For all the mums Q about Bath time??

Alikay

I tend to do it every couple of nights for my foster children - eczema and dry skin being the reasons against nightly rather than cost. I hose down the nether regions of the overnight nappy wearers with a warm shower in the morning too, and just a face and hands wash on the no-bath nights.

Obviously they also get a bath if they're mucky from playing or after swimming!

ciderwithrosie_2

I bathed my 3 everyday from when they first came home from hospital. Having a bath was part of their bedtime routine but I do admit I have a bit of OCD about cleanliness. I thought if they'd had a bath everyday, they'd just regard it as the norm and wouldn't try and get out of washing as they got a bit older, last thing I wanted was a load of sweaty, greasy, grungy teenagers - thankfully it worked a treat and they're all very hygenic and fragrant.

mummyroysof3

mine have one twice a week unless its needed more often

rachbc

once a eek- my d has bad eczema and and this is the advice - she is obviously washed everyday though. Our water bill for 4 is 23 p/m- hubby has a big deep bath everynight though

Nicki

None of mine have skin problems, so have always had a bath every night as part of the bedtime routine, though DS1 who is nearly 12 now (gulp) now prefers a shower instead at bedtime. But I have never put mine in "big deep baths" and often share the water between the other two unless the first in was particularly dirty . I would never put a baby or toddler in a deep bath, because they slip and slide all the time especially when playing, and it is much better for my blood pressure if they just go down in an inch or two of water, rather than completely submerge!

Lotus-eater

I've often thought every night is a bit of overkill, but as long as it's not hurting the kids, no problem with it.

We do ours once or twice a week, no hard and fast rules, they love it, so we get begged alot.

Not sure how much it costs to fill a bath, different areas, different rules. But a quick search on google would have me guestimating at 20p ish.

karren

the hv told us not tobath everyday as it strips away the normal oils we need on skin, so i bath them twice a week or more if grubby, they wash in morning and then all set for the day x

LMCD

three kids - bathed everyday - never had dry skin yet. never heard of this codswaddle.

skylight

I have 5 kids - one is a teen so showers every few days, the littleies (3-10yo) have a bath once a week (2 baths - the younger 2 share and then older 2 share a fresh bath). Then they all shower mid-week too - the littlies come in with me (huge shower!) and the elder 2 shower on the own. Washing machine is on daily, at least twice. At least the 3 loos all have very short flushes on them!! And me, I shower of course!!

They would obviously bath or shower again if they have been doing anything really dirty.

On a meter and we use around £30pm. Which is a little less than the rateable value for the house. I have never bathed the kids daily, but this has had more to do with not having time to do it every night (for different reasons over the years), there have never been any adverse effects on the kids; with the exception that if they skip the mid week shower their hair looks yukky and its obvious its not been washed!

Lunar_Eclipse

At 1 and 3, my girls would have had a bath every day, as part of their daily (bedtime) routine. There's 17 months between them, so they would have shared the bath, enjoying it hugely. Some days I couldn't wait for bathtime, it changed the pace of the evening and broke up the day. Occasionally they would have had a bath during the day at that age, if they wanted to play with specific toys in the water.

Nowadays, due only to time restraints (they still love baths!) it's typically 1-3 times a week depending on how busy we are, when a hair wash is desperately due, with the eldest (11) preferring showers as she tends to be in and out much quicker. We still have the same tub of bath toys that the 10 year old uses. We still share water, but don't bathe together due to space, I'm sure the girls have had a bath together in the past year though.

They both have a wash in the morning. If they didn't shower/bathe the previous evening, they have a warm sink so they can wash their under arms as well as their face & neck. They both play sport most or every day at school, so this is to encourage them to wash away any sweat. It also helps them feel more awake and fresher in the mornings, not that the 10 years old has any appreciation of that fact.

I think they are many benefits to having a bath. Sensitive skin aside, I don't think they do you much harm (I know my youngest doesn't clean all her body every time) but can be a relaxing and enjoyable experience. I also know that for some reason, I always sleep much better after a late evening soak.

Also, in answer to the financial bit of your question: yes, you will save money by reducing your water usage. I don't know by how much, but in line with 'every little helps', you could try switching to every 2-3 days for a period (month/quarter) and seeing how it affects your water bills and daily routine. Also, you could consider reducing the amount of water you put in the bath. Maybe it wouldn't make much difference to cut this by a third to a half, depending on current depth of bath.