How Often Take a Bath for a 3 y.o. Going to Preschool Every Day??

Everyday. It's a good routine to establish (whether it is in the evening or morning) and it is practicing good hygiene. And, if they have always bathed daily they will not fight it when they get older because it is something they have "always" done...

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We bathe our daughter every night before bed. Not only does she get clean but it helps with our bedtime routine and she loves the bath tub!

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We bath all our children (20 mo., 3 yrs & 5 yrs) daily and live in the desert. Just be sure to moisturize them well. I think daily bathing promotes better hygiene as they get older.

Updated

We bath all our children (20 mo., 3 yrs & 5 yrs) daily and live in the desert. Just be sure to moisturize them well. I think daily bathing promotes better hygiene as they get older.

2 moms found this helpful

We certainly don't give our girls baths every day and they get sick less than average... Every other day seems more than fine to me. You can wash his hands and face more often obviously. We also use the flushable wet wipes if he's toilet trained. Otherwise I could see a bath everyday.

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We do every-other-day b/c my son has really sensitive skin and daily bathing dries him out. We do a complete "wipe down" with a washcloth each night, thorough hand washing and a quick "nail check" every night.

Having said that, if he's dirty- he gets a bubble no matter what!

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I bathe our son everyday. He is in 2nd grade. I just think it is gross to put him in clean pjs/clean sheets when he is dirty. I also think it helps cut down on colds and allergy issues. Some will say that is over doing it but he had one cold the entire winter.

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I didn't get a chance to read the other responses but I wanted to respond to you fast. I think a bath everyday is probably the best idea especially when going to preschool and playing outside. I too have a 3 year old and a 4 year old, they get pretty dirty playing so sometimes it's not evident but it is a good idea to just give them baths on school days. Oh, especially since schools are the primary place to catch colds and get exposed to tons of germs just starting fresh everyday is a good practice. Hope you're getting plenty of good advise.

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Everyday.

Staph germs, abound.

My Mom has a co-worker, that ended up in the hospital from a staph infection, that entered via a small cut.

I had a staph infection, when I was a child. That entered from a small cut.
It gets real bad, real fast.
I almost ended up in the hospital too.

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My 4-year-old grandson takes a quick shower and brushes his teeth just before bed everyday. He plays hard, especially on preschool days, and gets pretty dirty! It's his nightly routine. He just learned how to get his PJ's out of his dresser and get himself dressed without help.

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my son is 3 1/2 and is 24/7 at home with me and I bathe him every other day depending on his activity but he will start preschool soon and regardless of his activity there I would definitely bathe him every day during the week not only to keep him fresh and clean but to minimize the germ passing.

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Y.,
If it were my child it'd be everyday, the sandbox, grass,other stuff on the ground that can be unhealthy, impetigo, to name just one ,esp when they have boo boos. I wouldn't take chances !

C. S.

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Since you live in LA I would say every day. It's warmer there and the sweat and grime of playing in warm weather would just be more than I think is acceptable. Here in the Winter time I bathe the kids less but they are not playing out in dirt and running in heat.

Quick showers (less than 5 minutes) that just wash off the dirt and clean the hair are pretty much what we do most of the time. Playing in the bathtub is reserved for days when they just need the play time.

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For a 3 year old we always bathed ours every day before bed, unless he's that filthy after school that he couldn't wait. But they could get dirty again, depending on what they do after school. We just did a quicky with our triplets, lined them up, poured water over their heads, lathered them up head to toe, turned the water back on and dumped water over their heads again. With our older two who are singletons we'd just make a bath and toss them in to play for a bit. But definately every day. Kinda helps wash away any germs too with all the kids they're around.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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We give our just turned 3 year old son a bath every other day because of his super dry, sensitive skin. He plays outside every day at daycare, so we will do a complete wipe down with a washcloth on "off days." I will say that he does get a bath if he is super dirty...no matter what day it is.

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We bathe DS (currently 5) every 3 days (of course more if he is covered in mud). If he gets bathed any more often he gets horribly dry skin (like mine). His pediatrician recommended not more that every 2 days, and preferably every 3.

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I do every day- my kids smell when they don't bathe.

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I bathe my son daily. I have all along because it was part of our bed time routine, but now that he is in pre-school too, he gets really dirty lol and he actually needs the bath. Most of the time we have bath/bath play time but there are times we do a quick wash off where he stands holding my arm and I do a quick wash if you worried about the time.

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I think everyday after school should be just fine.. more confortable for him/her :) Before bedtime always work for a good nights sleep :)

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I bathe my son (3) every day if sandy, otherwise every other day w/ just a wipe down of his hands, face, and any obvious dirt.

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Everyday, especially in preschool, they spent so much time outside, she needed the bath,..

I also found it was a good way for her to calm down after dinner in a quiet bath with warm water, some nice rubs with the wash cloth, the nice rubs with the bath towel to dry her off.

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When my son was that age he had a bath every day.
I wanted to wash the day care germs off him before he went to bed (and get the sand/mulch out of his hair - I swear some kids must lie down and roll in it).
Bath time was something he looked forward to and a lot of the time once I got him in, it was hard to get him out (at least until the water got cold).

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Although we have generally bathed our son every day--there are times when we have skipped a day--but always still to the face, hands, feet, butt....probably just as easy to pop him quickly in the tub, huh? lol

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Of Course! Remember even the little time that your child is playing in the sandbox that he or she is still picking up germs. Whenever kids play in the sandbox there is always a possibility of Wringworms and other things lurking in the sand attaching itself to your child. I would not want to put my child in his or her clean bed and have not taken a bath. I have a 14yr and the rule is if you do not take a bath then you sleep on the floor. To many germs from others that could make your child sick and infected. Im not a clean freak and there is always exceptions to the rule but if my 14yr old go out to football practice or basketball and decides to not take a bath which only a boy would do, then he sleeps on the floor, MY RULE!.. You want to teach your child good hygiene manners and yes they should take a bath everyday if they are going to play in the sand or in the grass.

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Hi
I believe you should do what works for you.
If your kid smells, is uncomfortable, or is getting infections from not being clean enough..there's your answer.
Otherwise, we always did every other day...and my girl smelled sweet!

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My son is 4 and goes to preschool. He gets a bath everyday, if not just to wash off the other kid's germs. Most of the time he is a big ol' mess from playing so hard. If he doesn't smell, or isn't visibly dirty, you can keep doing what you are doing. I just can't stand the idea of him getting in his clean bed every night with all those germs all over him. lol

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When we do give him a bath every day it's mostly for consistency or "relax time", but we will also skip a day occasionally if we've had a mellow evening. Our son goes to daycare 3 days per week from 8:30-5:00 and pre-school 2 days per week from 8:30-5:00.

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I bathed my kids every night. I just felt that with all the different households they were exposed to at pre-school and the playground dirt, I felt better knowing they went to bed clean every night. I had no way of knowing what they had touched, crawled through, had sprinkled on them or they laid on to feel confident letting them skip the bath. Every one is different and there is no correct answer, you have to do what feels right for you.

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my sons both got baths every night before bed. I just couldnt stand the thought of them crawling into bed covered in whatever they had done that day.

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I have a 4 years old son who is in preschool full time, Monday-Friday 9-5. Since I wouldn't know what exactly he does in school everyday, so I give him a bath right before his bedtime and wash his hair every other day, unless I notice it gets really dirty. It always a quick bath about 10 to 15 mins and he loves it.

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My 4 year old daughter gets a quick shower (body only) every day. Her hair is washed twice a week (after swim class) because she has long, thick hair and it takes forever to dry. She does go to preschool and I'll keep her hair braided to help keep it clean. She doesn't smell after school, but I know she's been having fun in the yard. I'm personally more comfortable sleeping at night without that layer of sweat and grime, so I figure it'd be the same deal for her. I use Aveeno Baby Wash and lotion on her and she's had no issues with dryness or skin irritation.

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My son is 8 now and I've been doing the bath every other day since he was in preschool. He has really dry skin and bathing every day doesn't help that. However, once in awhile I do everyday if he is really smelly or dirty. In the summer I do a bath almost everyday because he's in the pool with chlorine. Sometimes we don't have time for a bath so I take a soapy wash clothe and wash him down before bedtime. When we're in New York in the winter we might skip 2 days since it's cold and he's not running around sweating. It just depends on what you feel comfortable with.

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My little guy will be 4 in June and with the warmer weather and playing outside we usually do a nightly bath. The Pediatrician actually suggested we Not bathe him nightly because he has eczema, so we try some nights to forgo a bath and just use a wet wash cloth instead, but at this age he loves his bath so it is rare for us to get through a night without one. I think it really depends on the child, when my oldest son was that age there was no not bathing him because he was just a sweaty kiddo, you know the kind of sweat where he runs around and his head would look wet because he would sweat so much? He had to have a nightly bath or he would really smell unfresh. But if your little guy seems to fair ok with every other night I see nothing wrong with that.

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On cooler days when he's wearing pants & shoes, it's probably okay to skip a day. Just make sure the hands and washed thoroughly when he gets home, and of course before bedtime.
On warmer days when he's wearing shorts & sandals, I'd say everyday.

To me it depends on the kid's chemistry. My son had to bathe daily; my daughter, less frequently.

When mine was in daycare, I bathed him every evening. If you want to do every other, you can wipe him down with a washcloth or quick shower on the off day.

Hi Y.,
You've gotten alot of great advice here. I do think it's interesting that so many people here seem to think it's UNhygenic to bathe every other day. Just to clarify, the only culture on earth that is more obsessed with washing than the US is the japanese. Most of the rest of the developed world (eg, those with access to showers) understand that it's not neccesary to do a full body wash everyday, unless you are actually dirty or sweaty. Our kids (now ages 7 and 9) typically bathe about 5 times a week, more in the summer or during soccer season. My husband and I do the same (eek!) most of the time as well. I think that every house should have a bidet ;-) Those are the only parts that need daily washing (and underarms) during normal activity days. just my two cents.
Of course, kids usually love baths, so I wouldn't withhold it or anything if they really want one everyday! lol

I do every other day. Sometimes daily depending on the situation. We're in a similar situation with preschool. We always wash hands before and after everything we do at home and wipe his face down before bedtime.

Every other day unless messy enough for the every day washdown :)

Growing up, we got baths every other day unless we were noticibly dirty. Other than that, we just washed our hands and faces.