Bathing your newborn

How often should you give your newborn a bath?

I gave my daughters a bath every other day.

I think we bathed Ryan every day, if I'm not mistaken.  Heavenly Mommy would know for sure.  My memory is shot. :)

Actually, I think I gave him a wash cloth wipe-down during his first month because he felt too fragile to even put in the baby bath tub. I think if you're going to use the tub, every other day is sufficient. It's not like your son is getting really dirty at this point!

Several decades ago, the prevailing wisdom was to bathe the baby every day.  This was to help wash off the residue from pre-birth, and also the milk dribbles under the chin and behind the ears, etc.  And to keep the bottom area especially clean (remember, we didn't have disposal diapers back then), and also to make sure the navel healed cleanly and properly. 

Of course back then, we were also forbidden to use baby bottles that had not been sterilized and the water boiled before adding to the formula.

When my daugther came home from the hospital, I gave her a bath every 3 days.  I would wipe her down everyday, but not an actual bath.  She is now 16 months old and she gets a bath every night.  Shes a messy eater and a messy player, plus with it being so hot and humid...it's an every night adventure at my house lol.