Bathing Baby

FreddieFrugal

Hello all, we've got a 4 and a bit week old baby.

We've given him one bath in the first week but haven't done since.
I'd read online about the advice on giving baby baths and know that it's best to wash baby with only water in the first week.

However water only baths are only particularly recommended if you have soft water.

We have very hard water. So because of that we've just stuck with topping and tailing regularly (using Aldi Newborn wipes - meant to be as mild as water and cotton wool) that's keeping him clean at the moment.

I would quite like to give him a bath but not if its going to dry his skin out.

I'd read somewhere that after the first month or so - it should be alright to bathe in hard water.

However all this information is patchy there's not much actual advice online. I'm being careful with this as both his mum and I suffer from dry skin conditions occasionally.

Babycentre suggested adding a mild baby cleanser or bath emollient to the water on one page - then suggested not bathing at all on the other.


Has anyone used any baby bath products that are meant to help protect the skin? I was looking at Aldi Mamia baby bath - that's good good reviews.

However is giving him a bath with that better for his skin than a bath in just hard water?

Been googling for ages and just getting the same pages over and over which don't give much info at all.

WantToBeSE

Honestly, dont worry about the hardness of the water too much. I would be bathing almost every day at this age, but at least 3 times a week. Maybe just use a tiny drop of johnsons (or similar) baby bath and if you are worried about drying out his/her skin, then massage with baby oil after.

meer53

You're overthinking it. Bath the baby whenever you wish in whatever you have to hand as long as it's a recommended baby bath product. Stop worrying about hard/soft water your baby will be fine. Mine were both bathed daily from birth using Johnsons stuff, having a bath was part of my kids routine, tea, bath, book then bed.

One thing i would never do is clean a baby regularly with baby wipes. Water is much better.

Andrew_Ryan_89

My nephew had very bad eczema from the early stages. I suggested to my sister that she don't bathe him every day as babies, and children for that matter, don't sweat as much as we do, travel in dirty locations and in general can get away without bathing the child every day. What was happening was that bathing the child everyday, sometimes more than once, was stripping away his natural oils.

They resulted to topping and tailing and at first, just bathing once to twice a week and when doing so, rubbing in an oilily moisturiser. Skin healed up within a couple of months.

meer53

Andrew_Ryan_89 wrote: »

My nephew had very bad eczema from the early stages. I suggested to my sister that she don't bathe him every day as babies, and children for that matter, don't sweat as much as we do, travel in dirty locations and in general can get away without bathing the child every day. What was happening was that bathing the child everyday, sometimes more than once, was stripping away his natural oils.

They resulted to topping and tailing and at first, just bathing once to twice a week and when doing so, rubbing in an oilily moisturiser. Skin healed up within a couple of months.

If eczema is diagnosed you can still bathe daily, my daughter had it as a baby, there are prescribed emollients you can add to the bath water, makes them hard to hold though !

Tigsteroonie

When did hard/soft water become a consideration in bathing newborns? Is this another "warning" that new Mums are expected to remember?

Rachylou1981

Don't have any advice Freddie except maybe ask the Health Visitor? But I just wanted to pass on my congrats on the birth of your son

iammumtoone

We have really hard water as a new Mum I also read all the advise about not bathing for first week and then not necessary every day, I never read anything about the water type is this a new thing?

My son (apart from the first one in the hospital) wasn't bathed for the first week, then bathed every other day and topped and tailed in between.

I wouldn't overthink it and just give baby a bath its an enjoyable experience.

Have fun and congratulations.

Kaye1

My eldest had eczema from an early age and we were told to bath once a week if they weren't actually dirty.

Obviously, if we had poo meltdowns or vomit disasters, they would have a bath. Unless they have actual eczema/skin problems, you really are worrying about nothing. How have you washed their hair if you are only using wipes? Just add a drop of baby wash- I actually wouldn't recommend Johnsons as it seemed too harsh for my LO's skin- we used 'halo n' horns' and it was fine.

My LO also enjoyed showers with us- we would just direct the shower head so that is only washed her body and just 'rinsed' her essentially. They was useful for giving the bum area a nice clean up. She enjoyed getting wet while feeling safe in our arms.

Enjoy it!

Kynthia

I've not previously heard anything about hard water being an issue. I just topped and tailed mostly for the the first couple of months, didn't bathe for the first week (due to research on protective oils and good bacteria being washed away), then just once or twice a week mostly with just water. Too frequent bathing can dry skin out even if you add an emollient to the water, but if it works for your child and is an enjoyable part of your routine then there's no need to restrict it.

After a few weeks I think I bought a super gentle newborn shampoo (paraben and sodium lauryl sulphate free) and a natural oil (natural and sensitive, not Johnson's baby oil which isn't good for newborns or absorbable) to moisturise the skin which I'd combine with a baby massage. I think there's new natural coconut oil based products around and brands like Burts Bees and smaller niche brands.

theoretica

The really important bit of bathing babies is watching out for crocodiles...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7PYCc7cZis