When is best time of day to bathe your baby?

Eva - posted on 07/20/2011

Before we ever left the hospital my baby’s pediatrician. Said that the first thing u should do when your baby wakes up is to feed them, because while they are sleeping that is when they do all there growing. If u make them mad by bathing them they will have lost energy and growth while they were sleeping. So they wake up or u wake them, feed them, change them, then do all the other thing needed. Now on the bathing part, my personal opinion; that time of day when they are awake the most is when I give my baby a bath.

Laura - posted on 08/23/2009

My little guy likes baths much better when either dad or i are in the tub with him. He gets to play with toys more because we have a better grip on the slippery little devil.

Stephannie - posted on 08/23/2009

i give my daughter a bath at 8, then she eats and goes right to sleep afterwards, works great, and shes not fussy she just relaxes and kicks in the water. when i do that she knows her day is done and shes has a good night sleep

Kia - posted on 08/23/2009

You could always try to give her a bath in the mornings and see how that works out. I think that it is hard to establish a routine when you bathe in the mornings because I don't want to take my son out of the house right after he has taken a bath for fear of him getting sick. You also have to realize that bath time is not the highlight of the day for all babies. Sometimes they hate it. And if she is hungry, bath time will not be pleasant. You can try to bathe her about 30 minutes before it is time for her to eat so that way when she is done it is exactly feeding time. My son usually gets a bath before his last feeding of the day also, but if he is hungry we will bathe him after the feeding. This may help also. Hopefully this was helpful for you.

Stephanie - posted on 08/23/2009

I had the same problem finding the best time of day to bathe my baby, I used to give my baby a bath before her last feeding, but sometimes she was so hungry she was really cranky during her bath. For a while I started feeding her on one side, giving her her bath, then finishing up after her bath. It seems to work well, she was happy for her bath AND she would sleep through the night because I fed her right before she went to sleep. After a while she started going longer between feedings and I was able to go back to giving her a bath, then nursing her. Good luck!

Sarah - posted on 08/22/2009

my son used to absolutely loathe his baths it was literally like a dip in quick wash out because he used to scream the place down so he had a wash every morning to try and get him used to water and a bath every couple of days .. until he got to about 3/4months old when he didn't seem to mind it .. i think its because he was able to sit up a bit more .. he's almost 7months now and absolutely loves having a splash in the tub so he has a bath every night as part of his bedtime routine (needs a bath as well .. since eating solids is a messy business ..plus he throws up a lot ... still has his wash every morning tooo)

anyway i give my son a bath about 5pm every night because he has his dinner at 4pm (gets very messy!!) and i get him ready for bed .. he then has his bottle at 6pm and bed at 7pm ..

i've heard that giving half her bottle before her bath may help and then the rest afterwards?

i use the johnsons bedtime bath and lotion.

and play games with his bath toys and sing nursery rhymes like 5 little ducks and row row row ur boat doing actions with the toys lol

Sophia - posted on 08/22/2009

My baby did not like her bath at first, she was a newborn and it was just too cold (born in Feb and it was -20 deg C here). Once she put on a good bit of weight (say 2 weeks or a month??) she started enjoying it more. Also, if you try to make the bath sound fun (rather than being stressed about the bath), then the baby picks up on that vibe and seems to relax and enjoy it more.

I also found that by the end of the bath, she is usually quite hungry and can get rather fussy as a result, particularly towards the end of the bath or as we are towelling her. So I always have to give a nightcap feeding no matter what. Your baby may or may not be the same way.

Good luck! Soon enough, she will enjoy her bath, I am sure!

Christy - posted on 08/22/2009

I have always given my boys baths at night before bed. I think that is the most soothing way to go to sleep, plus if you stick to routine your kids no bath time means bedtime is soon to follow. I would stick to bedtime baths maybe just make them brief if she doesn't like them now, really young babies don't always like being in the bath. Maybe even try feeding a lil before bath time just to make sure she's not hungry. Other than that wait it out and see what happens. Good luck!

Janet - posted on 08/21/2009

Sometimes they don't like baths when they are really little. Mine loved it and still does. But it depends on the baby. I think it's great to do it before bed and establish that routine. I like doing the 3 b's for bedtime: bath, book, and then bed. I'm sure your little one will get used to it as time goes on. Just try to relax yourself when you give her a bath even though she is crying and maybe sing a song.

Melissa - posted on 08/21/2009

I usually give my twins a bath before their naptime feeding. It helps to tire them out for naptime. try giving her a bath at diff. times to see if it is a bath thing or that is just her fussy time.

Jackie - posted on 08/21/2009

How old is your daughter? In the beginning my daughter hated having baths at night so i gave them to her in the morning and she loved them. I think cause she was too tired at night she just didn't want to take a bath. When i went back to work i had to give them to her at night and that was around 3 months and she was fine with the night time baths then and ever since and now she is 10 months.

Reesa - posted on 08/21/2009

I give my daughter a bath before her last feeding of the evening too to calm her. I've found that if it's too close to bedtime she fusses through the whole thing. Maybe try a half hour earlier than you normally would. That should do the trick.

Biljana - posted on 08/21/2009

I used to do the same thing and she'd be fine whilst in the water but when it came to dressing she would kick and scream. I then figured that she was wayyyyyyy too tired for the bath so i just do it a lil earlier, usually before her last feed then we waste more energy playing so that by the time shes on her last bottle at 7pm she falls asleep while eating ;-)

Jenny - posted on 08/21/2009

my kids both have their baths after the tea but before their bed time bottle. if my baby boy (5 months) is fussing i give him half of his bottle before his bath at 6 then the rest after. many babies dont like baths until they are older. my girl dint like it until she could sit up!

Isabela - posted on 08/20/2009

My fiance and I feed her a bit than give her a warm shower and then finish, try playing or singing to your baby during washing. I take a 10 minute shower with her so we dance and play with the water, etc. We've been doing it since her umbilical cord fell off, and all the movement makes her all the more tired

Jillian - posted on 08/20/2009

i give my baby baths when we r getting ready for the day. she seems to like her baths. even if shes crying and screaming, as soon as she's in the bath, she's quiet.

Minnie - posted on 08/20/2009

My daughters have always bathed with me from birth. So whenever I'm showering, and they need a cleaning in they go as well.

We've never done the before-bed bath.

Mari - posted on 08/20/2009

my kids generally get baths before bed. The older 2 get to play in thetub whil I gey the baby drrssed. Then I come back in wash them and let them play a little longer and then we get dressed for bed and as soon as my daughters hair is dry I lay her down. While I do all that th bath usually relaxes the baby enough that he poops so I take care of that, feed him one more time and then put him to bed. Then the oldest goes to bed shortly after.

Melissa - posted on 08/20/2009

every baby has at least one fussy period of the day. maybe your daughter's is in the evening. it might not have anything to do with her bath at all.

i also relate bath times to the personalities...

with my two.....

baths relax my son and help in the bedtime process.

with my daughter, baths wake her right up LoL (so she needs a little time after her bath to feel sleepy)

my kids go to bed between 730 and 830, baths start at 6. i give my daughter one first. when she's done, i set her up with a snack and a favourite movie or show. i bathe her brother while she's muching and winding down. after he's bathed, he gets a bottle of milk, and then goes down a half hour later.

it takes a bit of time to get things/routines down-pat. i always found it easier to go with the flow (within reason of course!) rather than to stick to a too-strict schedule and fight my kids. the way i see it, they are little people with feelings, too, and they eat and sleep when they want to just like adults. it follows the old cliche, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

i always found my instincts along with my kids' personalities always panned out better than all the advice that all the books say you should do with your children. i just use them as guidelines, rather than how-tos.

hopefully you guys can get the bathtime down soon!

she's really sweet :)

Amber - posted on 08/20/2009

i think the best time would be after all evening feedings, events, visitors, etc. do it before bed and use a lavender scented soap to help her sleep. before bed would be best so shes not sleeping with spitup or food or sweat all over her body....might make her more comfy (i know it does me!)

Katarina - posted on 08/20/2009

Also try giving her a bath after her feeding not before.

Katarina - posted on 08/20/2009

How old is she? My son didn't like his baths until he was 10 weeks old. I give him his baths in the evening just before bed. I sing him a song, used the Johnson's Bedtime Bath,Massage him with the Bedtime lotion and within 20 minutes he's out like a light. Try giving her a bath in the morning or interacting a little bit bit. We also bought this Safety First tub that had an attachable "frog" sling. It makes you little one float on top of the water. That saved us!

Stephanie - posted on 08/23/2009

I had the same problem finding the best time of day to bathe my baby, I used to give my baby a bath before her last feeding, but sometimes she was so hungry she was really cranky during her bath. For a while I started feeding her on one side, giving her her bath, then finishing up after her bath. It seems to work well, she was happy for her bath AND she would sleep through the night because I fed her right before she went to sleep. After a while she started going longer between feedings and I was able to go back to giving her a bath, then nursing her. Good luck!