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38 Comments

Mum shares the question after having an argument with her husband about how often the kids should have a bath.

She explained that her hubby wants their kids (1, 5 & 7 yr) to bath/shower everyday and she just don’t think it’s necessary.

I tend to agree with her, especially for the younger two children. It is not really recommended for kids to bath daily at a young age as it is not good for their skin.

Mums join the debate.

Her question certainly sparked a huge online debate with many mums both for and against.

Many parents responded that it is a must DAILY! Sometimes even twice a day. While others argued it was not necessary.

“I think it depends on your child. My girls aren’t super dirty and also because of their eczema, it is better that I don’t bathe them every day. But if my girls get dirty then def into the bath they go.”

“My 3 and 5 probably every 2 days unless they need it my 13 yo boy is a stinky teenager so everyday for him.”

“Doctor told us not to wash kids everyday, was causing skin rashes. He said once a week, well not sure about that, perhaps he didn’t have kids!!!”

“Didn’t shower my kids daily as learnt in nursing not good for your natural skin oils etc. As adults my children are continually complimented on there beautiful skin and as adults yes they daily shower.”

“Winter every other day summer everyday if dirty.”

“At 4, daily. As a newborn, once a week.”

“Your skin has it’s own microbiome and it is not actually healthy for you to shower every day. However that being said I find it difficult to go to bed not feeling very clean, however in winter, particularly if I’m not going into public, I can miss a shower say every second day. As far as my children go, during term my school age child showers daily but my 2 year old it depends on what activities they got up to during the day.”

What do you do?

Join the debate below.

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  • My kids were bathed daily.

    Reply

  • Both my youngest suffer from some skin issues from washing. So i only give them baths every 2-3 days. Usually depending on how dirty, and tired they are. 10months and 2yr old.

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  • It’s entirely up to the parent.. when my daughter was a newborn I’d bath her every second day but give her a quick sponge down in between days, however when she started crawling and walking and eating I started bathing her daily.

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  • Generally, every second day! But it depends on our schedule. It’s great for routine but it’s just not necessary for it to be daily pre-puberty!

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  • Daily they get so dirty, particularly at those ages.

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  • I know that it’s not necessary to do it everyday though some days it’s ok to just not always….

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  • From memory, I think we just used to do it each day. It was less about cleanliness and more about a routine of winding down, relaxing etc. before getting ready for bed.

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  • Each child and family are different. If we have been out and about and go daycare they have a bath they like to relax in bath. If we are just at home for the day I tend not to worry. 4 yr old and 2 yr old.

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  • We don’t have a set bathing schedule but if we are home for the day, they don’t shower if we go out to play group, sport etc.. they definitely have a bath that day (3 year old and 1 year old)

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  • I think it would be different for each kid

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  • When younger my son had extremely bad eczema and we were sent off to a specialist. I’ll never forget two things he said. One that we put far too many layers of clothes on our children especially our babies when we then cover them with layers of blankets.Two he also said we shower/bathe our children far too often . He said all it does is makes us as parents feel better and dry out and cause problems for the childs skin. He was a brlliant man . One other thing he did say we have a tendency to have the water too warm . Interesting.


    • Yes, washing your body too often can cause huge skin problems, especially when you have a dry skin (speaking from experience).

    Reply

  • I think it depends on the age and how dirty they are. But more importantly stop using harsh chemicals and use natural products, and put a filter on your taps if you can.

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  • my kids have a bath or shower every day, they don’t always use a soap/bodywash or shampoo but they still jump in there and knock the dust off

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  • My boys always had a bath every day when they were young. Now that they are adults they shower every day because they like to feel fresh.

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  • I have a teenager who does not shower Any advice please would be appreciated


    • I have a teenager who will not shower unless I tell him too, I don’t get it either.



      • Although when he was little I could not get him out of the bath even after the water was really cold, can’t figure it out why they change so much.

    Reply

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