Bill and I don't fight. We've never had one, wouldn't know what to do with one if we did. Don't get me wrong - we banter. We tease. And more to the point: we disagree. We just don't fight. We're just not the type; and this works for us.
Occasionally, though, we find ourselves at an impasse. We find ourselves in a predicament affording no obvious escape ('escape' here being either agreement or agreeing to disagree). Occasionally, we both feel strongly enough about an issue that, try as we might, we can't seem to find that darn common ground.
Mostly this happens with opinions about art, the definition of 'clean', and parenting. You know, the BIG issues (sniff).
Luckily, we're totally in sync about the important stuff. It's the little insignificants that cause us to screw up our faces and shrug up our shoulders and say, "Well, huh!" - and then we seek outside opinions.
Specifically, YOUR opinions.
Most recently, the topic has been bath time for the Monkeyfish. My opinion is that Monkeyfishes should be bathed at least once daily. My reasons are twofold. 1. Boys are messy. 2. Anything that sits around in a diaper all day - no matter how frequently changed - needs to be scrubbed with good old fashioned soap (wet wipes just don't cut it).
Bill's opinion is that Monkeyfishes DON'T need to be bathed daily - that once or twice a week is sufficient. His reasons are thus: 1. baby skin doesn't need daily cleansing the way post-adolescent skin does. In fact, to use harsh soap on baby skin is just that: too harsh. Strips the sweet smelling soft stuff of it's natural oils and sweetness and softness. 2. Bill remembers that when he was very small, he didn't have to have a bath every day. He didn't need one - they were a waste of time and infringed upon the dignity of a small boy who was busy fighting dinosaurs. 3. After bath time, Stepper forces Wyatt to put on lotion (he has slight cases of eczema) and Bill CAN'T STAND lotion - and feels that lotion creates it's own problem (your skin grows accustomed to it and refuses to produce it's own oils and softeners, so you get addicted to lotion - which also, incidentally, is slimy and sticky and nasty).
And so we wondered, all you parents out there (or people who had parents, once) - what would you a done?
Do you follow the bathe-daily school of thought?
Or do you subscribe to the less is more belief?
The balance of MonkeyFish's cleanliness is in your hands.
I would love to hear your comments and stories regarding this very important issue - but please also answer on the poll on the sidebar to the right. This is serious business.
10 comments:
Stepper, my fellow colleagues and I are sitting in my living room reading your blog... we think that a happy medium would be in order. The verdict is that 3-4 times a week would be an appropriate number...but what do we know....we've never had babies.
You know ... I have heard that a couple of times a week is sufficient. HOWEVER, I am of your mind set. Nothing can ever be too clean. I think the sweet smell of babies is still there with the added bonus of a well scrubbed baby! Also ... isn't bath time some of the best playtime. Who wouldn't want that memory?
Well. Your hubby would be HORRIFIED to know that Brazilians bathe their babies sometimes three or four times a day.
Sweat. Also, they are allergic to dirt. It causes them to go into cardiac arrest on the spot.
Not even kidding.
I, personally, can argue either side. I get you. I get your husband. In general, I'm a once-a-dayer, using very gentle soaps. If they didn't play very rough that day or stayed mostly inside, we skip the bath. Then there are days where they were very boy-ish, and we take two or three baths. Sometime we just do a general rinse at the end of the day with no soaps at all. We're extremely consistent.
We don't do lotion, however. (Unless we're visiting Grandma in Utah. THEN we lotion. Cuz it's freakin' dry there. Seriously.)
To me, the real question is - how is your baby's skin? If it's dry or irritated, then I would do a full bath a couple times a week, and make sure to wash his hands a lot in between (which you should do anyway). Or do a "sink bath" just on his bum and lower body - don't wash his upper. If he's fine with once a day, then you should be too.
It is enough. I have spoken. Amen and amen.
This is your Auntie speaking here. I used to be the everyday type of girl like you, but then things changed. Miss Vic was the cleanest babe in the world. Then along came eczema (yes, the same as your monkeyfish), only it was pretty serious. Talked to the doc and found out a few things. The daily bath dries the skin even more. And guess what - so does most of the lotions (especially those baby types)! Theyt have alcohol in them and dry the skin out more.
Don't get me wrong. If the kid is dirty, get him washed! Boys and dirt go hand in hand, especially during the upcoming summer months. And the sweet smell of the lotion is addicting. But it really is probably better for their innocent skin to get less of both (water and lotion).
But by age 9-10, a daily scrubbing is a must! Good luck with the monkeyfish's bathing habits!
I bathed my babies every day until around kindergarten. I just liked them to smell clean....and they LOVED bath time.
But they didn't have skin conditions, nor did they get skin conditions from bathing that often.
If your boy is prone to eczema you should check with your Ped.
I bathe my girls every other day. They had sensitive skin...and the Doctor's told me they don't really sweat.
Plus... it makes my life easier. ;-)
My Mom used to wash our bums after every diaper change... we had cleaner bums than faces.
I am new to your blog and like it! I bathe my two girls a few times a week. Both have eczema, which is worse in the winter. They get more frequent baths in the summer when they are outside getting dirty more, and fewer baths in the winter when the eczema is the worst and we are mostly inside.
Lotion is helpful in dry weather but we try to go with natural, homemade stuff. Otherwise, if the skin looks okay, we leave it alone. There's my two cents.
Thanks for the fun blog!
So far I'm in the 4-5 baths a week category. If I notice Peyton is getting a few dry spots I may skip a day, I too lather her up with lotion to keep the dry spots away after a bath, and Brian like Bill HATES lotion!
In addition to the dry skin thing I go by the poop rule, I'll skip a bath if she didn't poop that day, otherwise she gets one. The fact that her rear end was in contact with feces just screams clean me!
I bath my babies every night. Not because I want them to be clean, but because I want them to sleep. The bath helps them to relax and fall asleep.
Ask your man this: doesn't he sleep better after a nice long bath?
oh. and that picture of that baby? SIMPLY DELICIOUS!
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