It's hard being a new mom (or even an experienced mom to a new baby) and sometimes we do things we know we shouldn't, despite what all the experts say. But this is a safe place to share your secrets (PM me)—we'll never tell.

This Week's Secret:

My son is 2 months old, and when we first brought him home, we were doing the sponge bath thing because of the cord. Then that fell off and we were left with a baby who hated bath time. HATED it. He would scream and cry and thrash and turn red in the face. It was horrendous. So we stopped. We wipe him with wipes and change him into clean clothing, but we bathe him maybe every two weeks, sometimes less. Our pediatrician knows it's rare, but we weren't honest about how rare it really is. -- Anonymous

I was guilty of the opposite problem when my son was little. I bathed him every day and he got eczema. So I was told to only bathe him once a week and just sponge him off in the meantime. Babies are little and easy to clean. They don't need a full bath to get clean.

That said, babies spit up. They soak in their own feces and urine. And they do get funky. Besides, if he hates baths and you never bathe him, how will he ever get used to bathing? For now, you can still practice the sponge baths, but I would say wipes aren't enough. He needs to be cleaned once in a while, too. Even twice a week would be better and get him used to it.

Experiment with different kinds of baths, temperatures, toys, and ways of bathing. You can get in with him and hold him or put him in a inflatable tub or put warm towels on his belly if he is cold. But bath time is an important time to experiment and learn and, yes, get clean. It's pretty important.

Do you have any advice for this mom?