Do your kids bathe every day?

[Anonymous]

Yes, they shower daily at 9 and 11. Even by 8 or 9, there are some pretty ripe smelling boys on my son's baseball team.

[Anonymous]

Yes, daily. It doesn't have to be a long proper "bathtime" per se but definitely a quick daily wash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m always fascinated by the “not-every-day” bathers. We always did every day from when they were sitting up (supervised, of course.)
For us, it was less about cleanliness/stickiness and more about the all-important bedtime routine. Taking the bath was a really important part of wind down time. Because it was such an ingrained thing, we never got the resistance I hear about from PPs or some of my relatives.
It’s really a shame in the case of one kid I know, who at age six, after a day of running around is definitely in need of a bath, but it has now become a battle royale in their house, as the parent (who is not-so-great in many ways) just doesn’t want to put in the effort, so the kid... smells. I’m a bit worried for when he goes back to school this fall.
PPs—-I’m not saying *your* kids smell. I don’t know them!
Like I said, for us is was every day and it was because it was part of the routine bath—>books—>bed.

I love these smug "I do it because it's the right thing to do and all the books I've read have told me that this is how it's done and other people have bad smelly kids and this is definitely why" posters. With the smiley face caveat at the end. You're super annoying, PP!

[Anonymous]

No there are too many variables and sensitivities to make a hard rule. Skin can be as variable as hair and nobody is saying you must wash hair daily (I have to because I have straight thick non porous hair and oil sits on it to look greasy, my mom is curly and a daily wash would make her hair crazy). Frequent washing can trigger eczema when there was no issue and to those with eczema not rinsing off the daily allergens can make things much worse.

[Anonymous]

In the summer, yes, almost every day because they're very active and get dirty, and my older daughter swims almost every day in camp. In the winter on days when they haven't done anything, then no, not every day.

Oh, and to the "bedtime routine" poster. It's easy, don't make bath part of the bedtime routine. You still have a bedtime routine, kids still sleep well. I don't know why this is so hard for you to understand.

[Anonymous]

I’m just saying that the kids who don’t need a bath didn’t necessarily bathe the day before. Unless you have a camera in their home, you have no idea.

And I guess I'm saying that teachers don't need a camera in their students' homes -- we have lots of clues as to what is going on at home. And students are rarely shy about repeating what parents say and do.

There's that old joke about Open House night -- the teacher says to the parents -- if you don't believe everything you hear about me -- I won't believe everything I hear about you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m always fascinated by the “not-every-day” bathers. We always did every day from when they were sitting up (supervised, of course.)
For us, it was less about cleanliness/stickiness and more about the all-important bedtime routine. Taking the bath was a really important part of wind down time. Because it was such an ingrained thing, we never got the resistance I hear about from PPs or some of my relatives.
It’s really a shame in the case of one kid I know, who at age six, after a day of running around is definitely in need of a bath, but it has now become a battle royale in their house, as the parent (who is not-so-great in many ways) just doesn’t want to put in the effort, so the kid... smells. I’m a bit worried for when he goes back to school this fall.
PPs—-I’m not saying *your* kids smell. I don’t know them!
Like I said, for us is was every day and it was because it was part of the routine bath—>books—>bed.

I love these smug "I do it because it's the right thing to do and all the books I've read have told me that this is how it's done and other people have bad smelly kids and this is definitely why" posters. With the smiley face caveat at the end. You're super annoying, PP!

I wonder if they are this insufferable in person. That attitude stinks worse than a teen with BO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m always fascinated by the “not-every-day” bathers. We always did every day from when they were sitting up (supervised, of course.)
For us, it was less about cleanliness/stickiness and more about the all-important bedtime routine. Taking the bath was a really important part of wind down time. Because it was such an ingrained thing, we never got the resistance I hear about from PPs or some of my relatives.
It’s really a shame in the case of one kid I know, who at age six, after a day of running around is definitely in need of a bath, but it has now become a battle royale in their house, as the parent (who is not-so-great in many ways) just doesn’t want to put in the effort, so the kid... smells. I’m a bit worried for when he goes back to school this fall.
PPs—-I’m not saying *your* kids smell. I don’t know them!
Like I said, for us is was every day and it was because it was part of the routine bath—>books—>bed.

Same here. I can count on one hand the number of times my kids have skipped a shower, and it’s always for some reason like we were out super late and they just needed to get to bed, or something like that. My oldest will still sometimes insist on a quick shower even in those cases just because it helps her relax and feel good before bed. She is definitely the kind of kid who values routine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m always fascinated by the “not-every-day” bathers. We always did every day from when they were sitting up (supervised, of course.)
For us, it was less about cleanliness/stickiness and more about the all-important bedtime routine. Taking the bath was a really important part of wind down time. Because it was such an ingrained thing, we never got the resistance I hear about from PPs or some of my relatives.
It’s really a shame in the case of one kid I know, who at age six, after a day of running around is definitely in need of a bath, but it has now become a battle royale in their house, as the parent (who is not-so-great in many ways) just doesn’t want to put in the effort, so the kid... smells. I’m a bit worried for when he goes back to school this fall.
PPs—-I’m not saying *your* kids smell. I don’t know them!
Like I said, for us is was every day and it was because it was part of the routine bath—>books—>bed.

Its not fascinating. I only bathe my 3 yo every 2-3 days, not battle royale ever. If he smelled, I'd bathe him more.

[Anonymous]

Yes we bathe our kids nightly, they are 2 and 5. I'd say about 1/2 the baths are just with water. We do more soap/shampoo in the summer and less in the winter. Lotion always.

But my sister only bathes her kids a few times a week. It works for them. The downside is that yes, she has to fight about it with them since it's not part of their routine. But they certainly don't smell and it works for them.

Also I am lazy and like re-using pjs over 2 nights, which is much easier to do if they are clean when they put them on....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am elementary school teacher and believe me your child's teacher know who baths every day and who doesn't! Summer and vacations in general are one thing -- but if tomorrow is a school day -- PLEASE shower!

+1. Preschool teacher here. Yes, we all know who bathes daily and who doesn’t.

-1. Also a preschool teacher and while yes some kids smell, that doesn’t mean the good smelling kids bathe daily. You really have no clue.

Another preschool/kindergarten teacher. We absolutely know. And we do judge parents who can’t be bothered to bathe their kids daily. It’s just gross.

[Anonymous]

Almost every day. My 6 yo DS has started to push back on nights where he knows he's going swimming the next day, and I've finally relented as long as he washes his hands/face/neck really well. 3 yo DD looks so bedraggled if she doesn't get a bath every day, so at minimum she gets a "shath" (sits in the tub while I give her a shower with the handheld shower head). Takes 2 minutes.

I really pass no judgement on those who do it differently unless their kids are really egregiously filthy and neglected-looking. A neighbor's kid had the same color marker all over himself and his clothes for a few days on end and I admit I wondered what was up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am elementary school teacher and believe me your child's teacher know who baths every day and who doesn't! Summer and vacations in general are one thing -- but if tomorrow is a school day -- PLEASE shower!

+1. Preschool teacher here. Yes, we all know who bathes daily and who doesn’t.

-1. Also a preschool teacher and while yes some kids smell, that doesn’t mean the good smelling kids bathe daily. You really have no clue.

Another preschool/kindergarten teacher. We absolutely know. And we do judge parents who can’t be bothered to bathe their kids daily. It’s just gross.

You absolutely do NOT know. You may "have a clue," but there's no way you know in all cases.

I believe you can tell who definitely hasn't bathed in at least a day. But that's different from being able to tell who definitely has bathed daily.

Plenty of kids who don't bathe daily smell good and look clean, especially when it's winter, when they are fastidious, when they're fully potty trained and wipe well, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am elementary school teacher and believe me your child's teacher know who baths every day and who doesn't! Summer and vacations in general are one thing -- but if tomorrow is a school day -- PLEASE shower!

+1. Preschool teacher here. Yes, we all know who bathes daily and who doesn’t.

-1. Also a preschool teacher and while yes some kids smell, that doesn’t mean the good smelling kids bathe daily. You really have no clue.

Another preschool/kindergarten teacher. We absolutely know. And we do judge parents who can’t be bothered to bathe their kids daily. It’s just gross.

Oh cmon. Do you go around sniffing out kids? One would think if you kept busy teaching and not judging, your classroom would be more effective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am elementary school teacher and believe me your child's teacher know who baths every day and who doesn't! Summer and vacations in general are one thing -- but if tomorrow is a school day -- PLEASE shower!

+1. Preschool teacher here. Yes, we all know who bathes daily and who doesn’t.

-1. Also a preschool teacher and while yes some kids smell, that doesn’t mean the good smelling kids bathe daily. You really have no clue.

Another preschool/kindergarten teacher. We absolutely know. And we do judge parents who can’t be bothered to bathe their kids daily. It’s just gross.

I would never send my kids out of my house smelly and they don’t bathe every day. I seriously doubt this. You may be able to smell a kid that hasn’t bathed days on end. That’s a different story. But for someone who may skip a day or two, I just doubt this is the case from smell alone. Perhaps you see marker or something that didn’t get washed off. Otherwise, I think you are reaching. My four year old son didn’t bathe last night as we didn’t go anywhere all day. I called him over just now to test your theory, and yeah...he’s fresh.