Bathing Brielle

Like all things baby related, bathing is one of those controversial things. Or shall I say, how often to bathe your baby is a controversial thing. Do babies need to be bathed every day? Experts say no. Can you bathe your baby daily? Experts say it's completely up to you. Do all babies like to bathe? No. But we believe in a regular bath time routine, a clean baby and ours absolutely loves to bathe. While in NICU, Brielle was bathed twice. Once home, and for the past 3 weeks, she was bathed every second day. But now that she's past the 1 month mark, has begun spitting up and has some pretty nasty diapers, we've decided that a daily bathing ritual is going to be a part of our routine.


Brielle's first bath! A calm & relaxing experience.

 Both Rhonda & I grew up having daily baths (showers as we got older, but I do prefer to bath) so we both believe there are many benefits to Brielle bathing every day. First and foremost, babies get end up with puke on themselves and as much as you try to get it out, there is bound to be a bit stuck in the creases of their neck and other places we may not notice or wipe it all away from. And then theirs the poop & pee. Wipes are made to remove as much as possible but a good old fashioned soak in the water helps to remove what wipes did not. Yes, you can sponge bath your baby, but we just prefer for her to bathe.

She enjoys it so much, she sometimes wants to fall asleep.

And besides the cleanliness part of it, there is the fact that she loves it! If she's crying before she gets in the tub, you'll be sure she stops immediately when submerged in water. She floats to the top, kicks her feet up onto the side of the tub and relaxes with a smile on her face for the entire time she's just floating around and even when she's being washed with her cloth. It seems we have a water baby!

I know the big argument is dry skin. Thus far, Brielle has had only had a patch of dry skin on her forehead that started around the time she left the NICU, but if we notice that bathing is causing her an issue, we will reconsider her daily bath. But for now, every morning she has her breakfast and is then treated to a nice, calm, relaxing and enjoyable bathing experience. Then it's a towel dry, a little baby oil or lotion, some vaseline on the bum, a nice clean diaper, some fresh clothes, her hair brushed, nails clipped if need be, gums & tongue brushed, Vitamin D drops and she's ready to start a brand new day!