When I was a kid in a house where 4 kids shared a bathroom, this was resolved by having the younger kids shower before dinner and older kids after dinner.

We have 3 kids- 8, 10, 11 and they share one bathroom. Does anyone have a good system for getting 3 kids ready for bed at same time (after sports, etc) with one bathroom? They are constantly in each other’s way when brushing teeth/showering which leads to fighting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Children are with me half of the week and their father the other half. I make sure my 4 and 6 year old shower or bathe at least once when they are with me, and I've asked their dad to do the same, but it's been a battle with him, so usually I end up washing them when they get to my place and then again before they leave.

My kids are half black so their hair doesn't need washing more than 1-2 times a week, and their skin gets dry if they bathe every day.

Eczema can actually be made worse by skipping baths and showers. Dermatitis can develop. Don't skip baths, just take shorter ones.

Depends on the kid -- if your kid has eczema, talk to a doctor and see what they recommend. Ours told us to stop bathing our kid so often, and her eczema got much better. Yes, shorter baths can help, as can making the water as cool as possible so it's less drying. But sometimes the skin just reacts very poorly to the process of drying after a bath.

The good news is that for the vast majority of kids, the eczema gets better as they get older, which coincides with kids hitting puberty and needing to bathe more. It all works out.

You people are nasty!

Anonymous wrote:I tend to have a non-judgmental attitude to different styles of parenting, but I confess the people without the daily bath/shower routine puzzle me. We've always done it, and for folks saying, but dry hair, you could skip the hair part. For us, it was as much about establishing a routine, and promoting healthy sleep schedule. Also, just feels like you're setting yourself up for a battle when they approach puberty and HAVE to start doing daily.

I always assumed we do nightly baths, and then I had a kid with eczema and general dry skin issues as a baby and toddler. It changes your approach. We're now almost to nightly baths at age 6, and this summer I think it will be nightly because it's just so much easier with sunscreen and pool time. But it looks us years to get there -- there was a period when she was 2/3 when her post bath routine took a solid 30 minutes, plus most of her baths were oatmeal baths (which is a pain to clean up afterwards). When that's what you are dealing with, you start assessing more critically whether your kid is really dirty enough to merit a bath, and often they aren't.

Every day. He wears pull-ups at night still, so we are strict about showering in the morning, if only to wash off the 'pee-smell'.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is eye opening. No wonder schools are petri dishes.

Wash your nasty kids.

They wash their hands.

DS age 7 showers nearly every day. Occasionally if we are out somewhere later than usual and don't have time we skip. But still at least 5x a week.

My DD is 7 and showers every 1-4 days depending on activities. In summer, she bathes everyday because of swimming and sunscreen.

This thread is eye opening. No wonder schools are petri dishes.

Wash your nasty kids.

Anonymous wrote:Children are with me half of the week and their father the other half. I make sure my 4 and 6 year old shower or bathe at least once when they are with me, and I've asked their dad to do the same, but it's been a battle with him, so usually I end up washing them when they get to my place and then again before they leave.

My kids are half black so their hair doesn't need washing more than 1-2 times a week, and their skin gets dry if they bathe every day.

Eczema can actually be made worse by skipping baths and showers. Dermatitis can develop. Don't skip baths, just take shorter ones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Children are with me half of the week and their father the other half. I make sure my 4 and 6 year old shower or bathe at least once when they are with me, and I've asked their dad to do the same, but it's been a battle with him, so usually I end up washing them when they get to my place and then again before they leave.

My kids are half black so their hair doesn't need washing more than 1-2 times a week, and their skin gets dry if they bathe every day.

Black mom with biracial kids here, use lotion. Also, even if you're not washing their hair daily, please moisturize it daily to avoid breakage.

Their skin is too sensitive for lotion, they have eczema. We go to the dermatologist quarterly and they have a routine/medication they use on their full body after baths, otherwise they can use aquaphor as well. Still gets dry if we were to bathe them every day.
As far as their hair, we use Shea moisture/cantu products every day (detangler, leave in conditioner, curling cream, conditioning oil spray) so I think I've got that covered too.

NP with kids who have eczema. You have to layer. We use a sensitive Aveeno lotion (no fragrance) and then layer with Vaseline; not too much but lotion alone will not do it as lotion is water based. Only oil based things help eczema. Fragrances and alcohol bases can burn and sting.

daily

Kids are 3 and 7. At least a quick shower everyday to wash bottoms and feet. Definitely more in summer with swim and sunscreen. A bath once a week or so and i don't wash their har everyday either. We have a solid bedtime routine and shower and pjs and teeth is a big part of it.

Anonymous wrote:Every 1-4 days - dont flame me...!

Same. She fights it. We will do quick wipe down before bed but a shower or bath isn’t always happening. I’d be happy with every other day for her.