Do you bathe your baby daily with soap ?
By SangsTurks
@SangsTurks (1444)
India
May 31, 2008 8:43pm CST
The reason i ask this is beacause even baby soaps have a certain amount of toxic ingredients in it. And since babies have tender skin, they tend to absorb the chemicals much faster. So basicaly what we do is put in a lot of toxic in our childrens body daily for them to absorb it !!! Since babies donot get as dirty with sweat and grime like adults do, it could help if we use soap every alternate day. Just give them a simple water bath the other days. Incase you want to read something on the net for babies just type in 'baby products toxic' you will see so many things that you would not even have wondered about. Everything from feeding bottels to baby products have toxic in them.
I write this so that every mother reads it and keeps their babies safe as long as possible from the toxic elements.
2 people like this
17 responses
@emarie (5442)
• United States
1 Jun 08
Babies like infants, I used to give them a bath maybe 2-3 times a week depending how dirty they got. Mostly it was just a wipe down with warm water, thats all they need at the time. When they become older, baths every day are better I have boys...so they smell like dirt all the time.
We all have toxins which leak into our skin, over time our bodies do handle it. But if you want to remove them, I know theres a new product which you place a pad on your feet at night and it slowly removes the toxins from your body. I don't remember the name, but AsSeenOnTV might have it.
1 person likes this
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
2 Jun 08
Oh,i didnt know that we products that can remove toxins. Does it actually remove the toxins or is it just another way to sell a product?
To sponge bath babies is a very good habit, that way they dont even catch a cold!
@vaishalik (237)
• India
1 Jun 08
Here in our India there is a different way for baby bath, we first massage the baby with Almond oil or sandal wood oil. Then after some time we take paste of gram flour with cow's milk & some turmeric. Rub the paste on body, face etc. & pour slowly some lukewarm water. We need to take extra care for baby bath.Also there are so many herbal baby bath soaps.
1 person likes this
@thebeaddoodler (4262)
• Lubbock, Texas
1 Jun 08
Thank you for that information. I had read about it, but I was under the impression it was an out-dated practice and not used any more.
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
2 Jun 08
Is it actually practised now also! I dont think people have that much time. Yes, massages i can stand for, it is still done. How many herbal baby bath soaps do you know of, coz i just know 1??
@Shawchert (1094)
• United States
1 Jun 08
I look at the ingredients in my soap there is one you have to particularly look for and i can't really type the name in because i cna't spell it... but it's the most harmful, since my son is only 5 months old i give him a bath every other day and the other days i just take a wash cloth to his neck or any other dirty place. neck mostly because he drools so much and he finds ways to get stuff under that little fold lol. it's been getting better since he can pick his neck up more and more but that's the dirtiest besides the behind, place on an infant.
1 person likes this
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
1 Jun 08
you can use soap for the behind, but what you do is the best for your child" Sponge bath".
1 person likes this
@egnejmum (3)
• Australia
1 Jun 08
I personally am very picky with what my baby is bathed in - and i normally try to go with gaia skin naturals or qv products as they appear to be the safest products for a baby.
I don't bathe my son every day - every second day for him and sometimes my daughter (3) can go without a bath if she has not been out side or anything - i just give her a wet cloth and get her to wipe her genitals and other important areas.
My son gets his genitals wiped as well when he hasnt had a bath.
I agree - we do need to be careful with what products we use as a baby's skin is very sensitive.
1 person likes this
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
2 Jun 08
It is nice that you are choosy about what your baby is bathed in, if we dont see to it then who will . Hygine is very importan to all of us, and you do the very right thing to wipe the genitals when they are not taking a bath. I usually wash the genitals everyday for my son ,though i dont give him a bath daily.
@tshamilton (42)
• United States
1 Jun 08
I actually saw on the Today show awhile back how you really don't even need to wash our babies as often as we think. For a newborn, one or two times a week is sufficient. For toddlers, three to four times is all that is needed, unless they get really dirty of course. Soaps dry their skin out really really bad, or at least it dries out my boys' skin. Oh and its the plastics used in certain bottles that are toxic. Some companies are starting to change that though. In Canada, they've made a new law where companies cannot distribute any bottles that are made with these toxic plastics. The US needs to follow suit.
1 person likes this
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
1 Jun 08
You are quiet knowlegable! We have to be because it concerns our child. Those feeding bottels are made of polycarbonate materials which after 3 months or so start to release toxins, in the warm milk. So it is advised that we chage the bottles atleast every 3 months.
1 person likes this
@tshamilton (42)
• United States
1 Jun 08
I agree, and thank you! You are very knowledgeable also. Our babies depend on us!
1 person likes this
@Rintis (646)
• India
1 Jun 08
Yes, you are correct, the harmful chemicals in soap damage the delicate skin of babies. I ocassionally gave my son a soap bath but usually gave him a bath of gram flour mixed with honey and milk. It kept his body clean and soft and the best part was that it made his skin better.
1 person likes this
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
2 Jun 08
Wow that must be a nice bath.But dosnt the honey feel sticky. I am sure these ingredients make the skin soft and supple.
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
1 Jun 08
i don't have a baby yet... but i know that my friends who already have babies, they don't bathe their babies everyday... especially during winter... they are afraid that the babies will catch cold or get sick... thank you for the tips... it is really helpful for me when i have a baby in the future... take care and have a nice day...
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
1 Jun 08
I never bathed my babies every day, I didn't want to dry out their delicate skin or slather them with lotion. I was a believer in natural hygiene, still am, I take a shower when I need it and it might not be every day. My two sons got a bath when they needed it and not before. When I did bathe them, I used a natural soap with no additives even though in the late 80's natural things weren't so easy to find.
To this day, they have very healthy skin and rarely get sick. 
@graceandowen (1637)
•
1 Jun 08
No i do not bathe my children with soap - even now they are 2 and 3 years old, the reason for this is because they both have excema so any sort of soap irritates there skin even more, they have a special oil that they put into the bath that helps them not to loose too much oil from there skin when they are in the water.
@grasshopper5257 (438)
• Canada
1 Jun 08
I feel it is important to bathe your baby everyday to wash their little behinds. However, I believe like you do that baby soaps have alot of toxins in them which can be harmful to our little ones in many ways. I have found that ARbonne products for babies are all natural and will not harm their sensitive skin. Take a look at the products at www.nomorehotflashes.myarbonne.com If you would like to order any of the products please let me know and I can hook you up!
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
1 Jun 08
yes it is very important to bathe your child everyday, otherwise they would smell of milk and the other foods that they drop on them. thank ou for your help, i would surely let you know when i want ARbonne products.
1 person likes this
@mikeysmom (2088)
• United States
1 Jun 08
i never bathed my son every day and i still do not. he has a shower/bath every other day unless of course there is some reason why he needs one for some other reason. if he sweats excessively or gets real dirty then of course even if he had a bath the night before he will get another. there is no reason to bathe them every day. i would just wipe him down with a damp wash cloth in between to give his delicate skin a break and i did not use alot of products on him like baby lotions or powders or oils. you are right. these products have too many toxins in them. try to find alternatives to commercially available products or make your own. it may take some research and a bit more work but you will be doing your child a huge favor in the long run.
1 person likes this
@jonesy123 (3948)
• United States
1 Jun 08
When I had my first child the nurse in the hospital told us to only give her a bath once a week. Baby skin is very sensitive and can easily dry out due to frequent baths. Furthermore the risk of allergies increases. She stressed that a baby hardly can get so dirty as that it would need a daily bath, lol.
For me that made sense since I have extremely dry skin and can only take a shower every other day. I keep a similar schedule with my kids throughout the winter. Unless they are outside in the mud, they don't get dirty. Now in the summer as they run around outside, get sweaty and dirty, they take a daily one, unless it's a rainy day. As they get older they can decide whether they want to switch to a daily shower all year around, lol.
1 person likes this
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
1 Jun 08
Very true, that is what i was told when my son was born. Now he is a year old, so i sopnge bathe him one day the other day i use soap on him. As he gets dirty with all the food that he eats on him as he also like to chew his bib!! You do the very right thing i must say.
@sntrgbsn2 (32)
• United States
1 Jun 08
I don't bath my baby with soap I use baby wash I don't think that their skin or their body is ready for the soap unless you are using something like Dove. A baby body shouldn't be smelling for they don't work hard like we do,but I know that there are times that they do smell from the milk and some babies sweat really bad. Thanks for the info about the soap. I will make sure to pass it along to my friends.
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
1 Jun 08
The main ingredients in baby wash can be similar to soaps, please read the ingredients used for bay washes too. We all normally that everybody is using the product so it might be nice but do not for get to read the contents of the products. My skin dosnt agree with dove, see we go on the brand names thinking it is mild,but i get these really dry patches after i use dove!! When dove is supposed to be1/4th moistureiser!!Sorry for the spelling:)
1 person likes this
@bombshell (11256)
• Germany
1 Jun 08
hello! yes my little one has daily bath specially this summer but i am not using daily with soap,its cause dry skin.
1 person likes this
@hockeygal4ever (10021)
• United States
2 Jun 08
Method, http://www.methodhome.com , has a whole line of totally natural baby products that have no chemicals. I've tried them all and the products rock.
@sun2day (1062)
• Virgin Islands (U.S.)
2 Jun 08
Thanks for the information. I bathed my kids with ivory soap, because I have always heard it is pure soap. Today one hardly know what to use. I think the things that are fragrance free might be better to use. t
@16031981 (449)
• Jamaica
2 Jun 08
i dont av a young bady but i agree with you soap contains alot of toxic. when i had my baby and went home mom told me no soap for the baby jus some luke warm water with a little baking soda its helps with the changing of the skin.
