I'm just curious ... how often do you bathe your kids? I ask, because I suspect I am way, WAY out of the norm. Most kids we know started taking nightly baths as part of their bedtime routine when they were toddlers. Maybe even before that, when they were babies. Not my kid.
Nope. I'm lucky if I can get my 9-year-old son to take a shower once a week. And it's a huge ordeal. I shower more often than my child. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
I guess it started when he was a baby. The books I read recommended against bathing every day because it just strips away your baby's natural oils. Plus, he HATED baths. By the time he was a toddler, he kind of started enjoying them more -- that is, until it was time to wash his hair. I tried to be gentle, but I swear, he cried every time I washed his hair well into the first grade! Maybe even past that. (This is the last embarrassing thing I get to write about my kid, like ever, right?)
As far as making bathtime part of a soothing bedtime ritual goes -- no. There was none of that for us. Way too much drama and mess. Honestly, I don't know how parents do that night after night.
It was a huge relief when I stopped bathing him myself and he started taking showers by himself -- and washing his own hair himself. But it's still a major hassle. It's one of the few times I ever have to badger him to do something. He would rather do his math homework than take a shower. He would rather set the table or clean his room.
But then he finishes (at last, after getting water everywhere and coming in and out because he forgets things and leaving his towels on the floor) and he smells so much better! And his hair is all shiny. And I think -- my God, we should make him shower more often.
Oh well, maybe we'll insist once he hits puberty and really starts to smell. Anyway, I don't mind having the bathroom all to myself every morning, so I'm not complaining quite yet!
How often does your child bathe?
Image via longhorndave/Flickr
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Comments 325
My 3-year old daughter takes a bath twice a week right now. She's not stinky or anything. I do think that bathing too frequently is bad for anyone's skin & hair, especially a baby's.
Wow. Just, wow. I also have a 9-year-old (girl), and she showers at least every other day in the winter (sometimes every day) and definitely every day in the summer. There is no way I would let her go longer than a couple of days. A week? Forget it! Even though they have not hit puberty yet at this age, they are still running around, sweating, getting messy. Hair gets oilier as puberty hits, but a couple days without a shampoo still makes my daughter's hair resemble an oil slick. Seriously - people (both adults and other kids) will surely notice your son's lack of hygiene. Would you let him wear the same dirty shirt to school every day? Of course not - you'd take charge and make him change into clean clothes, so how is this different? You are the parent - you set boundaries and expectations, and a shower more than once a week should be one of them.