I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

But when do you start to give baths every night? We did it last night and I felt like he went to bed better. I also want to start a routine, more for me and DH . He's only 5 weeks today, so if its too early to bathe every night when should I start? I dont want to dry out his skin with the soap, I love that his skin is so soft. Stupid question but a sponge bath would be the same thing as a regular bath because I'll still be using soap right?

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

DS will be 3 in April and he doesn't get a bath every night unless its summer and he gets all yucky

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

5 weeks is way to young to start a routine. I didn't bath DS every night at that age. It depends... sometimes it was every other and some times it was every 2 nights. I still would wipe his hands and feet every night.

I do bath him every night at 8 months 5 nights b/c he's in daycare. He gets it around 6:45PM then I dress him for bed, bottle a little after 7 PM, book then bed. Took a while b4 we even got in this routine.
If I don't bath him I wipe him down with a washcloth around 6:50ish... then go into the other routine.

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

maybe just lotion him up every night instead of a full bath.

I started a routine with my DS around 3 weeks and he's stuck with it well - he's now 6.5 mos. Give it a shot ! He'll let you know if he isn't happy

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

Posted by Shorty

maybe just lotion him up every night instead of a full bath.

I started a routine with my DS around 3 weeks and he's stuck with it well - he's now 6.5 mos. Give it a shot ! He'll let you know if he isn't happy

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

i started bathing everynight from the time they came home... whether it be a sponge bath or when she was able to sit. we go out a lot and always have people in and out of our house that either deal with other children or have other children, and they interact with DD all the time.

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

We started Lily on a bath routine early....not that early though. I forgot exactly when.
It all depends on your child's skin.....Lily's doesn't dry out easily, so she's ok with the daily baths.

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

i started a bath every night routine at about 1.5-2 months old. her skin would dry out so we tried out a few different lotions til we found the one that helped remoisturize her skin. i was desperate to do anything that would establish a bedtime routine for my horrible night time sleeper. i dunno if it helped, but we never stopped the routine. a year later and she still gets a bath everynight

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

My kids get baths every night at the reco of a pediatric derm who said it is better to bathe and moisturize while they are still wet than to bathe less frequently. My son has eczema though so not sure if that changes for a baby without eczema.

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

i started when DS was 8 weeks. part of his routine and its still going strong at 4 months. its like he expects it. i moisturizer after the bath unless hes really agitated and wants the bottle. he only misses a bath if we're out and i just want to get him to bed when we get home.

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

We started bathing DD every night starting around 9 weeks because we noticed the nights we were bathing her were the nights she was STTN! So from 9 weeks until about 5 months she got a bath every night. Then I went back to work, got lazy and did every 2-3 nights since she was consistently STTN.

Message edited 2/15/2010 8:22:59 PM.

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

ds #2 is also 5 weeks and he gets a bath 2 days a week.. i am so leary of skin issues since ds #1 was a problem..

during the summer months ds #1 was bathed daily... once it hit the cold weather we went to every other....

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

i was told u could bath every night but use soap no more then 2x a week bc it dries out their skin. plus their not rolling in mud.. 5 weeks is good

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

I think we bathed Rylan every other day until 1year old and now every night. It's more for a bedtime routine because he rarely gets dirty.

Re: I know you shouldn't bathe a newborn every night...

Ive been giving DS a bath every night since he was 3 weeks. I use soap every other night and moisturize him every night.