Do You Bathe Your Kid EVERY Day?

Well not anymore--mine are 36-34-24-20 but when they were little i bathed them almost every day. If they didn't get a regular bath they got a sponge bath.

My two kids shower every day. The little one is 5 and half and he just started to take showers (I am there so he doesn't fall) he used to take baths...but he enjoys very much to take showers now!
Kids get smelly even when there is not hot weather.

Always. If my 4 yr old doesn't get a bath everyday she gets red. I just don't feel like the day can start without a bath! My teen bathes daily too.

I was shocked to read that so many mothers bathe their kids every day. I have no idea how they do it. I have four kids and after school we start homework, do dinner, dishes, then homework again, then it is time to start the bedtime routine. I do baths on Sunday nights and one other day during the week unless they are gross. My oldest will go and shower more often on his own. I do have them do a wash down on their own before bed (wash hands and face, brush teeth) but that is it. They do not stink or have yucky finger nails or anything like that. If I washed them even every other day their skin would be SO dry they would be itching all day. I say wash them when they need it, obviously there are different plans for each family. I am sure you kids will grow up just fine with 1 bath or 7 baths per week.

Enjoy!

Yes, my son gets one everyday.. I like to get all the germs from that day, off of him :0)

DD gets a bath everyday. She's so active and gets sweaty and dirty, so I can't imagine putting her to bed without a bath. Since she was a baby our nighttime routine has been bath, stories, and bed - I guess we're loathe to change that. Plus, I always feel so good going to bed after a shower, I want to give her the chance to feel the same.

oh please do NOT beat yourself up over not being the "perfect", "every night" bather lol. i don't bathe my son every night, it's normally every other night and sometimes we do skip two nights. (*GASP*!!!)

if he's not stinky it's not a huge deal. same goes with us adults. just use common sense and you'll be okay. many of us (and our kids) can NOT have a bath every day or our skin will be in permanent eczema agony. and those of us with dry hair would really be stupid to wash it every day. just sayin'! everyone's different. don't beat yourself up...

When it's warm and they're covered in dirt from head to toe and everywhere in between, yes, they bathe nightly before bed. Now that it's freezing? Heck no! *I* don't want to shower daily because getting out of the nice hot shower, when that frigid air hits you... forget it!! Most uncomfortable feeling in the world! So nope, the kids don't bathe everyday when it's cooler... the girls take a shower every other day, the baby? He gets a wipe down every day, but probably takes a bath 3x a week. Oops ;)

Yup, he does when it's a school day. Nice way to power my little guy down for the night.

He showers after swim lessons so that gets my husband off the hook for the night. Win-win in my eyes!

i am glad you posted this, its always neat to see what other moms do! I Give me girls a bath every other night unless they are dirty! However, I make them change their underwear even on the nights they don't have a shower, just to get them into a good hygeine habit! Only you know your kids!!

Twice a day. A shower in the morning, and a bath at night. When he's playing hard, sometimes he needs to get hosed off in the middle!

You know... many people don't bathe every day on purpose... but that's not who that guy was talking about. I've seen so many kids that ***aren't taught to be clean***. Their parents just don't care. They're filthy. Days without baths, sheets that are rarely washed, clothes that reek of body oils (and always smell sour, because when they ARE washed a single washing doesn't get the clothes clean). Same with the kids. Even when they've HAD a bath, their hair is still oily and matted, and there's grime around their necks and limbs that takes a week's worth of bathing every day in order to scrub it off.

I've taken care of some of these kids. They are BEWILDERED by the concept of bathing every day. Of putting dirty clothes in the hamper and having them get washed. Of having someone brush out their hair. And even more bewildered that these activities can be FUN, OR CARING. That someone isn't yelling at them to hurry up, or how nasty they are, or that water is expensive and they're wasting it (and in two cases, they didn't know water from the tap came in multiple temps... they thought it only came out luke warm... becuase the kids got bathed after the parents, so they'd never. had. a. hot. bath/shower. They always got the dregs when the hot water heater had run out. Choosing their own temp was amaaaazing to them.) Some of their clothes are just beyond hope, and the rest take 5 or 6 times through the wash on the hottest of cycles in order to get them so they actually SMELL NICE. One little girl in particuar (about 10) who'd just looked at me like I was on crack when I was having her shower in the morning before school... came SKIPPING home from school after about a week just BURSTING with the news that so-and-so had said they smelled pretty today!!! She'd never gone to school smelling good, or with her hair brushed, much less looking nice.

There's a big difference between skipping a day on purpose, and not being able to have one.

Every night.

I dont like to think of it as a "getting clean" thing, but more as an end of the day relaxing, quiet time for him before he gets to sleep. It calms his little muscles he's been running and playing on all day, and it probably feels good to soak in a nice warm bath and play for awhile.

Who doesnt love a good warm relaxing bath at the end of the day. I sure do, why wouldnt he?

I DID give them baths everyday, when they were little, before they did it themselves.

It wasn't always because they were dirty. It was more the Keeping Of The Bedtime Routine, you know? Plus, they LOVED playing in the bathtub.

You take a bath, you have a snack, you read a story, you brush your teeth and use the potty, then you go to sleep. Made for no stress bedtimes I guess.

But, no, they def didn't NEED a bath every single night. In fact, I'm not sure it's good for the skin and hair to be washed everyday. (Well it is NOW, since their all greasy hormonal teenagers, tehehe)

:)

We do. She doesn't need one everyday but it's part of her bedtime wind down routine and she definitely needs that. If we miss a day it's not a big deal. Unless your kids are dirty I don't think they need a bath everyday. I think your kids are just fine :)

Yes. We only skip a day if the weather is bad and they have been indoors all day. My kids have allergy issues, though and showering helps.

My daughter is 4 and right now she gets a bath twice a week. She just doesn't get that dirty that I feel a bath every night is necessary. She gets a bath Sunday night because she has 4 days of preschool staring on Monday, and then Wed night, because that is when she plays soccer, gets more sweaty, and is due for a bath anyway. In the summer she will get bathed more often, because she does get dirty playing outside, swimming in the lake, etc. But bath time tends to be rather prolonged because she likes playing in there and would stay in there for hours if I let her - I can't imagine going through that every night! I figure once she starts hitting puberty, doing sports more, etc., and body odor becomes more of an issue, then daily showering/bathing will be needed.

Well we do live where it is hot and very dusty.. Yes, I tried to bathe her or have her bathe, because she was active and got sweaty almost every day. In elementary they ran track everyday for all of those years..

But I did skip every once in a while.. She is the one that insisted on a bath.. she it made her feel good to be clean.

It is not good to bathe babies every day as it dries out there skin (unless you don't use soap every day). I bathe my 11 month old 2 or 3 times a week, unless he was really dirty or super sweaty. As for older kids, it really depends. If your kids are the type that at the end of the day have streaks of sweat and dirt frunning down their faces, then yes every day! If they are generally clean children, skipping a day once in a while won't hurt anyone.

We live in Minnesota, my oldest son has eczema and psoriasis and requires a daily shower or bath to slough off the old skin and help keep his skin healthy and hydrated. My younger kids also bathe daily. I figure I get the luxury of a shower every day so they should too. Plus they are kids, they get funky and need to bathe.

My boys are 9 and 11 - no, I don't bathe them every day - but they do shower every day.

Depending upon the age of the child, it's not necessary to bathe daily. However, when they are going through puberty, bathing daily is essential to proper hygiene....at least to me it is.

Yikes, no! My kids have super dry, sensitive skin...they need a bit of their own body oils on there to be comfortable. Our doc specifically told me that they shouldn't be getting a daily bath/shower. Of course, now that they're 9, 10 and 14, they DO get one at least every other day (ya know, because of the STINKINESS of teens/pre-teens). But even that is actually too much for their skin-type. Sometimes I tell them to wash their stinky parts well with body wash/soap/whatever, but just run water over the other parts. We go through lots of moisturizer in this house.

I bathe my kid every single day, with a rare exception on weekends, if we haven't gone out or he hasn't played with anybody that day. On school days, or when we have gone out groceries etc, he has to sleep clean.

A few days ago I woke up my kid when he fell asleep in the car when returning from a birthday party at a gym and then groceries evening, just to take a warm bath and a few morsels of dinner. I cannot sleep if he is sleeping dirty and empty stomach. I guess I have OCD he he.

Nope, not everyday. If he plays heavily regardless of inside or outside, then yes, he'll get a bath at night, but most of the time, he gets bathed once every other day. It so helps out with his dry skin!

So no, you aren't committing a major whoops by not bathing your kids everyday.

My pediatrician actually says it's better NOT to bathe my kids every single day because we live in a pretty dry climate (esp during the frigid winter!) and no matter how much lotion I use on them their skin would be horribly dry being bathed every day. We have done it before of course - 3 or 4 consecutive days with a bath because we were at the beach here or they were in the sand head to toe or stained red from popsicles or something. And even during the summer, their skin totally dried out being bathed that often. If you let them go a day between, the natural oils in their skin can do their work and naturally moisturize them, versus being washed away every day. So we typically do every other day - sometimes every 2 or 3 days. They smell fine. ;)

Yes! I don't care how tired I am my son NEEDS a bath everynight before bed. He's gets smelly after school.

In warmer weather I bathe my dd everyday because she play hard so she needs a bath. In cooler weather I may skip a day or 2 but will wash her up.

Hi neighbor!! (I think you are the closest one to me) Hot and humid is right!! My kids bathe everyday- the only exception is maybe a weekend day, but school days/nights are a must for me! But they will be just fine if you skip a day- nothing to stress over.

My mom used to wash us every 4 days when we were little, with the exception of a wipe down. Now it's unheard of. I wash my kids every other day or every two days. When they get older (pre teens) they should wash every day, since puberty begins around that time.

No way... It is so drying to their skin Unless she was rolling around in dirt or was filthy, we just go every other day or every two days.
However, myself, I rarely skip a day, but that is how I wake up otherwise I am a zombie!

My kids do, but don't feel bad if you have to skip a night every once in a while. I just don't like my kids getting into their beds without a bath and hair washed.

When I was a kid, we had a bath once or twice a week til we needed to bathe more frequently, unless we were dirty. I don't remember when it changed, but it just naturally did.

We bathe or allow DD to play in the tub almost every night. She has curly hair and what works for us is to wash and condition it nightly or the snarls are horrible. I have heard that a nightly bath can dry out your skin, so especially in winter, put lotion on.

Teen boys are weird. They don't smell themselves or they don't care. Both my DH and my SIL had problems with their sons and had to REQUIRE a shower daily. I'm still not sure my nephew does. Until they start wanting to impress somebody, it's like they're keeping everyone away. EW!

RileyJ, try vinegar on those clothes. Works a wonder on gym stink. Might help those kids, too.

We're also in south TX, but don't have any humidity! Both my kids have serious dry skin and eczema, so we bathe them only 2x a WEEK as per my pediatrician. They get a good wipe down daily, but no one's complained about a stench, so I'm assuming they're ok! :)

Heck no. My girls go in the tub 3-4 times a week. I've never sent them to bed dirty, but I don't do a bath every night just to say I've done it. And I only wash their hair once or twice a week.

Unless they are filthy and had a potty accident or something like that, we do every other day--generally. Sometimes 2 a day--on a rare occasion, but mostly every other day.

Yep, mine is infatuated with the bath. I try to bathe him everyday but like you there are some days where it is just impossible. However, i do not use wipes and wash his bum when he has made poopoo. Although the wipes irritate his skin bathing him everyday does not dry him out like everyone says. I guess every kid is different. But after almost every wash I do use Aveeno body lotion or even olive oil or baby oil.
In anycase, I am sure skippin a day or two is fine. Just use your best judgement.

My kids shower or take a bath everyday, but they don't necessarily WASH every day. I don't either. It really is healthier for your skin and hair if you DON'T bathe every day.

They shower because its part of the bedtime routine, not because they are particularly dirty. They wash their hair every other day or every 3 or so.

Every other day is plenty, in fact my sons bad skin would be horribly dry if he bathed every day!

Maybe twice a week. Sometimes more, but I don't worry about it. We're in Seattle where it is very rarely hot (heck! It's very rarely warm) and not too humid.

It shocks me that someone would assume that not getting a bath everyday means a kid is deprived.

I try to freshen them up every night for bed, but not necessarily give a bath. It's icky and more stress on me when they don't have a good night sleep, so I try to wipe at least faces and buttocks when pushed for time.

If I bathe them the evening before, usually in the morning on school days, we don't. Again just freshen up to get rid of that morning drag.

If time permits, I prefer to give a bath every day, but that's not always possible.

No, I don't. She NEEDS one every day b/c she still has accidents daily, but realistically, there just isn't enough time in every day to do it. On the off days, I'll put her in the shower and rinse her off if she needs it.
My 10 year old gets one almost every day, but my 4 year old is more like every other day.

If they are dirty they get a bath. If they haven't done anything and are clean, then we may skip. My kids are 8, 6, and 4 and all shower by themselves...so it makes it much easier to tell them to go take a shower than take the hour that it does to bathe 3 kids. All 3 kids need help washing their hair still. My son's will just miss everything but the top and my daughter only washes her hair once a week...I realized doing it last weekend that I have never taught her to do it herself. So we'll do that this weekend. (My kids are mixed and my daughter until recently has ALWAYS had braids. She gets it washed at the salon, but now we have it down and so we wash it at home...that's why she is just now learning.)

I'm in TX too. I'll give my 3.5 yr old a bath every other day, but I admit I've gone over that a time or two - like Friday we went out to dinner (no bath by the time we got home), Saturday we went out to dinner (no bath by the time we got home), Sunday I made sure he got one cause I knew Monday we'd be home late from Trick-or-Treating. So Tuesday we did take a bath, so tonight I will not likely give him one.

So reassuring to see that lots of other families don't do a bath/shower every day--I have wondered sometimes whether we were totally weird. With after-school activities, homework, dinner, and so on, it ends up being about every two to three days in our home. I really don't think they get that dirty and they certainly don't smell. I've sometimes wondered, though, whether it would be better to get them used to every day in preparation for the time when they really are going to need it (adolescence) and it's going to be harder for us to 'make' them if they don't want to. If they were in the habit, they'll just keep going with it. I'm hoping that like another post said, a teen will decide to shower/bathe every day (especially since that's what we parents do). Thanks for the question and answers!

We used to give our two year old a bath every other day until I noticed that it calms her and she goes to sleep easier, so now it is every night as part of her bedtime routine. My husband does bathtime so I can have a break if my 3 month old is sleeping. We always put lotion after so her skin doesn't get dry but also she now insists on her lotion, she likes to rub it on her knees. Our baby girl gets a bath every three days but we wash her face and hands through out the day and before bed. I really don't think everyday is necessary and a few skipped baths is not the end of the world. It's whatever works for you that matters.

In the summer my 3 year old would get a bath every day because he sweats a lot and would get dirty playing outside. Now that it's fall it's more like every other day, same with my 1 year old and if I happen to forget it's not a big deal.

Nope. Every other day accept for the days she's wearing sunscreen or just plain dirty.

Our pediatrician actually suggested that we bathe our kids every OTHER night. My oldest has dry, "chicken" skin and we are not going to bathe one kid without the other.

We do it every other night unless something comes up and we go 2 nights without OR if they NEED it due to outdoor or sticky play.

Our kids are stll under 4 years and this will change as they are older and dirtier, etc.

Nope, not every day. I can think of plenty of times they just skipped the bath at the end of the day. Yesterday is a good example. We stayed up way past bedtime and the kids fell to sleep in the car. I didn't even take the little bugs out of the costumes. Shoes off and into bed.

Great question! I give both of my kids a bath every other day unless they are very dirty and a wipe off just won't cut it. My family has snarled at the idea but I do what I feel is best for my kids and don't think twice. Besides at the age of 3 and a 1 year old they aren't getting that dirty, and baby wipes are always on hand to clean private parts.

No, I never did. My kids' skin couldn't take it when they were little.

Bath time was part of our bedtime routine so we did it every day.
Now that our son is older, he showers every day if he's been to school or gotten dirty/sweaty.
Occasionally we'll have a rainy Sat where we don't go out and do anything, so if we've been in pajamas all day, he'll skip a shower that day.

This is a great question. I bathe my daughter everyday because of her hair. She's 18 months old and has thick hair and after a day of preschool, her hair gets crunchy! She's always liked to rub her hands through it even if they're full of yogurt, applesauce or cheese I know it's not good for her skin, but her hair gets so gross!

Not unless they are dirty from an activity and usually more during the summer because they are playing outside and get all sweaty and gross.

Every other day when they were young. Now they do what they want :)

On the days when it's hot or warm, I bathe them every day. My boys sweat profusely. Any little amount of activity and they are drenched in sweat....no joke. During the bitter cold months, every few days they bathe.

Nope, We do rinse the 4 yr. old off each morning because he still wets every night in his pull up. I don't want him to go to school smelling like old pee but there is not soap involved. He doesn't go in the tub with bubble bath every night though. Neither does the girl. She has waist length hair and it takes almost an hour to dry so no, she doesn't have time each night.

My daughter has skin issues, and when she was a baby, her pedi told me to stop bathing her every day. So we do every other day for her, and are not supposed to use soap on her. If she's exceptionally dirty and we want to use a product, we can use Aveeno lotion in the bath. I use either Aveeno Baby shampoo or dye-free shampoo on her hair because it does get on her skin while we're washing her hair.

We will probably start doing every other day for my son (he's also had some skin issues, but more minor) but not yet. He's still potty training, and when you poop in your pants every day, you get a bath every day. My daughter didn't have daily accidents like he does, so bathing every other day at that age was fine.

my daughter gets bathed basically every day m-f (school days) with me. on the weekends i let her get as dirty as she wants. then i would give her a quick rince in just water. then monday morning she is in the shower with me. my daughter is 4.

With my 10 year old it depends on what he was doing. During the school week he needs to shower everyday because he is starting to get stinky! On the weekend if we didn't go anywhere then I don't make him shower. With my 7 month old I do bathe him every day as part of his bedtime routine, but if we are out and about, or if it gets missed it's not big deal.

For me I have super sensitive skin and if I don't shower every day I break out and become very itchy. Moisturizing afterward is a must! But I don't wash my hair every day, maybe ever 2 or 3 days.

We do every other day. Sometimes we have had to do more often since we moved to TX from IL....on those super hot days when they are just sweating up a storm we might do an "unscheduled" bath, but there are some days when we just don't have time too. When you have school and errands and after school activities sometimes there's just not time. I'd rather they get that extra bit of sleep, and I never am sending them to school gross....they don't get as gross as adults, their skin is not as oily and they don't have the hormones we do that make us smell like that. In fact, bathing them too often can actually make their skin overproduce oil and such. If you are bathing that often I would try to use an extremely mild soap and shampoo. Most shampoos use sodium laurel sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate which is the same main ingredient as laundry detergent and can be very drying because it is designed to strip away oils. The more often you strip away the oils the faster the body tries to replenish them.

Nope. Many people will say yes but the reality is that very few young children get a bath every day - and that has nothing to do with poverty level. We try for every other day and sometimes we get there and sometimes we don't. Frankly I count wednesday night's swim lesson as a bath most weeks.