter is a big no no but I have quite a sensitive nose I’m told!!

How often do you bath your children?

Am I a complete clean freak??

bath your kids

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19 Comments

  1. February 10, 2017 / 7:56 am

    Baths everyday here. We bathed Poppy daily when she was little for the same reasons, pooey creases and stinky milk neck! It also helped introduce routine and she knows bathtime signifies the countdown to bedtime. Ella also has a bath everyday unless she’s back late from a club and so I’ll make her have a freshen up with babywipes instead. She’s getting to that age where she needs to have a bath or shower everyday and her hair needs washing every couple of days. #thatfridaylinky

  2. February 10, 2017 / 8:08 am

    Our kids get bathed every day….but even the youngest is older than your gremlin. That said, sue to forgetfulness (….mine) they’re about to have thier first bath in two days!

  3. February 10, 2017 / 9:35 am

    I used to bath mine every evening when they were babies but with Daisy having eczema and Jake thinking that bath water is poisonous it’s just a few times a week now. They do have a wash both morning and evening every single day. I have a shower every morning and will encourage this when they get to that stinky stage. #WotW

  4. February 10, 2017 / 9:48 am

    Since we live in a hot and humid place, we bath our kids everyday. We just make sure to use very mild soap and shampoo.

  5. February 10, 2017 / 10:45 am

    Kai has quite dry skin so he only gets bathed about 3 times a week. I aim to get Max in there every other day but it all depends on whats happened during the day. Hats off to you building it into there daily routine.

  6. February 10, 2017 / 11:00 am

    It is an interesting subject. I remember quite clearly when I was 7 yrs old at school and the teacher was talking about hygiene, he picked me out because of my nice shiny hair and asked me how often I washed it. I think he was a bit taken aback when I replied once a week when I had a bath. The truth is, we lived in a very old house without a boiler and my mum had to boil pans of water to fill the bath. I think I can understand why it was only once a week, what a pain! Thankfully we had our house modernised the following year, with flowing hot water. I now judge my kids on a daily basis. They bath once a week, but can shower up to another 4 times in the week.

  7. February 10, 2017 / 11:35 am

    You are certainly not alone in bathing everyday! I always bath my two daily and sometimes twice, like today Alice had a poo explosion so she had one this morning and depending on the mess she gets herself into with her dinner/tea she may join her brother in his tonight. My water bill is insane, but nothing better then a nice warm bath, My little ones don’t settle at bedtime properly if they have not had their baths. I would live in mine if I could!!

    #thatfridaylinky

  8. February 10, 2017 / 12:33 pm

    Mine have a bath every evening, as you say, it’s part of their routine. Now that they’re a bit older, we occasionally miss the odd night if we’ve got something on or are late home, but it’s a rare thing! And I have to have a shower every morning, or I cannot function! Thanks for sharing with #WotW x

  9. February 10, 2017 / 1:06 pm

    My girls have showers most nights and a bath once a week….During the school holidays we get lazy and sometimes miss a night. hehehe
    That’s strange that you were told not to bath newborns for at least a week. Oh how things change. When my teen was born I was pushed into bathing her in the hospital before we came home I’m sure it was just to check I knew how too and when my 9 year old was born they offered a bath for her but I never bothered….I ended up bathing her in the sink a day later. lol

  10. February 10, 2017 / 1:22 pm

    Daily baths are fine. I have always showered daily, and sometimes twice a day in the summer. Little Man suffers with his skin, so it’s difficult because the bath water can dry it out. We use oodles of cream to compensate. Nice post.
    #ThatFridayLinky

  11. February 10, 2017 / 8:40 pm

    Daily they my two are filthy by the end of each day and they love a bath and its so relaxing and warming #thatlinkyfriday

  12. February 11, 2017 / 8:54 am

    I personally shower every evening after the children have gone to bed and hate not to. We bath our children about 5 times a week, mornings on a weekend (and occasionally an evening too if we have been in the woods or puddle jumping) and evenings in the week, we only don’t do Tuesdays and Thursdays as the girls have Rainbows and Brownies and the 6pm drop off/pick up means I’d have to take them out in jammies or bedtime is late if we bath after.

  13. February 11, 2017 / 7:48 pm

    So for myself I shower at least once a day, sometimes twice depending on what I’ve been doing at work (leg ulcers,eww). The kids, it’s kind of ad hoc, generally every other day either a bath or shower with one of us but sometimes it can be daily depending on what they have been up to!! #ThatFridayLinky

  14. Nige
    February 11, 2017 / 10:30 pm

    Really interesting post we used to bath the girls everyday but nowadays it’s about 3 times a week I guess we are all different Thanks for linking to the #THAT FRIDAY LINKY come back next week please

  15. February 12, 2017 / 11:24 am

    Really interesting topic and its something i do think about, whether im doing too little or too much. I normally give my daughter a bath ever other day unless she gets really dirty or sweaty. It is a great way to relax and get her ready for bed but I do worry that too many baths might not be great for her skin or hair, but im not sure. It’s good to know from reading comments that there’s no hard and fast rule and you need to do what works for your baby.

  16. Emily
    February 12, 2017 / 6:45 pm

    I always have a shower every day, but our girls less often. They have a bath every Wednesday and Sunday. If they were to get really dirty or smelly, then it’d definitely be more often, but we find that twice a week is enough. They wash their faces every day though. Thanks for linking up to #ThatFridayLinky

  17. February 14, 2017 / 3:21 pm

    we try and get A into the bath or a quick shower everyday and have done so for the past several years. I’m trying to remember how often we bathed her when she was little, and for the life of me have no idea. Not every day, I’m sure, unless she made a mess of herself. #thatfridaylinky

  18. tracey at Mummyshire
    February 16, 2017 / 12:46 am

    Our children bathe daily – or if they’re very tired they hop into the shower. It’s now part of our routine (even for my 9yo who still follows the same routine) and getting to the bath or shower calms them down and gets them into the bedtime zone. Saying that, my boy is always rolling around in the mud or sliding along the ground on his knees so practically needs a bath, too!
    Sorry for the late comments, my boy has chicken pox :((
    #WoTW

  19. February 16, 2017 / 10:56 pm

    So interesting to reflect on different people’s approaches to this. I don’t usually bath the girls every day unless they need it. They do have faces and hands washed multiple times a day though. They probably bathe more frequently in the summer than in the winter. Sophie’s eczema flares up in the winter months and I’m always a bit wary about drying her skin out if she has a bath too often, and it’s always a race to get Jessica dried and into PJs as quickly as possible after a bath in the winter as she gets so cold so quickly. Both of those things are less of an issue when the weather is a little warmer. #WotW