Ah, remembering this day last October reminds me that spring and summer are real seasons — seasons of dirt and mud and warm sunshine, days we spend outdoors from sun-up to sun-down. Days when a good hose-off at the end of the day will suffice before the boys collapse into bed, sun-kissed and exhausted. Which begs the question… how often do you bathe your kids?
Read more here, in a Washington Post article that went up yesterday. And have a lovely weekend.
I grew up in Bosnia, the culture is different there, most kids get a bath once or twice a week. It’s unusual to bathe your kid daily and most parents frown upon it saying that it is unnecessary and wastes water. I concur, in the winter I bathe my kids once or twice a week and in the summer more due to lots of outdoor play. Our skin is our biggest organ exposing it to chemicals daily messes with the chemistry of our body. I also just can’t bring myself to waste gallons upon gallons of water where people all over the world struggle to have clean drinking water daily.
As always, so well written Lauren!!!
Alma
Welllll when Rho broke his arm, he bathed 3 times in 6.5 weeks. Heh.
He absolutely loves to play in the bath water and has always really enjoyed pouring, so it’s a play space for him. He doesn’t really enjoy being outside, unless it’s in the pool or the river behind our house (sometimes). He has some sensory issues, so he wouldn’t be quick to jump in mud. So even though he isn’t a kid who gets really dirty, some days he takes a bath multiple times because he wants to play in the water. On the other hand, sometimes he goes a half a week or a whole week without bathing. It not part of any particular routine of ours, so he takes one when he wants to or when I declare that he smells. 😛
I hope this means you won’t stand a good distance away from me, but we really limit the number of (soapy) baths in our house. Our pediatrician recommended at the start baths only every 2-3 days, sometimes longer with just a gentle warm water wipe down. We still have the every other day rule. I’ve found that going longer than that means there’s a bit of an odor, and the youngest especially needs a little extra cleaning in hard to reach (ahem) places.
I take a bath almost daily, but just water, no soap. I wash my hair every 2-3 days, less in winter, more in summer. And we do practice good handwashing, but I refuse to have or use antibacterial wipes or gels. My oldest daughter has a cute anti bac gel holder on her backpack, but she doesn’t use it (too smelly), it’s just a trendy thing!
I’m really interested in the connection between being overly clean and the increases in allergies. I thought the Diane Rehm show on this subject this week was fascinating. http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-02-25/new-research-on-preventing-peanut-allergies
My oldest daughter has a life threatening tree nut allergy, and I’m curious and interested in the research advances into the causes of food allergies. We sort of fall on each side of some of the speculation as to causation – not overly clean, limited antibacterial use, breastfed + some formula, didn’t introduce known allergens until after a year old, no pets in the house, I ate copious amounts of tree nuts during pregnancy and after birth (because we are vegetarian household), no shoes in the house, old house in the city, etc, etc. My little one has no issues with allergies. She’s a thumb sucker, so I’m quite sure she’s got a super healthy microbiome going on in her body. (Forgive my elementary science speak here.)
And that picture above? Yeah, I’m going to go with bath on that one. 🙂
PS I found a coat! I’ll let you know what I think when it arrives in the mail.
I love showering so much. It’s thinking time. In steamy, humid places, indigenous cultures often involve bathing in their daily routines, sometimes multiple times a day – just not with soap! I use this rationale to justify my daily soak. I also did the no-shampoo thang for about 6 months in 2014 (probably a resolution, can’t remember). It was fine, but I ended up really enjoyed getting back to shampoo (although I’m not so emotionally attached to it anymore).
I do like to get the kids clean enough not to leave debris in their beds or mine. That is quickly becoming a pet peeve – grit in the sheets!
“wash your kid if he stinks or is visibly dirty” That’s our method! 🙂 We usually do a bath once – sometimes twice – per week and otherwise do a wipe down with a warm wet cloth if needed for grubbiness. For baths we just use a bar of Herbaria soap and don’t lotion her up unless she wants to have a little shea butter to rub on herself and her skin is so soft and smooth so I guess it’s working! 🙂 We’ll see when baby girl number 2…was just born Wednesday morning and I’m in no hurry to wash away her newness. 😉
Great article, Lauren! One of my friends shared it on FB. 🙂
In defense of hand sanitizer: I get eczema in the winter, especially on my fingertips. A dermatologist told me using hand sanitizer is less drying for your skin than washing your hands with soap & water.
Amy, interesting! I never knew that about hand sanitizer!
And Sara, congratulations on your new baby! Hope you are getting some rest!
Awesome, and YES. As a family with eczema, I fully agree- my youngest who is 4 can only have a bath once a week, tops in winter because of this. Sponge baths for areas which need extra cleaning, in between.
Also, if frequent baths are more necessary- we do them more frequently in summer (good way to thoroughly do a tick check!), soap isn’t necessary each time.
Great article, and yes we are in the less bathing camp too. I had the identical experience with W where I tried nightly baths as part of a bedtime ritual and he got eczema. We cut back to every other night which has evolved to every third or fourth nightish. I use that same schedule for myself (well for showering and washing my hair, I do often take baths more often). James showers everyday and teases me about being dirty often 😉
I really don’t worry too much about germs either… We wash our hands far less than most. Guess I am a little dirty!
With the older kid, I have a request that he showers every night, but it’s mostly to “wash your pits, man.” I don’t feel like getting soaped up is necessary for every bath, though. Just wash the extra stinky bits, you know? I only shampoo my hair about every 3 days, and the days in between I’ll do nothing or just rinse with water.
The little kid is pretty much full time nasty. She gets a bath when we remember.
My grandmother, born in 1916 (and still alive!), was raised in Boston and told me that her English mother gave her and her siblings a bath once a week, and that’s when they got their weekly clean outfit. They had to wear the same outfit for an entire week. Depression babies. They all were healthy people.
Oh trust me, when my boys are pre-teens and teens, there WILL be more bathing. They just don’t stink yet. But yes, when there are stinky bits, they need to be washed. I love that story about your grandma, Allison! Definitely puts things in perspective.