How many times can I give my 5 week old a bath?

Question

I asked the pediatric nurse at the hospital the other day how many times. She said I could stick her in the tub every night to start a routine and to relax her. She said just not to wash her w/ soap every night and just to put her in the water...Any suggestions? What do you think?

Answer 1

I gave my son a bath every night and i used soap it makes them feel better and helps them sleep at night.

Answer 2

i was told that to but i found it would dry out my sons skin so i bath him every second day which helps

Answer 3

Frequent washing dries out baby's skin, but using non-scented, special lotions can help.  At that age, it's really how often the baby needs a bath.

For my son, he was simply a "stinky" baby.  He spit up a lot, drooled all over, and had foul diapers often - not uncommonly "blow outs" where we had to strip him down, bath him and dress him in entirely new clothes.  He was bathed about once a day, sometimes more because he needed it.  I used soap about twice a week and tried to only use water as your nurse recommended.  

Once we started solid food, we discovered that he would NOT wear a bib, no matter what.  Rather than ruin his clothes, we feed him in a diaper only which means that we shower him down or bath him three times a day some days or after every meal that he needs it.  

Answer 4

My son is 5 almost 6 months old and i've been bathing him every other day up until recently.  I wanted to make a bed time routine to help him sleep better at night so now I bathe him every night. But I only use soap, and actually wash him, every other night so I don't wash away his natural oils.

So yea, I do exactly what the nurse told you to do.  Baby's love the warmth of the water.  Buy the lavender scented baby wash - it really helps my son settle down at night.

Answer 5

I agree with the nurse you had, but it all depends on the baby's skin too. I bathe my baby every night. She is almost 15 weeks old and I do this to establish a routine. A few times when we were out late, I wasn't able to bathe her, and that was OK - just showed that the routine thing worked because she went to bed just fine. I don't really put soap on my daughter though. I use the bath soap in the water - get it bubbly, but don't put soap directly on my baby's skin. I also put lotion on her every night - she has not had any problems, but every baby is different. If she ever did get dry skin, I'd probably do every other night, but for now, every night works for us!

Answer 6

i only bathed my son twice a week at that age, thats what i thought was best adn thats what the docotrs suggested. he is 16 months now and gets a bath every day because he's into everything but when he's not dirty i dont use soap on him because it can dry out their skin really bad. my son did fine without being in water every day.

Answer 7

When my daughter was born, my husband and i were bathing her once a day.  We quickly learned that her skin was getting too dry with a bath using soap each day, so we started bathing her every other day.  She is now almost five months and I'm having to bathe her more often again.  She is drooling a lot from teething and is experimenting with solids, so often a daily bath is in order. Most new babies dont need a bath every day, but it might be a good idea to put them in the bath water so they can get used to it or to help them sleep.

Answer 8

When my son was a new baby (and not mobile) I would only give him a bath every other day; if you give the baby a bath everyday, you're going to wash away their natural oils. As my son got older and mobile (and getting dirty!) I started giving him a bath everyday.