How often to bathe/wash hair??? (Help me settle this disagreement with my husband...) - Page 6

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Polliwog 

I can't imagine having the shower run that much on a regular basis.

Me, either. That would cost me a fortune, and we don't have a big enough hot water tank for everyone to do that, anyway. We'd be showering all day.

[Peony]

I'm trying to imagine bathing all 6 of us on a daily basis during the very limited hours we are home. Just not possible. I'm guessing some must live in places where hot water isn't a concern or have MASSIVE hot water tanks. We are limited to one bath/shower per every 1.5 hours in the winter. And even then I don't have enough hot water to wash hair, body and shave at the same time. The water is just too cold and I run through the hot water so quickly. When it is warmer in the summer, we can get two quick showers out of one tank, really quick showers are the key. I've already posted on this thread but our bathing is a carefully staggered event morning and night. Adults take turns in the mornings every other day, 2 kids a night, the next night, the other two. 

We spent a year when I was growing up with no hot water. We warmed water we had to haul from 10 miles away near a fire, poured it into a 5 gallon bucket that we had outfitted with a nozzle. That bucket had to last for two people. Needless to say daily showers did not happen. 

[Kirstyandgirls]

I aim for twice a week baths with hair washing once a week and nail trimming once a week but I dont always manage it. Sometimes they get really dirty and i chuck them in the bath randomly. Mine are 3 and 7. I shower daily and wash my hair every 3-4 days but I'm an adult and get sweaty.

I realy should bath them more, they often look a bit grimy!

[inkslinger]

My girls are 5 and 7 and they bathe every other day due to eczema. Sometimes we'll skip a bath day but not usually...definitely not in the summer. We live in the desert and it's gross outside in the summer.

[Subhuti]

I bathe my kids every day because a) it's soothes them/gets them in mind for bed b) they do so much art that their hands and often faces are covered with ink, oil pastel, paint, etc.  c) if I don't, they both get stingy bottoms.  In summer we wash hair every day and in winter, every other.

My kids are really active and we live in a rural area with woods, dirt, etc.  Also, we have two big dogs that shed, and despite frequent grooming/vacuuming, there is a fair amount of dogness to  be removed.

My husband and I shower basically every day.  But I love going wild while camping or when on spiritual retreat.  I actually dig the greasy hair and layer of camp fire/dirt on me.  :-)

Another factor to our every day bathing:  ticks.  We live in a super high lyme area, and for much of the year, it's a great idea to be naked, focused on your body and running your hands through your hair at the end of the day.  

Other cultures:  you might be surprised.  I lived in two very rural areas of west africa, and people there bathed TWICE daily as a rule.  Yes, it was just a bucket of water and bar soap efficiently used, but people couldn't imagine not wanting to freshen up and then get all the dust off at the end of the day.  When I was in the urban areas, on crowded buses, it was so unlike the NYC buses/subways ... people in Africa, as a rule, are super clean.  Us Americans are a stinky lot, even with our showers and deoderants ... in West Africa, at least where I've travelled, you can take a deep breath on public transportation without fear! 

[Vrai]

Every day. My partner and I often shower together, DD too with one of the two of us, and if not, she showers by herself. It's our nightly ritual.

I shower twice daily. Once at night, which is longer and more to relax, scrub the day's grime off me, get ready for bed. Once in the morning, which is a quick in and out with a shower cap on, to wake myself up. DD will often join me then too, she loves water. We forego the morning shower in favour of a swim if we're in a place with a pool.

I agree with Subhuti's assessment of other cultures. Most of my time abroad has been all over Asia rather than in Africa, but same story. Almost universally, people are cleaner than in N. America. It's very hard to come back to the US or Canada after that, because you find disgust in other people. I have a very sensitive sense of smell, and it overwhelms me when I come back to the city after being away for a while. It's disgusting.

You can eat off the streets of Singapore, they're so clean, and the people are as clean as their city.

People in rural India and Nepal have little means for anything but bare survival, yet they're exceptionally clean and keep their bodies, spaces, and food clean. North Americans and western Europeans have excess and means for excess of just about everything, except personal hygiene.

England was the worst. Maybe not any more, but 20 years ago it sure was. One summer break, between 3rd and 4th grade for me (I was 7, turning 8 over summer) my mom took us travelling. We'd been in Taiwan - beautiful, clean, orderly Taiwan, where we and everyone else bathed at least every other day, even if they had to visit a public bath - for 2 months and were stopping over for our last month abroad in England. We stayed with a lovely family, friends of my mom's from way back, and the first day was great. Second day was great. Their daughter was my age and we made fast friends. Then the third, fourth and fifth day came, and still no one ELSE had taken a bath. My mom, brother and I had discreetly asked to shower on the third day, they acted a little bewildered - didn't we just shower the night we got there? They indulged us, mercifully. Finally I could take no more of the other girl's odour and just slept with my mom. The 7th day there was a Tuesday and the family's three kids were all dragged, kicking and screaming, to their weekly bath. The whole family bathed on Tuesday and no more.

And it. Was. Gross. They didn't think anything of it, my brother made some juvenile comment to the girl about her smelling and no one in her family thought she smelled. But she did. Badly. And it wasn't like these people didn't have hot water or the means to run it. They were well off, middle-Englanders in a prosperous time, and when water was insanely cheap. It just wasn't in their culture to bathe often, and most of the other people we met there seemed to have the same ideas, by the tell-tale-stench.

Even if YOU don't think you or your kids smell after not bathing in many days, trust me, YOU DO. Even if you're not getting dirty or really sweaty, you do sweat, especially at night, and you do get dirty even if you don't leave the house.

[meemee]

gosh people are stinky everywhere. i dont think you can point to a country and say one is less stinkier than the other.

i grew up in a few asian countries. i would never ever say they were the cleanest. what was worse was the scented powder they used to hide the smell.

however in many areas where it was humid and hot, it wasnt all about stink from body. even if you took baths twice a day but didnt change your clothes (changed your underwear but not outerwear) you would still stink. 

coming from an asian country my experience has certainly not been that N America is stinkier than Asia. in fact its just the opposite. 

and for many of those people - those who were really poor, living in cities in the ghettos - they rarely had enough water to stay as clean as they would like to. 

urban ghettos are the stinkiest no matter where you do - whichever end of the globe you are in.

[Storm Bride]

I can occasionally smell other people's body odour, but it doesn't bother me, unless it's just vile and rank (heavy drinkers who haven't bathed recently are impossible to be close to, for instance). I, personally, don't think daily showers and baths are even remotely necessary for the majority of people (my dad took a bath every day...but he'd also spent that whole day hauling furniture up and down stairs, packing stuff into a truck, getting dust on himself, etc....my ex used to shower daily when he was doing drywall installation, too).

I've never travelled outside of North America (and it's likely that I never will), but I've also noticed that North Americans can really stink. However, I've found the offenders to be hair spray, perfume, cologne, after shave, scented cleaning products, etc. on many, many, many more occasions than I've been even remotely bothered by someone's natural body odour.

[AbbyGrant]

I think it depends on the kid and the circumstances.  

My 3 year old gets a bath daily because it's part of his routine.  I couldn't skip it even if I wanted to.  He's still in diapers and frequently gets stuff in his hair, so a daily bath is probably a good thing anyway.  If his hair is particularly clean, I might skip washing it with soap.  

With my 6 year old, it's on an as needed basis.  During the school year, especially during the coldest months, she might only get a bath or shower once a week.  During the warmer months and especially over the summer, it might be as often as daily depending on what she's been doing.  I'm sure as she gets older and develops some body odor, she might start needing to bathe more often, but for now she always smells lovely.  

Edited by AbbyGrant - 1/17/12 at 8:44pm