Bathing?

[jacquelinej11]

Hi I'm not sure if I'm in the right area - but I had a question on the frequency of bathing DS - he's almost 4 weeks and I was told only to bathe him once a week - is that true?

Does it matter how much you bathe them?

What if water gets in their ears?

Any tips on the whole process?

[dogmom327]

You might try posting this on the Life with Babe forum. There are a number of threads on there about bathing.

We only bathe DS maybe twice a month. We use a tub that sits in the sink. We get him wet, use a little soap (although I think I'm going to stop using soap since I'm realizing it's not good for his skin) and then rinse off mainly with a wash cloth which eliminates issues of getting water in his ears. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes.

Don't worry about bathing...really if you're wiping off his bottom during diaper changes and wiping the rest of him when needed (pees on himself, major spit up, etc.) then he's probably clean enough. Also, if you make your own diaper wipe solution, you can feel better about using it to wipe down the rest of him.

[aprilibarra]

honestly, until the cord falls off and even after, i don't think its good to bathe them often. i think its better to sponge bathe with warm water and only use soap where necessary, like in their neck crease and behind their ears, face and butt. but i like the natural baby smell and not the perfumed product smell, and they chill so easily.

[velcromom]

Yep, I agree. I keep a spray bottle full of water handy during diaper changes so if there's a need to rinse, I can do it right there. I don't use soap unless it's really necessary.

[snanna]

If I had a summer baby, I might feel differently, but both mine have been born in winter, and bathed very little for their first few months. My eight-week-old has had only two baths (just getting in the bathtub with me, no washing or anything), and just gets wiped down with a warm washcloth in the diaper area and neck creases as needed. No soap or anything. He smells delicious!

[Usually Curious]

My 2.5 mo gets in the shower w/us once a week. We only use a mild, baby soap because it makes him smell good, haha. Until we began taking him out in public he only had one or two baths(the first 6 weeks).

Bathing babies is overrated!

[normajean]

I bathed my babies once a week or two weeks, usually when something out of the ordinary happened to mandate it like a blowout diaper or something.

Even now at 6 and 3, they only bathe as needed. They both have dry skin so I don't see any reason to exacerbate it. When they get old enough to start sweating/stinking then they will start bathing more.

[AaronsMommy]

My ds has bathed every night since his cord fell off. He LOVES his bathtime, he starts to laugh as soon as he hears the water running and I couldn't imagine denying him of this. It is his special Daddy-only time and it gives Mommy a guaranteed 20-30 minutes by myself each night. Daddy massages him with oil each night, so his skin stays plenty hydrated.

[Bensmommy]

Whatever suits you! As pp mentioned- frequent baths necessitate an oil massage- which most babes love! My kids usually hated bath time until they were older, so we just bathed as needed- how ever often that was. If they were kinda stinky or hair was oily, then off to a bath we went. If not, we just "hit the highlights" (bottom, face, ears- not in that order!) and kept in fresh clothes. I found it more important to keep them in fresh clothes and sheets (since I sweat a lot post-partum and we coslept) than worry about their frequency of bathing.

Congrats on you new addition!

[mama_daba]

i'm not sure how often i bath my son but i do more often than once a week. he gets spit up in his skin folds and then it gets red and a bath is the easiest way to clean it all off and prevent it from getting red. we do spong baths often and a bath in the tub with me every few days. i don't use anything but water and part of why i do it as often as i do is that he loves it sooo much. sometimes when nothing calms him down and he keeps crying i just hop in the bath with him and then he gets happy again. if bathing him as often as i do was causing skin trouble for him i would do it less often i pay close attention to make sure he is ok. if he didn't like the bath i would just do spong baths. do what feels right for you and your baby