How often should I bath bubby? [Archive] - Bub Hub Pregnancy & Parenting Forum

Kristy&Alex

12-08-2005, 10:27

Hello everyone.

I asked my midwife & she said its ok to bath bubs every cpl of days. I give him a sponge bath nearly everyday (just wiping over face, hands, bottom etc wih warm water & a little QV bath oil) but we only have a bath on a stand & as my boy is quite boiterous i find it impossible to bath him everyday. Also i can't do it alone, i have to get my partner to hold him while i wash him properly, because he just kicks around too much. He loves his bath time but i just find it way too hard to do it everyday.
Any suggestions? or tips?
Thanks

Harmony83

12-08-2005, 10:33

I know exactly what you mean my little one is nearly 5 mths and bath time is impossible, water splashing everywhere and me finding it impossible to hold onto him!!
We bath Brayden everynight as part of his nighttime routine. We found a bath at Big W recently where it has a built in baby seat and toddler seat, we use it in the kitchen (with a towel on the floor) it is just soooo much easier! Have you thought of buying an infant seat?

drewid

12-08-2005, 10:37

Hi there

Its not absolutely essential to wash them every day, like your midwife said. As long as the essential bits are clean - bum, face, hands etc then all is cool.

However, we bath Andrew every night and have done since he was a few weeks old. It really helped to get him into a solid routine every night, plus he LOVED kicking and splashing, so bath time is a fun time for him.

The best tip i can pass on is to NOT hold them in the bath. We put Andrew in the big bath on his back in a few inches of water - so it doesn't cover his face. He loves to splash around in this position, waving and flapping his arms and legs and laughing up a storm. All the splashing around gets water (and bath oil) ALL over him and gets him super clean super quick. After he has worn himself out and has calmed down a bit, we give him a going over with the washcloth and thats it.

Its SOO much easier to bath them this way than to hold them in the bath and wash with one hand, or to have your partner hold/vice versa.

Another time it to have a shower with bub - some bubs really love that sensation, and its pretty easy to get them cleaned under running water.

Hope this helps a bit!

jembelina

12-08-2005, 11:10

We also moved onto the big bath early on... it is so, so much easier! I lay a towelling nappy in the bottom of the bath so it is more comfy and less slippery.Then we soap him up, rinse of and let him splash around till the bath gets too cool (he would stay in till he was blue if we let him!). We tried showering with bub a few times and while it was a nice experience we found it to be impractical for us - and you still need two people to get the job done! Anyway, that's just us - go with what works for your family and i wouldn't worry at all about not bathing everyday regardless of how you do it - its not like they are playing in the mud - yet!! :D

Chickadee

12-08-2005, 11:19

I only bathed Chloe twice a week when she was an infant, unless she happened to have a big vomit on herself. She tended to get dry skin on her legs if I bathed her too often. As long as you pay extra attention to the two dirty ends, sponge baths are fine.

I used a baby bath on top of the kitchen table. This was the warmest room and put her at the right height for me to be comfortable. Lots of room on the table to put a changing mat beside the bath so I could lift her straight out. I've also used the baby bath wedged securely into the laundry tub - easy filling & emptying, secure and stable, and I could lift straight out to a changing mat on top of the washing machine.

channy

12-08-2005, 11:22

I too like to give him a bath every day as a night time routine. I purchased a bath seat from kmart for the big bath, they say from 5 mths and though he is only 4 mths old it works well. He slides a little but it means I dont have his weight on my arm and I just have to sit hime up a couple of times. The thing I hate about being on my own is having to turn away with him on the change table (he fell off a few nights ago) so I am going to buy one of those padded change mats and just sit that on the floor.

mummyb

12-08-2005, 12:55

hi
im going to let you in on a little secreat that would make my family so upset ,
in the past 12months i think my ds has had maybe 5 baths maybe 7 including the hospital ones.i wash him with a face washer and warm water and he comes into the shower with me almost every day he loves it .
i find it easier than bathing and due to my husbands work hours i cant do anything that takes more than one person.
when he couldnt sit up i use to put a towel down and let him lay ther with the shower off while i quickly wrapped myself in a towel then snuggled him up .
now he sits in the shower and plays with the puddles of water till i pick him up.
its also safer for me to shower as i dont have to leave a bath fulll of water for my other ds to come and investigate.
isnt it funny how we relate bathing to good parenting :D
have fun enjoy your bub .
and dont tell anyone i dont "bath " my child :D

Nickster

12-08-2005, 13:55

I like to bath Libby each night as a part of her bedtime routine. She then knows that it's not too long before we "go rockabye baby"! I use a big non-slip mat in the bath so she can crawl around and play and suck on her face washer, and that lovely J&J bathtime wash that smells so heavenly.
When they are little, I think it's fine just to top and tail them on a regular basis - after all, they aren't exactly doing much to get really dirty!
When Libby was a newborn, we gave up using the baby bath as it was too heavy to fill and then empty, and started using the laundry tub (well scrubbed!). This way we could give her a lovely deep relaxing bath at night after a massage - there was virtually no way she could fight sleep after that! (very sneaky of me). As the washing machine was right next to it, I would just put a couple of fluffy towels on it and wrapped her up after the bath then took her to finish dressing her on the change table. Because she was born in summer and the humidity up here is pretty high, I would usually give her a bath morning and night to freshen up, but that's a personal choice that may not work for everybody. She used to flinch when I took her in the shower when she was really little, but it's different now, she loves it!
My advice is just to do what suits you, as they will soon be big enough to bath themselves and dirty enough to need it every night! :D

Rainbowbrite

12-08-2005, 20:57

MJ is now 12 weeks and i've bathed her every night since about 6 weeks. Before that it was every 2nd night.

As others have said, its part of her night time ritual. before her 6th feed of the day so around 9.30pm (I B/feed every 3 hours), I give her a bath - or shower - feed and then straight into bed. She then sleeps (usually) :p till 6am. Any later and I wake her.

We gave up on the baby bath after 2 weeks, its too much mucking around. She loves either the bath or shower and especially loves it when I have a bath with her :D

madvoice

12-08-2005, 21:20

I bathed Raleigh every 2nd or 3rd day in a plastic baby bath when she was under a month old. I'd often get Matthew to help me (DH) and he was often working in the evenings (Police). Now (she's 4 mo) I either take her into the shower with me or put her in the shower recess in our main bathroom (has a plug and rather high sides) and have about 6-7cm of water in it so she can splash around. I've found it great for Raleigh as she uses up so much energy that its easier to put her to sleep. Its been great for her routine too :)

Merlion

13-08-2005, 01:33

I used to top and tail jessica everyday and bathe her every second day for the first 4 months of her life. Now that she's on solids I bathe her in the afternoon (as she gets really cranky) and put her down for her avro nap which last about 2 hours and then just before she goes to bed I give her sponge bath. I have one of those baby bath/change table combinations. It's not ones that the baby bath is under the change table meaning you have to lift the baby out of the baby bath and put dow the change table. The one I have is you can slide out the baby bath (i have one of those baby seats that fit nicely in it) and bathe her and then just lift her out and put on the change table. I have an old nappy bucket (I have a diaper nanny which I can't live without anymore) which i use to empty the bath. I just unhook the hose and drain into to it once the bucket is 3/4 full i rehook the hose and empty it into the laundry trough and keep doing so till its empty. It takes about 3 buckets to empty it If anyone wants to see pics just PM and I will email you a few photos.

Now that she's getting older (8 months) she's starting to get too big for it so i have to think of something else as we don't have a bathtub in the house but have a laundry trough.

BugBias

13-08-2005, 09:39

I bath my son (5.3 months) most nights however so I can manage to do this cause he moves around so much I get in the big bath with him (and my DD). It's really quite nice, they spash each other. Sometime my DH is around to help but I can do it by my self quite easily.
I lay towels on the floor and put him in them and wrap him up while I'm still in the bath. I get out and dry my self and get him changed, then I get my DD out and dry and change her.

Like I said it gets done most days but not all...

Kim

miss_moe

13-08-2005, 15:06

I aim to bath DD daily (nightly rather as a part of our wind down). But there has been times when it will be a day or two between baths, so just clean the necessary bits. Midwives have tended to say a couple of times a week is sufficient if you top and tail daily.

Also we have never had a baby bath so she has either been showered, with a couple of inches in the bottom of the bath, or in a big deep bath with me(and DP!).

all the best,
renee.

mumof2girls

13-08-2005, 17:10

I have always bathed my girls daily from the time I bought them home, they spit up dribble etc so I like them to be clean. I have always put them in the big bath from day one and they can splash as much as they like, when they can hold their head up you can lay them in the bath with enough water to splash in but not so their face is in the water and wash them all over and then roll them over and they loved it, I still have trouble now getting them out of the bath :) I would also bath them with me.

Ondine

16-08-2005, 14:12

My daughter has nearly always had a bath everyday! It is part of her morning routine and night time routine (only because she loves the bath). Quite often my partner will do the night time bath whilst I cook dinner.

I bought a baby bath aid from my local baby store. It is a reclined bath seat, so my daughter has always been able to use it. I bought this as I have always had a sore back and leaning over the bath holding Kelsie would make my back ache. She loves sitting in it and splashing and kicking. It is not restrictive in any way. It has an udjustable slide, so I can make Kelsie sit up higher or lie down in the water further. I have found it really handy as I have both hands free!

Ondine

Aprilsmum

16-08-2005, 17:19

Hi,

I bath April twice a day. Actually, I give her her morning bath and her Dad baths her at night. We bath her in the "big" bath, just because she is so long, she grew out of the baby bath long ago. I put her in a bath seat. We have one which is just a wire frame, which has a removable towling cover. I'm not sure where you buy them from as a friend gave us this one. But it looks much more comfortable to me that the plastic ones I've seen in the shops. This way I can put her onto it and I have my hands free to read her bath books to her and play with her.

B :)

Angelmist♥

20-08-2005, 15:47

I am so loving this site, things you think only you do is normal woohoo!!Sorry had to get that out! I had winter babies so would only top and tail them every day and bath when i thought they needed it.Although a friend suggested the shower and I did that majority of time.The pump pack j&j baby bath was essential!Either that or had a big bath with either me or daddy.I really have to recommend the big bath it's such a wonderful bonding experience.

flower

22-08-2005, 11:09

I know what you mean....I actually dread bathing mine as he goes ape in there and its like bathing with a bucket of eels. SO: when I'm on my own...I sometimes hold him under the shower with me...soap his bits etc..not as much fun but it does the job. I've found if I heap a hole lots of toys in there with us in the bath it keeps him from spinning like a top trying to grab bottles, and basically whatever else is within reach. The toys are foam fish things,colourful and float. Rubber duckies too are good...he sucks the water out of them....yummo!!!
I bought a foam waterproof mat for the shower floor but I mainly use it to place him on and off it if I need to as once I walked out of the bathroom with bub having not dried me properly and fell like a great sack of potatoes......great legs I have!!! (Yellow, purple)....so......your not alone!!!

Mantion

28-12-2005, 14:33

I live with an old friend in a large house. They recently got married and had their first child. For some reason they read somewhere that you shouldn't/don't have to wash your infant every day. Which I was ok with at first. Never the less she goes 4-5 days if not more with out bathing. I used to make subtle hints or ask if she was getting a bath tonight, because I don't want to offend them.. it is their child and not mine after all.. It isn't my place to give them parenting advice. Never the less I am getting more and more annoyed by this as time goes on. What should I do. I watch her today and she was very fussy all day and has a red rash all over and is constantly fidgeting and rubbing her face more so then normal. It has been 5 nights sence her last bath and mom just came down annoyed that she can't get to sleep. I was polite but direct that she should just give her a bath the warm water will sooth her and she will go fast to sleep. To this I got no reply and only ignored. I normally don't comment on anything they do with the baby but I expected some sort of reply. Oh another thing they have in her their head is "baby shampoo" can have perfums that irritate the baby and so they use OLIVE OIL.. I have to find out who is telling them this stuff because every once in a while with out bathing her they put olive oil inher hair because of her dry and flaking scalp. AHHHHHHH I am at my wits end. They bathed her right before bringing her to the doctor last so I am sure he didn't say anything about bath time... I would offer to bath her myself but It isn't that they don't have time it is that they think it is not good for her.. Well hopefully you all have some advice for me

thanks
-mike

the_queen

28-12-2005, 14:44

Olive Oil works wonders for cradle cap, it is an "old wives tale" but not all OWT's are crap. Olive Oil or Baby Oil massaged into a dry scalp helps the flakes to "stiffen" sort of, and then the next morning they'll kind of just come off when you rub the head softly.

reAllytee

28-12-2005, 15:55

My bubs used to get bathed every 3rd or 4th nite for the first 4mths & now he gets bathed every second nite he is almost 10mths. I found i had to be careful due to him getting a nappy rash at one stage & found too much bathing irritated it so kept it to every second nite. He seems to know which is bath nite now so expects whereas when he was little he hated baths so i never used them as a soothing aid as he would scream so it defeated the purpose.
We are still using the plastic baby bath luckily we were given a large one as our big bathroom still isnt finished auuugh !!! This sits on our table near the kitchen which is a great height & it has the plug & hose which i just use a bucket to empty it. So even though its hard with him making a mess & being way too big for it he quite happily sits in it & plays sucking on the face washer etc plus im lucky that he likes the water going over his face as i cant lay him back without a fight with his size.
Obviously with the heat babies get sweaty but they arent like us where we need to wash daily especially as they have sensitive skin so just find whats best for you & go with it. It sounds like your quite happy with what your doing so stick with it i say !
Mantion - As the_queen said olive oil is great for cradle cap that all being said though maybe they are over doing it im not sure it really is hard to say same with the bathing there may be a reason why they dont do it often & again cradle cap can be a reason for this also as it can dry bubs skin out. There isnt too much you can say being an outsider in this situation but if it does seem like neglect then maybe you will have to say something.

whatwasithinking

28-12-2005, 17:16

I bathed the kids every few days as well - still do.

In regards to having to get partner to help hold bubs I would suggest buying a bath aide (terrytowling not the plastic one) then either you or partner can bath bubs by yourself just incase one person is not available or busy.
Here is the thread I started about this aide and peoples replies (I wrote this as a mum and from experience not as a seller - I don't sell these things)
http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=5494

Good luck.

29-12-2005, 11:47

I have never bathed my kids more than a couple of times a week except for when I was living with mil and she insisted that they were bathed every night after tea!

If my kids are a bit grubby, then a wash down with a washcloth is sufficient until it is bath day. I make a nice deep bath with a small squirt of bubble bath (used to use J&J, now use radox) and besides using shampoo on their hair now, I have avoided any soaps (unless there was a stain that really needed removing!). I just use a facecloth and water and it seems to get rid of most dirt. My kids have beautiful skin, no problems with pimples, blackheads, rashes etc and never look dirty!

I have spoken to my doctor about my bathing philosophies and he has told me that he wished there were more parents that didn't "over bathe" their children - there would be less skin problems. He checked my kids out and concluded that they were none the worse for not having constant baths and were far from "dirty" kids.

My sister used to give her kids a bath daily but has slowly come around to my way of thinking ... last time I spoke to her, she was sending them off to the shower after 5 days without one! Of course, they have a washdown every night, so were not exactly grubby.

As for bathing a small baby ... use the kitchen sink! It is at the right height, small enough so that bub can't slip far, you can have everything you need within reach and you don't have to pick up a heavy bath to empty it! Progress to the laundry tub then onto the big bath. By the time you reach the big bath, bub will be sitting confidently and it will be less of a strain on your back! Showers are also really great for bub ... it has a massage included in the cleaning! They are usually really relaxed afterwards.

The bath aid that Donna was speaking of (terry towelling) is great if you are using a baby bath or big bath ... it is like giving you an extra pair of hands.

SweetSerenity

29-12-2005, 15:57

I bath my son every night, its part of his nightly routine.

I found the bath on the stand too hard aswell when he was younger and almost impossible to hold him! So i bought a rubber slip proof mat for the big bath and just filled the bath up with enough water for him and layed him in it and washed him that way! That way he cant move anywhere and he can kick all he likes!
You can support their head if you need to, but as he got holder i no longer needed to and he'd just lay there!

Now though he does move alot in the bath as he's over 1 but it's still really easy!
I lay him down as soon as i put him in, quickly wash his hair and body then i sit him back up and let him play!

Good luck!

mummycloud

29-12-2005, 21:38

When Aiden was born, he still had vernix all over him.
I didn't let the midwives wipe it off, and he didn't get his first bath till he was 4 days old and it had well and truely soaked into his skin. He has the most beautiful skin because of that. Everyone comments on it :D
The midwives, since seeing what I did, have stopped giving newborns a bath for the first couple of days at the hospital where I had him.

I now, still only bath him every 4 days, unless someone puts stinky cigarette stench on him from not wahsing thier hands before touching him.
He still has lovely skin. Being breastfeed, even when he spits up all the time, the milky smell he has at day 4 is so sweet and yummy :D I HAVE to wash him by them though and soak his little bottom after all those poops he does ;)