Bathing Everyday or Not

We definitely did not give a bath every day and still don't. I know some who do, but it just doesn't seem necesssary. They don't get that dirty and their baby skin gets so dried out, just as you said.

I dont' have the energy or the time to bathe the kids every day. I aim for every other day, and sometimes it is every 3 days.

I agree with what you are doing. In the summer I try every day because my son is running around and sweating more but in winter I do every other and sometimes every 2 days. I know some of my neighbors do the same.

LOL my kids would appall your MIL. I have never, ever bathed my kids daily. We're so lax that sometimes DH and I will look at each other and say "when was the last time the little boys had baths?" and we won't be able to remember. You are normal. There is no need to bathe a child every day unless this child has been playing outside in the dirt and mud and/or enjoys bathing as part of a night time routine. It's not great for their hair or skin to be in all that soap and water every day.

I'm not even gonna tell you how infrequently our kids get bathed (bathtime is such a backbreaking ordeal at our house we do it on a 'as needed' basis). ;)
Lol.
Your kids are NOT dirty.
Your MIL is silly. :)

Nope - I'm with you. It's not like your 11 month old is running sweaty marathons every day. I did the same thing. You're not wrong, your kids aren't dirty. She just did things differently.

No you aren't wrong. Babies and childrens skin is extra sensitive so it is not necessary to bathe them daily. I bathe my kids every two no more than three nights unless they've been sweating and stink or got into something messy.

In the winter, if my daughter is not dirty I bathe her every other day. In summer when she is sweaty, it's every day.

As long as they aren't dirty or smelly, it's fine not to bathe a kid every day. I do give her a good wash down with a wash cloth. My friend has her daughter sit in the sink and dunk her but to get it clean.

I also think it's your MILs job to question everything you do so just ignore her.

I bathe my kids everyday.
My 3yr old NEEDS it. He's filthy after a day of playing outside. And the 1yr old usually had food in some crevices that I've missed when mopping her up.

I don't think I'd let them go more than every other day. At this point, the 3yr old is actually smelly if he doesn't get one.

If you're worried about drying out their skin, add a Tbs of coconut oil to their bathwater. Another mom out here suggested that to me, and it works wonders. You won't need lotion anymore.

What Emily S said.

And I disagree with Cheryl that it's "not normal" to not bathe your kid everyday. I think it's very normal to not bathe kiddos everyday. And in most (all?) other countries, it's probably normal for adults to not bathe everyday.

Your MIL needs to get over it.

I think we all buy into that mental norm of "bathing everyday" for babies. Probably it does more harm than good. It can be very drying. For skin and hair.

You know best when your kids need a bath.

I let my son (8) skip a day here and there IF he's not dirty. He makes up for that on baseball days. :)

Now that it is Fall, (YAY!) my kids are only getting baths every 2-3 days too. Unless they really need it. During the Summer it was everyday, sometimes twice.

It's not wrong - it's just not "normal"...but it's NORMAL FOR YOU and works for you...so really? what does it matter what she thinks?

When they are infants - they say to bathe them every 2 to 3 days anyways as really - they aren't sweating and when they stink it's because their diaper needs to be changed...

Once your daughter starts hitting puberty - then yeah - i would say bathe daily but until then - do what works for you.

GOOD LUCK!

My daughter is 21 months and she gets a bath every second night. I will bathe her if say we go out and she gets visibly dirty but otherwise I agree with you that they get a mini bath on their bums every diaper rash and really how dirty can a kid get if they arent rolling in the mud?

let me just say THANK YOU for asking this question!!!! and thanks to all the moms who answered before, now I dont feel bad!!! I have a 2 1/2 year old and 10 month old twins. I bathe them every other day, unless they pee out of their diaper or get dirty or messy. sometimes if I am just to tired or my back is acting up I have gone 3 days. I was worried I was a bad momma, but now I see that not everyone does the everyday baths. Especially since one of my twins has super bad eczema, I hate to dry out his skin anymore than it already is.

ooh, you have lots of responses--hot topic! Our pediatrician said 2 to 3 baths a week is plenty for the babies. We have gone a week for the girls (7 and 3 years old)--embarassing at times yes, but sometimes we just run out of time, and bath time does not calm our gilrs down for bedtime--it just revs them up more and mornings are way too chaotic. We're lucky to get 2 a week. If they are particularly dirty, sweaty, sticky food in the hair, more.

We are a bath two or three times per week. They always get a bath on Gymnastics day and then at least one more during the week. Any others are based on the amount of mess - spaghetti, chocolate ice cream, playdoh, getting into the Desitin.... You get the idea. :-)

~C.

Ha! My kid gets a bath if he does not pass the sniff test! We have major skin issues in my family so I try not to dry it out and lather tons of products on it. So, my son gets a bath probably once or twice a week as needed per the sniff test.

I'm sorry, but even my six year old only takes 2-3 showers a week (unless she's been outside and gotten actually dirty) and I would freak OUT if someone told me my child was dirty. She is not! She washes her face, brushes her teeth, combs her hair, etc. She has eczema, and she literally cannot bathe every or even every other day.

My 17 month old...well, I bathe her as needed. Lately that's been every day because she puts food in her hair, but if she didn't do this...maybe 3 times a week.

My kids are older than yours (6 and 9) and they still don't bathe every day! My baby def. doesn't. My older ones bathe every other day or every two days. When puberty hits and they start to get funky then they will bathe ever day. As long as your kids aren't raggamuffins I don't see the problem.
L.

Summer time is really the only time we MIGHT bathe every day, depending on whether we've been out significantly enough to warrant sunscreen (and sweating, of course). It's actually better to bathe only every 2-3 days. I remember reading this when I was pregnant with my first in some of the stuff my ob/gyn gave me. It dries out their skin and if you use lotion to supplement the moisture loss their skin is going to be conditioned to require it and not produce it's own moisture (part of my personal problem, I believe). Don't worry about your MIL, you know what's right for your kids.

in the summer we normally give our 2 yr old a bath every other day but with colder weather coming she normally gets a bath as needed which is about two or three times a week. BECAUSE her skin dries out so bad she scratches and breakes skin and it gets bad and lotion doesnt help so we started to just do as needed, if she starts to smell then we give her a bath

Wow, you are a super busy mom. We live in a sunny and hot Florida,so yes daily baths are a must :) for most part, they are short and sweet and two at once lol! It's part of the night night routine, always at night. My almost one year old is capable of some serious messy diapers, so additional baths are necessary. When pool is being used, we do quick baths also. Yes, the water bill is very high.

I would tell your MIL she is welcome to help with her grandkids bath and
story readings every night. While you clean after dinner, do the laundry, fold the laundry, prep your 3 kids and your husband for the next day, mop the floors and run the dishwasher, and unload the dishwasher and bake your husbands favorite dessert and serve freshly made three coffees, then bring all the three dessert dishes to the sink, wash it and put it away, and kiss everyone good night! Lol.

Summers we do daily baths because our daughter is slathered in sunscreen, gets sweaty, etc. Winters we do baths every other day on average, although sometimes daily. Just depends. I have read, though, that daily bathing is hard on your skin; removes oils that your skin really needs. So when we bathe daily we use Burt's Bees Apricot oil after the bath. Your MIL needs to settle down, lol!

My children shower everyday. They are dirty, filthy, disgusting little boys made out of snails and puppy dog tails and they need it. When they were babies in diapers I showered them everyday too because I couldn't stand the thought of them sitting in their own poo (even for a short amount of time) without washing daily. But, as long as your kids are clean enough, the right or wrong of it is up to you.

I bathe my daughter nearly every day (odd day off depending on the schedule that evening), but that's only because it's a part of her bedtime routine. I know that she doesn't need a bath every day (though my husband doesn't really like it when she doesn't get a bath every day).

I also know that I always feel better going to bed clean, so I figure she does, too. I don't always wash her hair or do a really good scrubbing, but actually getting in the tub and playing in the water helps her.

I feel so lucky that *if* my MIL doesn't agree with something, she doesn't try to butt in or make me question my parenting decision. As for your's - try not to worry about it.

Do they smell? Are they caked with dirt and grime? Covered in marker or paint? Then they're fine. Personally, I think daily baths are excessive unless the kids get sweaty or play in the dirt, get bathed by the dog, or have accidents, etc. It could be a nice part of a bedtime routine, but also can dry their skin out. My kids actually tend to get energized by a bath and hard to calm for bedtime. Your mother-in-laws reaction seems pretty extreme (and rude), but the requirement of a daily bath is generational thing, I think.

When my kids were infants under 1, they got baths 1-3 times per week.
When they were 2-3, more like every other day unless clearly dirty.
When my oldest started kindergarten, I tried to bathe her every night before school, but might skip the weekends. We pretty much have kept up that routine, but now that she is almost 8, she skips far less frequently.

I think baths and showers for 2 kids are hard, especially if they are under 5 and still need supervision. If you get them washed every 2-3 days, I think you are doing great. It will be easier when you can tell your oldest to go take a shower :)

I would prefer to wash them daily trust me. Sometimes it does gross me out a bit, but sometimes that just isn't happening.

Nope, you aren't wrong at all. I've never understood the whole batheing every day thing. You wash when you're dirty. Children don't have the same amounts of oils and hormones as adults, so if all they've been doing is playing indoors in a clean environment, there is no sense in washing them daily (other than hands, face and booty).

My boys both had pretty dry skin in the winter. I still don't make them shower every single day, but once they hit puberty, you can bet they will be!!

My kids bathe every day, I bathe every day and hubby bathes every day. I use Melaleuca so we don't react or dry out and with my baby, I use a wash cloth to wipe out the shampoo so I don't have to pour water over his head. HTH

you sound like how I bathe mine.
I do the same for myself. I don't take one everyday either. I wash my hair every other to every three days or my hair gets too dried out.

In the cooler/cold months, we do it 2-3 times a week. More in the summer, but still not every day. If they get really dirty, obviously they get a bath, but sometimes I just wipe them down with a soapy wash cloth.

In the "olden days", kids were lucky to get a bath once a week. And they were always last so they got the dirtiest water.

Your mother in law is overreacting - yes, many people do bathe their kids every day, expecially little babies - but I thinkit is mostly for fun/relaxing bath time, part of bedtime routine, not a Necessity because of "dirtiness".

Like you said, if thye aren't getting sweaty/actually visibly dirty playing, they don't need one but every few days. My Oldest daughter has always been TERRIBLE about bath time, screaming and throwing fits in a slppery bathtub or shower....finally just starting to get over it at nearly 5 years old, she also was awinter baby and had VERY sensitive skin, which were both negatively affected by more bathing. So we bathed her as little as hygenically possible - when she was little tiny, it was only once a week, unless she had a particularly bad poop or spit up incident, then she would get one in that case. Now at 4 and a half, she gets one every 2 days or so, like you said, unless she looks or smells dirty or sweaty in between, then she gets one as needed. My 2 year old follows the same schedule - I usually bathe them together, unless one is dirtier than the other....then the dirty one might get a bath alone before the other kid.

Your mother in law needs to realize Americans in general bathe WAY more than any other group of people in the world, and it is not always good for us - lots of people have dry skin, and exzema, aggivated by too much bathing with caustic soaps. A little dirt and a little natural body oil is good for your skin and the dirt is good for your kids immune system and their general "kid-ness"!!!

Don't feel weird, what you are doing is what works for you and is perfectly within the realm of normal personal hygiene rules - once they are pre-teens and developing hormones and Body Odor, then they can go back to every day bathing,and thye can then do it all alone, so you don't have to try to wash 3 kids every night!

Tell your MIL she can come over and help with every ight baths if she is so concerned. Or tell your kids Dr. about it and have him tell her it is fine.

I'm gonna side with you. Every couple days is sufficient, filling in as needed. We have noses, we have eyes, we KNOW what are kids have been doing and whether or not a bath that day needs to be mandatory. Reality is, a bath every day is just not feasable with the busy lifestyles we lead now-a-days.

I don't know how old your MIL is, but that is surprising that she gasped. My kids are 8 and 7 and usually they shower or take a bath twice a week. They are not dirty. Bathing too much can really dry their skin out. I do make them change underwear and socks everyday and brush their teeth and hair and make sure hands/face are washed and sometimes feet (especially in the Summer if they've been wearing flip flops or sandles). We will make sure they bath more often if they get really dirty during the week or sometimes my 7 yr old boy will have accidents if he plays too hard and forgets to go. You get the idea. Hopefully your MIL can let YOU raise your kids the way you want and keep her opinions to herself!

I used to bathe my child every day until I saw a show on The Doctors about how it is bad for your child's skin to wash them with soap that often.

You are doing exactly what you should be doing. Mother-in-laws always think they know better but sometimes their information is outdated.

I found this on the website for The American Academy of Pediatrics:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/b...

I bath my 2 y/o every 2, 3 days, unless she' dirty from playing outside or potty accidents, my almost 6 months every 3 to 4 days and only because she has delicate skin. and my 7 y/o everyday on weekdays, and she skip Saturdays.
there's nothing wrong on it , I don't see the big deal about it. my husband baths everynight and I bath every other day ,I think your MIL is wrong, and you don't have to worry about this.

I don't bathe them daily but I do so more frequently than every other day (hope this makes sense). So maybe Mon, Wed, Thurs, Friday (guess). They still bathe together and I only wash their hair every other bathtime. In the summer, however, they are bathed daily. My son COULD use a bath daily because he's still pretty messy when he eats!

My kids get stinky feet, even in the winter. We do baths every other day; and wash hands, feet, and face before bedtime on the off days (they're 2 and 4, so we do this at the sink). Sounds like you're probably fine:)

daily but i wash his hair every other day except in the summer, he gets bathed from head to toe every day. I think it depends on what you think in terms them being dirty.
Forget your mother in law. Some people are just very opinionated. Don't respond to her, just sit there. I've had to do that to my mother in law lots of times.

I would do every other day at least. Your mother in law is wrong, you don't have dirty kids if they don't get baths every day unless they are playing in the dirt or playing hard. I had a doctor tell me when my oldest was a baby that bathing them every day is to hard on their skin. We used lotion to keep from drying out the skin much and it always makes them smell so wonderful.

It's easy for people not dealing with the children daily to tell you how to handle them, isn't it??
My kids get baths maybe 3 times a week. More in the summer, if they are sweaty, or muddy, or have been in a pool.
I have a newborn, so I don't even get a bath everyday!

You are NOT wrong. Remember, YOU are the mother and you know what is right for your kids. My kids get a bath every other day or every 2 days depending on what is going on. I do not believe in drying my kids' skin out and soaking them every night in the tub. Hope that helps!

I know I am late, but I am like you with my boys. Every other day is fine, they just aren't dirty and they have both dealt with excema, so we give them a day between to help prevent dry skin. I think the everyday bath is a somewhat new phenomenon bc we can do it and so we do, and it is just fine to do so. My mom said when she was a kid her dad shaved and cleaned up everyday and bathed on Saturday, I don't remember how often she bathed, but not everyday. I know that back in the day when you were hauling a tub into the house to fill, an everyday bath was not happening. I usually do a bath and hair washing myself every other day and just a little sponge up on the other days, it works fine for me. But of course I have always been more on the dry skin side of things. When I was in college my roommate did every other day bc she wanted to be a missionary and wanted to be comfortable in any society she went to. As long as your kids don't smell, haven't gotten all sweaty, don't have dirty nails, have their teeth brushed at least twice daily, have nicely groomed hair and fresh clean clothes, I think you are good to go!!

I am from Europe and my mom is 88 and there is a song from her parent's generation that states: "It's Saturday, we're taking a bath!", so in olden days in Europe at least it was very normal with minimal indoor plumbing where water had to be heated to take a bath only once a week. Since we just have to turn a knob to get hot water, my husband and I shower daily (he in the AM to wake up, me in the PM to have less get-ready time in the AM). The kids are 9 and 14 and the teenager showers daily, but the 11 year old every-other day on gym days. But when the kids were little it was "as needed"- and they enjoyed taking play-baths together with lots of rubber duckies or shaving foam and paint brushes, etc.

No! I bathe my kids every 3rd day most of the time, more often if dirty or sweaty in the summer.

Bathe as needed. Sometimes that means every day, sometimes every other day. My eldest daughter has always needed to be bathed nearly every day. Her skin and hair have always gotten dirtier, greasier, and smellier sooner (and younger) than other kids. She plays hard and fast and it shows. She hates to bathe but she needs it daily.

My middle daughter, well, for many reasons we bathe her as needed. She's fair-skinned and her skin dries out easily. She's sensory disordered and due to her Autism she has some serious problems with transitions to boot. She was my cradle cap baby until she was 2 or 3 years old. Even now, at 8 years old, it's as needed which is more frequent than when she was a baby and toddler, but her skin and hair texture require it less often. Once she's in the water you can't get her out, though. She's a water baby.

My youngest daughter has always been an every-other-day kiddo. She's in the middle with her skin and hair, and her likability of bathing. She had mild cradle cap until she was a year old, and was not fond of water until she could sit ... and then could sit well enough to sit in the shower with me.

Showers solved a lot of problems with bathing for us.

Anyway, I have the same model of MIL you have. Bathe daily or you're Very Dirty. I just let her think that I bathe the girls daily. It's not her business. How would she feel if you asked your MIL, "So, MIL, how often do you wash YOUR hooch? Are you sure you washed behind your ears this morning? Because I thought I saw a little gray scabby back there..."

Not at all! I have 2 kids - 5 & 3. They have baths or showers every other night most of the year. In the summer, we find every night happens more because they're outside getting filthy, but the winter is definitely every other night! You're right - why dry out their skin with a daily bath? Don't worry about your mother in law. As long as faces and hands are washed and teeth are brushed, your kiddos are just fine.

i have 3 kids...age 4,2 and 10 mos. My 4 yr old gets the dirtiest and i just give her a bath when she smells bad or gets in the dirt. I wash her hair before sunday church and thursday church. Sometimes she gets 2 baths in one day and some days she gets none. The younger children get less dirty, because i keep my floors really clean and they play in the house most of the time.
I have a sister that would probably cringe if she saw this post, but hey, this is my children and unless you are in my shoes, you dont know how hard it is to get 3 kids their baths at night and put Pj's on all of them. Well, when they get a little older and can run their own water, etc., i am sure we will do more bathing.

We do the same thing. No sense in all that water wasting in the first place. Your child should learn to wash it's face and such several times a day anyways. Or at least I always did because of acne so I certainly never needed a bath daily. I find it just leads to eczema break outs and more lotion needed by all of my children. So "gross" or not to some my kids get bathed every other day.

I give my son a bath everyother day as long as he had not just baseball practice or a game, not that at 4 he does enough to make him sweat but he loves to slide so he has dirt everywhere. But if he has not been to the park, pool, or in the sand box we do every other day as well. You are not wrong.

You are not wrong for doing that. I personally bathe my son everyday. I enjoy it and he enjoys it. He also gets full of food when he eats. So I usually just do it before bed time. But it's not a big deal if you don't. They are your kids, do what you want.

Absolutely not! My 10 month old get 2-3 baths a week. Dr. Jim Sears on the show the Doctors had mentioned that 2 baths a week for infants is good. Unless its a bedtime routine, and then you should only use soap 2 times a week. The older kids get, the dirtier they get when they play, and then everyday or every other day is appropriate. When I was a kid, there were 4 siblings and 1 bathroom. WE were only allowed to take a shower every other day because the water would get cold quickly and the water bill would get high if we all took showers every day. When kids get to a certain age, they start having body odor and then it is a must for daily baths.

I don't know. Sorry! But here's what I did -- when my babies were babies, I bathed them almost daily. I didn't submerge them in the bath, but had them in a bath seat in the tub so I could get them really clean. I used a washcloth to get in the chubby folds, especially under the chin, which can get pretty gross.

As they got older, they started a routine of daily baths in the summer (sunscreen, dirt, sweat, etc.), and every other day in the colder months. I think unclean hair is kind of gross, so I washed their hair every other day.

Now my 11 year old is still on the every other day shower plan (except in summer), but my teenager takes daily showers.

If you have a child with sensitive or really dry skin, then you should bring it up with the doctor, and the doc will tell you how often (and how) to bathe your child.

No, I don't think your children are dirty. I have a friend who used to bathe her kids only once a week!

I'm glad you asked this question. My MIL just stayed with us a few days while I had surgery. She turned her nose up at our non-daily bathing of our kids, too.

My oldest is almost 4 and has very sensitive skin. We were told by our Ped. not to bathe every day (unless she needed it....sunscreen, sweaty, dirty, etc.). We now have a 1.5 year old, too. We do baths together, so every other day is the norm and if we have a late night for some reason, it's not a big deal if we go one more day.

I do require my girls to wash their faces, hands/arms, and feet with a wash cloth before bed.

I grew up on the far extreme where we bathed once a week if we were lucky. I had three brothers and we played outside all the time. You can imagine. I remember sitting in class in 4th grade and the teachers addressed this/me, "You all know that you should be bathing daily, right? We know some of you are only getting baths on Sunday nights."

I will never send my kids into public dirty. I don't consider every other day bathing as dirty. When they hit puberty (or before) and start to have lots of oil and sweat, it's time for daily bathing. That's my 15 cents.

aawww the joys of mother in laws-forget what she says-do what feels right for your kids-everyone is an expert on your kids-until they have to deal with it.my kids certainly didnt get a bath every single day at that age either-mainly in the winter-so cold n dry..do what you feel is best forget the rest.

I was told NOT to bath my kid everyday. The soap and warm water (and it was johnsons foaming baby wash) was giving him dry red skin.. My son is 2 now, and during the summer I bathed him everyday for a while because he played outside and ended up coated in dirt sand and sunscreen, but normally we do every 2-3days. The only times he gets bathed more often is if I can't manage to sneek into the shower without him climbing in lol.

This is what I do with my kids too. Every other day unless they have been playing outside in the dirt, sand and/or are really sweaty or we are going to a special place or event. I tweak it as needed especially since they haven't developed body odor or the oil glands haven't started firing up! I think you are doing fine!
A.