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Silly poll: Would you reuse bathwater? - Page 4

Poll Results: Would you reuse bathwater in this scenario?

 
  • 25% (56)
    Sure!
  • 74% (164)
    Nope!
220 Total Votes  
post #61 of 109
10/22/09 at 2:47pm
I think bathing your kid less often is far preferable to making him sit in nasty, used, bactera-ridden water. Ick.

As far as the "Little House on the Prairie" scenario goes, even they changed the water for each person!

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post #62 of 109
10/22/09 at 2:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissLotus View Post
As far as the "Little House on the Prairie" scenario goes, even they changed the water for each person!
Are you sure? I mean, I don't have the book in front of me but I thought they just each took a turn in the same water. While using the same water as another person doesn't sound exactly luxurious to me, it seems reasonable.
post #63 of 109
10/22/09 at 2:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by snoopy5386 View Post
no I would not leave bathwater sitting in a tub for an extended period of time because it is a drowing hazard. Your son could slip off on his own, get into the tub and drown.
:
post #64 of 109
10/22/09 at 3:06pm
We have a combined shower/bath, and when my son wants to just play in the water I'll stop up the drain while I take my shower, have him sit in there with me where the water isn't falling directly on him, and let him splash around while I'm washing. And he can stay in after I'm done if he's so inclined. He gets his water playtime and "bath" and we're not using any more water than we would have otherwise.
post #65 of 109
10/22/09 at 4:05pm
I grew up in the desert so I feel a little protective of water and I can understand this. If the baby goes first we'll add more for the 2 and 4 year old (they bathe together). So, yes, I would
post #66 of 109
10/22/09 at 4:13pm
We reuse water between kids all the time, but leaving it in the tub a day or two - no. In all honesty, that would be more for the safety/drowning issue with little ones than worrying about bacteria though.

I second the bucket/shallow bath idea.
post #67 of 109
10/22/09 at 4:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by seashells View Post
Are you sure? I mean, I don't have the book in front of me but I thought they just each took a turn in the same water. While using the same water as another person doesn't sound exactly luxurious to me, it seems reasonable.
Yes. We're reading Big Woods right now, and it struck me that they *didn't* reuse water from one person to the next. I would have expected that they would, but each person got fresh (and freshly heated, in wintertime) water for their weekly bath.
post #68 of 109
10/22/09 at 4:26pm
Nope. Drowning risk, and bacteria growth.
post #69 of 109
10/22/09 at 4:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissLotus View Post
I think bathing your kid less often is far preferable to making him sit in nasty, used, bactera-ridden water. Ick.

As far as the "Little House on the Prairie" scenario goes, even they changed the water for each person!
No, they didn't. But they all bathed in the same night, one right after the other, cleanest to dirtiest. They may have topped it off a bit, with warmer water, but they certainly didn't change it. Water took firewood, and firewood was a precious commodity. not to mention the hauling of the water./
post #70 of 109
10/22/09 at 6:00pm
So how long are u planning on just adding hot water to the tub before changing? If it was just one or 2 reuses I can't see a problem. Anymore than that and it gets a bit icky for me. I don't think the water would be stinky or nasty after a day or 2.
post #71 of 109
10/22/09 at 8:39pm
I understand the water saving mentality but I wouldn't do this. Bacteria heaven for sure.
post #72 of 109
10/22/09 at 8:47pm
Eeeeewwwwwwww.
post #73 of 109
10/22/09 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vbactivist View Post
I do have my kids get in eachother baths immediatley following one another ala Little house on the Prairie.
I also reuse bath water for plants / lawn / etc etc
post #74 of 109
10/22/09 at 10:18pm
No way would I let it sit and reuse it because of the bacteria that will breed in it, yuck. Also it's a drowning hazard that is totally avoidable. Why not just skip the bath every other night? My kids only get a bath once or twice a week in the winter and I wash my baby and toddler first and then add hot water for my son or I jump in with my girls and my son takes a shower. We actually pay a lot for water where we are ( out in the country) but it's still only three cents a gallon, I don't think the risks you are taking is worth the money saved, sorry.
post #75 of 109
10/22/09 at 10:30pm
I don't think that is sanitary at all. Even soap free bubble bath has other chemicals and it leaves a nasty residue that is hard to get off. I used to use tap water to fill my fish tank with and it would get snails in it so I don't think I would store water for long at all.
post #76 of 109
10/22/09 at 10:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vbactivist View Post
No, they didn't. But they all bathed in the same night, one right after the other, cleanest to dirtiest. They may have topped it off a bit, with warmer water, but they certainly didn't change it. Water took firewood, and firewood was a precious commodity. not to mention the hauling of the water./
I've always heard (from people who grew up that way) that they actually did it dad, then mom, then kids oldest to youngest with the baby last. So more like dirtiest to cleanest if you ask me lol. That's where the saying "don't throw out the baby with the bathwater" came from because by the time the baby was "washed" the water was so dirty you could hardly see them.
post #77 of 109
10/23/09 at 11:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crystal_R View Post
I'm pretty sure DD pees in the bath so I wouldn't.
Isn't urine actually sterile, anyway? And I know I've read somewhere that it's actually good for your skin (because of the content of urea?)... so wouldn't that just improve the bathwater?



I would reuse bathwater on the same day, but not save it overnight. I'm not as concerned about the germ factor, but the drowning risk (thanks to PP for thinking of that, it didn't even occur to me) would be too scary. Plus, I suspect that standing water would leave a killer dirt ring in the tub to scrub later.

Could you put your LO in a smaller tub to conserve water? Like a small baby bathtub inside the regular tub? If he doesn't mind being confined to a smaller tub, you'd use a lot less water that way.

ETA: Sorry to repeat what PP's have said. I should have read the thread all the way through to the end first. Sorry!
post #78 of 109
10/23/09 at 1:39pm
Moving to Reduce reuse recycle.
post #79 of 109
10/23/09 at 1:58pm
Agreed, the bath routine in Japan is very different, not even applicable to what the OP described.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pjs View Post
My kids get a bath once a week- even though it's fun, perhaps you could limit his bath taking since he's not really dirty.
Totally agreed. Your son doesn't actually need to bathe that often. Since water is a premium, rather than having him play around in yesterday's icky water, he should bathe less often.

Great discussion!
post #80 of 109
10/23/09 at 2:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vbactivist View Post
No, they didn't. But they all bathed in the same night, one right after the other, cleanest to dirtiest. They may have topped it off a bit, with warmer water, but they certainly didn't change it. Water took firewood, and firewood was a precious commodity. not to mention the hauling of the water./
Actually, I have the book in front of me , and it reads: "Laura was bathed first, because she was littler than Mary. She had to go to bed early on Saturday nights, with Charlotte, because after she was bathed and put into her clean nightgown, Pa must empty the washtub and fill it with snow again for Mary's bath. Then after Mary came to bed, Ma had her bath behind the blanket, and then Pa had his. And they were all clean, for Sunday." (bolding mine, of course)

It also says that in the summer, they bathed in water from the spring.

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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Reduce, Reuse and Recycle › Silly poll: Would you reuse bathwater?