Podcast Parents Draw Backlash for Not Bathing Their Kids for Literal ‘Months’
For many parents, bath time is a crucial part of their children's routine, but some moms and dads don't bathe their kids regularly. And it's not just celebrities such as Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher who are participating in this bizarre hygiene movement.
In a clip from the Dear Media podcast shared on TikTok, parents gather around the mic to confess how rarely they actually bathe their kids.
"I don't wanna say we avoid bathing but we bathe very rarely," one dad tells the other podcast hosts.
"She didn't have a bath for like, five months of her life," his wife chimes in, referring to their daughter.
"Yeah, we didn't bathe her for the first whole part of her childhood. Now we basically bathe her as she asks for it because it's fun or she's exceptionally dirty," the dad continues.
While many people believe that daily body washing is essential for cleanliness and hygiene, others believe it strips the body of natural oils and dries the skin.
"We really wanted to keep her skin microbiome as healthy and intact [as possible]. Even if it's just rinsing with water, our water has chlorine in it," the mom adds, explaining they don't bathe their child regularly due to "preservatives" and "chemicals" in the water.
The other parents on the podcast agree.
"This show and being married to my wife has opened me up to so many more thought processes like this," the second dad weighs in. "I think so many of us are conditioned ... but if you really strip it down and think about it ... Obviously we lived this way naturally for a very long time ... So it's coming back to a more primal way of life."
"That makes a lot of sense to just like, let it be. I feel like as a mother, too, you have intuition to know when they need a bath," his wife adds.
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The clip drew instant backlash. In the comments section, many viewers expressed their disgust.
"My mother's intuition says my child needs a bath daily," one TikTok user wrote.
"Yeah, we also only lived to 40 years old back then," another commented.
"This is why not everyone needs a podcast," someone else wrote.
Meanwhile, a clip of the TikTok went viral on Twitter, where one user wondered if there's any way they can "intervene" with "straight white millennial parents" who don't give their kids regular baths.
"I'm just… shocked… I bathe my toddler every night. Sometimes also during the day because she gets so dirty. Truly I'm floored," one Twitter user commented.
"Did they forget that without clean water, we had things like the PLAGUE?" another questioned.
Someone claiming to be a microbiologist chimed in to remind Twitter that "washing does affect the skin microbiome," however, "it is still fairly resilient as long as you're not using super basic (high pH) soaps."
"Your skin's secretions should help get the microbiome back to normal," they continued, adding, "The skin is exposed to so many things (UV Radiation, physical abrasion, chemical abrasion, etc.) that microbes that live on it have to be resilient. So washing regularly is maintenance. There's certainly a point of over washing, but it's certainly not washing daily."