Splish splash: Why we bathe our kids almost every night

Bathing two kids every night might seem like a lot of hassle for some people but for us, it has become a part of our family's daily routine.

It's not as if our four-year-old and our one-and-a-half-year-old are so manky every day that they necessarily need to be washed, it's just a little habit we've gotten ourselves into. For us, the evening-time splish-splash is another step in that wind-down-to-bedtime routine, which starts with dinner at 5pm, play time for an hour, bath at 6.15pm, reading time and (fingers crossed) both of them asleep by 7.30 or 8pm. When I say 'bath', I'm not talking about a half an hour for the pair of them in a luxurious bubbles-to-the-brim affair. It is literally a splash about, a bit of water time, and a chance to scrub dinner off their faces and get those teeth brushed. It also gives me an opportunity to take my chipped nail polish off while I'm watching them. Bonus. There are definitely some nights that we skip a bath if we've been out all day, if the kids are particularly wrecked for any reason or if, you know, we can't be bothered with the effort because we're particularly wrecked. So, how often should we be bathing our kids? Opinions vary from parent to parent but here are six factors to consider when choosing how often you should bathe your own kids: 1. Exactly how dirty ARE they? You might think that little boys are outside and are more stuck into muck and dirt than little girls are, and so therefore they should be bathed more often. Not so in our house, though, as my four-year-old boy doesn't like getting dirty that much and my little one-and-a-half-year-old girl is consistently rolling around with the dog on the floor. 2. What kind of skin and hair do they have? Children who have eczema and other dry skin types are said not to benefit from being washed too often as the water dries out the skin condition even further and worsens it. Oily hair could benefit with more frequent washes, for example. 3. What age is your child? Babies really and truly do not need to be bathed more than once a week unless you've had a major nappy disaster that requires the hose. Small kids are fine to be bathed twice or three times a week. When puberty and excessive perspiration starts, it's time to begin the daily wash routine. 4. What time of year is it? You might find that the kids are more stinky during the summer months from all that running around and playing outside and will therefore opt to wash them more regularly. During the winter months, you could reduce that back down to suit their activity levels. 5. What's in the plan? If we skipped a bath on Thursday and Friday nights, but have some place nice to go on Sunday, we'll make sure the kids get their bath and hair, ears and nails taken care of. Similarly for school, no matter what days are missed, Sunday night is always bath night in our house. Even the dog gets one. How often do the kids have baths in your house? Let us know in the comments on Facebook.