Siblings bathing together

amother

Mon, May 18 2020, 11:37 pm

I'm guessing this may have been asked before but I did a search and couldn't find anything.

For opposite gender siblings what ages are OK to still bathe together?

My personal family situation is a preschool aged boy and baby sister.

Blessing1

Mon, May 18 2020, 11:38 pm

My girls I bathe together till about age 3.
Boys and girls I never bathe together.
I also stopped bathing kids together because I became disgusted by it. They're bathing in each other's dirt.

tichellady

Tue, May 19 2020, 12:03 am

Go with your gut. If your kid(s) seem bothered by it then don’t bathe them together. I think for little kids it really depends on the family culture

Kiwi13

Tue, May 19 2020, 12:21 am

I think it's okay for little kids, like under 3, give or take. Personally, I'm not comfortable with it and with rare exceptions, such as trying to help my child with ASD overcome fear of bath time, I have always insisted on bathing them separately and giving them each their own privacy, even as babies. There are going to be tons of people who disagree with me, but I'm very into body privacy and teach my kids to respect their own privacy and others'. To me, it goes along with telling them they don't have to give a hug or kiss if they don't want to, and also teaching them to respect when other people don't want physical contact. OP, you're going to get a whole slew of different answers. ;-)

amother

Crimson

Tue, May 19 2020, 12:40 am

My DS is 5 and my DD is 2 and they bathe together every night.. I don't see any issue with it at this point.

amother

Tan

Tue, May 19 2020, 12:51 am

I used to bathe my kids together. Ages five and under. I stopped because it started grossing me out from a hygiene perspective. And also my pediatrician mentioned that it's an excellent way to make sure they share all the bacteria and viruses.

amother

Goldenrod

Tue, May 19 2020, 2:11 am

OP, how hard is it to bath them separate? I don't think I'd want to bathe them together past age 2-2.5 for the older kid.
Same gender, I'd probably do till 4.
My 2 genders are too far apart for me to have experience with this, but this is how I feel.
I am not concerned about the hygiene factor. Kids share so much anyway...And, chances are, you have 1/2 bottle of shampoo and a dissolving bar of soap in the tub anway.... Wink

amother

Sienna

Tue, May 19 2020, 3:12 am

My 5 year old DD and 2 year old DS still bathe together. I would bathe my son first and my daughter afterwards but she just strips down and climbs into the tub with him. She likes having the extra playtime I guess. I usually wash him first and take him out and then she bathes herself under supervision.

I also have a preteen DD and on these long endless Fridays she'll put on a bathing suit and give the 5 year old a really fun bubble bath for the good part of an hour after I put the 2 year old in for a nap. They make themselves beards and crazy hairstyles and use the bubbles to tell long rambling stories.

Rappel

Tue, May 19 2020, 6:24 am

Do you all empty the bathtub and scrub it between kids' baths? How on earth do you ever finish bedtime?

(And I don't know about you, but it's a rare day that my kids blacken the bath water, and they're pretty outdoorsy. What are your kids doing that makes them so dirty?)

For the OP - we've never yet had a bathtub big enough to bathe the kids together, but I don't think I would anyway. The ensuing playfighting would not be safe, and it would probably put me over the edge at the end of a long day.

amother

Violet

Tue, May 19 2020, 6:32 am

Dd5 dd3 and ds 5 months bath together every single night. Bh noone has been sick/had fever since hes born. Dd3 and dd5 bathed together since 2nd one was born. I needed a friend for her badly. I clearly remember my old apt tub with those endless afternoons with oldest dd and sticking her in the bath as an activity and trying to entertain her. Bh they all play together now...

amother

Olive

Tue, May 19 2020, 6:43 am

amother [ Sienna ] wrote:

You’re doing something right if your girls have fun playing together like that and you’re not bothered by the mess. Enjoy the nachas!

shabbatiscoming

Tue, May 19 2020, 6:47 am

Unhygenic to bath siblings? Come on, for generations, people have been doing this.
Nobody is getting sick from bathing together.
I fail to see what is unhygenic about this.

bsy

Tue, May 19 2020, 8:07 am

My 3.5 year old dd and 20 month old ds bathe together. The baby climbs in whenever shes in first, so I can't really prevent it. I dont see anything wrong with it.

amother

Aquamarine

Tue, May 19 2020, 9:21 am

My 7 & 5 yr old DDs bathe together and have so much fun with beach toys in the bath. I never thought that it’s even questionable Salut

amother

Gold

Tue, May 19 2020, 9:47 am

I started showering on my own (no help from mom) when I was in first grade, but sometimes I would shower all alone and sometimes I would shower with my sister who was 1.5 years older than me, depending on what we wanted. When I was in third grade I decided on my own I didn't want to shower with my sister anymore because of comfort (we didn't have a bath, just shower, and showering together meant half the time you aren't standing under the water so get cold). My parents never told us we had to stop showering together, it was actually my decision, and I feel like it was healthy and ideal that way.

Blessing1

Tue, May 19 2020, 10:03 am

amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:

My 7 & 5 yr old DDs bathe together and have so much fun with beach toys in the bath. I never thought that it’s even questionable Salut

7 is a bit too old in my opinion. Doesn't she want and ask for privacy?

amother

Emerald

Tue, May 19 2020, 10:46 am

Occasionally if they are bored I let them take a bath together while wearing bathing suits (DD8 and DS6). It's like going swimming. They bathe and shower regularly enough that I am not particularly worried about dirt.

Blessing1

Tue, May 19 2020, 10:55 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Unhygenic to bath siblings? Come on, for generations, people have been doing this.
Nobody is getting sick from bathing together.
I fail to see what is unhygenic about this.

You can assume that someone will pee in the bath. Babies/toddler always pee in the bath.