How often should you bathe your baby? Many parents do it every day, out of a sense of responsibility, or merely because they enjoy it.
It may turn out that I do enjoy it, but right now it sounds like a massive hassle. Recently, I was talking to a friend who said that he did not bathe his baby at all. As long as you clean them properly when changing them, how dirty do they get lying around? Which leads me to the question, how often do you need to bathe your baby?
The evidence is not apparent. The NHS guide, washing and bathing your baby, says that you don’t need to do it every day. However, it offers no guidance on how often you should at a minimum.
Other research suggests that there is a reason you should not bathe your baby every day. Daily baths may contribute to dry skin and eczema. The theory is that bathing removes the protective oils from the baby’s skin, which actually does more harm than good.
This actually fits with the bigger picture. We have known for years that showering every day removes an important layer of oil from adult skin. A new study earlier this year backed this claim up.
Perhaps the answer to the question is, whenever the baby smells.
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Tags: baby, baby bath, bathing, parenting, shower
This entry was posted on Friday, September 16th, 2016 at 10:51 am and is filed under Family & Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.