How frequently do you bathe/shower your kids? (and use products?)

[Roseii]

When they were titches mine would have a bath every night but now they're bigger it's more like 2-3 times a week, is that really gross?!
They get topped and tailed every day and hands washed frequently, but hair washing and full body wash only 2-3 times a week...
The shampoo and wash I buy is quite expensive so I try and use it sparingly and also I mostly do evenings on my own, and the last time I bathed them both on my own dd1 slipped and bit through her Tongue (cue blood all over the bath )
So what do you do?

X

[skatty]

Leorah usually comes home from preschool flithy so has to at least get hosed down but in the winter when she wears a snowsuit over her clothes she bathes less frequently, can definitely go a good few days 

[*Liz*]

I bath almost everyday. I only skip if they are too tired and grumpy - mainly because they play nicely in the bath so it is just something to do yk?!

No products at all most of the time. Just water. Organic bubble bath from time to time but I often run out and take 6 weeks to buy more.

I wash hair every 10 days or so for J - slightly more often for M as she gets mucky. Basically I was it for being dirty rather than just because I should.

I think I might be gross as well  , but hair washing is hard work round here!!

[*Amy*]

Bath every night same reasons as Liz! I use a eucalyptus bubble bath if they have a cold or seba med. Hair washing again once a week or depending on how much food is in it or how sweaty they are/were. Actually during the school year I wash ds's hair the night before school!

[<Catherine>]

DS has a bath every other night generally (hair washed each time, but only because it's no fuss with him). He often comes home filthy from childcare so will be bathed then too if needed, and if he's clean when he's 'due' a bath and is at childcare the next day then I will often leave it til the following day as I know he is likely to need one then.

Bit like Liz really, he doesn't usually *need* to be bathed so often but he enjoys it. I use a baby bath in the water and a baby wash.

[Shiv52]

Probably 3-4 times a week here Charli.   Although with all this rubbish weather I've been bathing them after breakfast some days as something to do!  They love it  and it takes ages!  We did have to get a non slip mat for M and have to constantly tell her to stay on it! 

M is really mucky by the end of the day and her hair ends up really sweaty so she can't really go more than 3 days without her hair needing washed. 

[KatieR]

Every night here they're all smoothered in suncream and get filthy. Ds1 gets really sweaty hair so his is washed every time the others when they need it. We use halos and horns products.ds1 has showers ds2 mostly had a bathbut will have a shower if its getting late. ddis in cloth nappies so gets a bath everynight even in winter

[Lolly]

Mine are in the bath together twice a day!

They have a pre-bed bath every night and DS has his hair washed at night. We always use an emolient in the water (aveeno) and then DD has her eczema routine done. They have a very quick bath in the morning - literally in and out just becuase I find it easier to deal with our morning routine this way. DD gets her hair washed in the morning (every other day) because she looks like she has been dragged through a hedge backwards and has to have *something* done to it. The alternate days is just a comb through with water.

We started the twice a day when DS was small and his eczema was bad, we found that the creams were absorbed better when his skin was damp and it just became what we do in the mornings. I find it easier to stick them in the bath than to top and tail them, DD is still in nappies so needs a decent wash in the mornings and DS wets the bed now and again so needs a decent wash on those days too.

It sounds a lot, but they are water babies who love their bath, have no objection to hair washing (I can just pour water over their heads) and because we have been doing it for so long it's second nature now. The do have a shower sometimes in the morning but I find showers harder work than a quick bath!

We may need a re-think when they get older and don't want to share a bath anymore!

Laura

[Tweakster]

2x per week, unless he's particularly dirty.  Privates get wiped down more often; hands, nails and face every day at bedtime.  It's just a lot of work with a Spirited kid and our time is so limited on weekdays as it is.

[rach321]

Both of mine get thrown in the bath most nights, but the older one is starting to complain that his younger brother splashes too much ! Bathtime is fun so its no bother but hair washing only gets done on the bigger monkey once a week because its an ordeal - younger one doesn't care!

[~Emma~]

Every 2nd day and sometimes we skip a day if they are really tired or whatever so does sometimes stretch to 3 days. They share a bath that contains DD special bath stufff in it for her skin and they get a hair wash at each bath but only because its no trouble. We use Tesco's baby shampoo.

 Each time I give them a bath it leaves a stinking ring around the edge of the bath so perhaps should be every day but its a hassle! Hands and face get washed in the morning, before lunch and before bed if no bath.

 I can remember when i was a kid only having a bath on a Sunday night! Old school. 

[<Catherine>]

I can remember when i was a kid only having a bath on a Sunday night!

I can remember sitting in a metal trough in front of the Aga in my Nan's farmhouse  .....Not because I'm *that* old, you understand  , but because the house was!  This was after spending day-in day-out making mud pies and picking potatoes, so a bath was much needed! ....ah, the good old days! 

[babybarr]

2-3 times a week a shower (we have no bath - but he uses it like a bath ) and then just a wash every day.  Usually he's not too grubby cos we can't do grubby things.  It used to be more frequent but TBH like Wendy has said weekdays are pushed enough already.  If it's hot and he's been sweaty or he's been at preschool I'll try and make more of an effort!  The problem is getting him out as he *loves* it so it always takes forever

[*Becky*]

In the summer h has a bath every day as he is just SO sandy/muddy etc but in the winter I do every other day. I do M every day atm to get her into a bedtime routine and help her differentiate between day/night.

H has sensitive skin so just has water, no products and I wash his hair every 7-10 days with just a baby shampoo.

With M I use weleda mosituriser after her bath as she had quite dry skin recently and it really helped.

Henry will not let M in his bath so I bath her first and then he goes in after with the same water but when she is a bit older I want to do them together x

[Mashi]

About the same as you Charli! 2-3 times a week. He had a bath every single night for about the first 24 months of his life and I got sick to death of it!  We started doing it every other night and his skin was so much nicer - despite the fact that we use SLS-free products on him and sometimes none at all, even just the water-only bath was drying his skin out (ironic isn't it that water dries your skin out !)  And so the past 6 months or so it is every 3 nights or so, unless there is a reason to do it sooner. 

He does get a good wash every morning and evening though (top and tail as you say!)

[MadisonC]

Every night before bottle.. we only skip a night if we are busy and get home too late.  We use baby shampoo and baby wash every time.  I find the bath settles him and tires him out.

[grace annes mommy]

we do a bath every night just as part of our routine.  But my DD is usually FILTHY by the end of a day.  As for hair washing, we're probably doing 2x a week at most.  Usually 1x.  She hates it lately and it's a real struggle.  Shame, bc her hair is gorgeous, but such a hassle, she's usually walking around with peanut butter globbed in knots.

[NZ_Mum]

We have showered DS since he was about 4mo (i think!) or once he could hold his head up properly.  Our bath is difficult to get to and made my back sore leaning over like that.  I just used to take him in with me on my chest and wash him that way usually only about once a week when he was little because it made him so tired.
 
Now that DS is older he loves playing in the bottom of the shower with his toys and dump truck which we put bubbles in for fun. He plays with the shower head (one of those detachable ones) and loves being able to direct the water flow to his hearts content. We shower each night before bed, but its never usually a full body soap down. Just face, hands, bum and teeth. I do his hair maybe once a week - or two! (unless he gets food in it or mud or something of course, but he doesnt mind it and knows to turn his face up to let the water run down the back rather than over his face)
I use sebamed baby wash and an organic shampoo. Otherwise just water.

Face and hands get washed during the day, and before meals if they get sticky/grubby.

[We Three]

  In the summer I give dd at least a quick bath every night...even if she doesn't sit down and I just stand her in there and wash her. I can't handle her going to bed with sunblock on her skin and pool water.     Hair washing is every third day unless we've been to the beach or are particularly dirty.

 Winter, every 3rd day at most. Bath with hair washing. 

[Katet]

I bath almost everyday. I only skip if they are too tired and grumpy - mainly because they play nicely in the bath so it is just something to do yk?!

No products at all most of the time. Just water. Organic bubble bath from time to time but I often run out and take 6 weeks to buy more.

I wash hair every 10 days or so for J - slightly more often for M as she gets mucky. Basically I was it for being dirty rather than just because I should.

I think I might be gross as well  , but hair washing is hard work round here!!

Liz if you are then I'll join you
The boys shower pretty much daily maybe about 13/14 days, although DS1's knees have a black tattoo on them despite that, comes from 365 days of wearing shorts (better dirty knees than wearing through the knees on long trousers I joke). In summer if they have been to the beach they will have a shower there, so won't tend to do one at home, if they muck about in the yard with the hose, will skip a shower then too.

Hair gets washed when DH thinks to do it... I apparently get shampoo in their eyes (what a shame ) but they also have a #2 buzz cut each so really not much hair to wash anyway. I'm guessing soap gets used as I get asked for more from time to time, but really I turn the shower on, one hops in, then out & the other hops in & last one turns the taps off... on the rare occasion they have a bath same story.

[Mum-of-Two]

2x per week, unless he's particularly dirty.  Privates get wiped down more often; hands, nails and face every day at bedtime.  It's just a lot of work with a Spirited kid and our time is so limited on weekdays as it is.

Same here, although DD needs more now (longer hair that gets into everything, no longer in diapers so its not the same sort of wipe if that makes sense).  I found she doesn't mind a quick shower in-between baths which is great and quick.

Oh, and we waited until past 2 years old before bringing in any products that were not free/clear/natural.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

We do a shower every night as part of the bedtime routine (used to be a bath, but I got sick of wasting all the water).  Rarely use any product on them, and what I do use is mild as you can get.  Hair washing only happens when absolutely necessary (so once every 2 weeks or more!) and their hair is beautiful and never smells.  I'm sort of OCD about showering myself, so I find it hard to not shower the kids.

[Roseii]

Thank you everyone
I Wish I could leave dd1's hair longer but it needs a good wash 2/3 times a week otherwise it gets so so tangled, fuzzy and bird nest like!! I've taken to bathing them together and washing the baby's hair but not dd1's, she just gets to have a good splash, then I tackle her hair in the shower when dh is here to help too!!
I do feel better about not properly bathing her every day though

[shivi]

here we do everyday in the summer, two mucky, sandy spiriteds here...

and in winter, again as snowsuits help, every 2nd day.

Oscar is and always was a very sweaty baby/kid so has always needed his hair done very regularly. Emma is not as sweaty but so far loves having her few curls washed ;-)

S x

[Kate~DHEA~]

Its everynight here, the boys have showers and the girls in the bath. We use Green Peoples  babies and kids range as they all are quite sensitive to products.

[Roseii]

Green people here too-I like it but it's pricey! X

[Kate~DHEA~]

I know but it lasts for ages.

[mum101]

Bath every second day.

In summer more often, as usually covered in sweat, sunscreen and dirt attached to the sunscreen 

I use a bath oil, with no colour or fragrance.

Washing hair is about every 2 weeks, seriously my kids have got great hair! 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Washing hair is about every 2 weeks, seriously my kids have got great hair!

Mine too, I am so jealous of it...mine gets smelly if I don't wash it frequently.  I've never heard of Green People, is it a UK brand?  I've been using Dr. Bronner's baby mild soap when I do need to soap them up. Plus I always follow up the shower/bath with a shea butter lotion I found that is great on their skin. 

[Roseii]

I think it might be uk Heidi...

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I think it might be uk Heidi...

Yup, just googled and they don't ship here or have a Canadian distributor...oh well!

[~Sara~]

We used to bathe DS every day when he was a baby, then it was became every other day...now it's 2-3 times a week: once on Wednesday AM (at grandma's house), once on Thursday AM before playtime at the gym, and once on Sunday AM before church.  He's not a dirty kid...seriously hates stuff to be on his hands for longer than it should be.  But he has dry skin and we just don't have the time to bathe him every day.  He's a shower kid and hates having to come out

[my3girlsjde]

It used to be every night when the girls were infants, but now twice per week. There's no way it gets done more often with the chaos it creates - and they love it too! Feet get washed daily in the summer because they go barefoot in sandals and get pretty nasty feet. If they had their way it would be twice per day - no way am I doing that.

[okinawamama]

nightly, not out of necessity, but out of routine. if we don't he asks about it continually during our wind down.

[Roseii]

Well what I have discovered is bathtime is too stimulating for DD1!! Yesterday she had no nap, was near enough asleep at tea time, I whisked her up for a bath as she has nursery today and had stinky feet Lo and behold I had a hyper kid awake til 9pm It works well as a wind-down for DD2 but not Miss Spirited!!
So I'll stick to morning-twice weekly showers

[shivi]

we do baths the minute we get in the door from kindy....at 5pm ish, then tea and winddown ;-)

[Roseii]

Yes I like that idea-only problem is my kids are the messiest eaters on the planet!! They'd need a bath afterwards too But I do like that idea even if they don't end up clean before bed, as evenings drag when we're waiting for dad to get home (always after 7pm) so it's something to do!! And always enjoyable as long as I'm not washing dd1's hair! xx

[shivi]

Emma's always been a precise, clean eater (FILs genes to thank for this, she eats JUST like him and has his little, tiny mouth as well so its partly to blame). Never had to teach her to keep her chin over the plate ;-)
Oscar eats like an animal and has a big gob that he refuses to do anything other than stuff as fast as he can with what he actually WANTS to eat - forget the rest - and he used to be very, very messy. But now he's 5 the mess is contained to face and chin, almost ;-)

[Shiv52]

Oscar eats like an animal and has a big gob

hee hee!  That made me laugh.  Haven't heard anyone use 'big gob' in a long time x

[shivi]

Yep. I was totally shocked to have a baby with a wee mouth....Both DH and I are on the larger side for gobs as well ;-)))
 
Sorry to go OT x