With raising 5 kids, one of the most common questions I get is the following: “How do you bathe each of them every day?” And no, I don’t line them up in a row and hose them down (although I wish I could sometimes). Instead, I had to brainstorm different ways to get them all to take their baths. In time, I developed a bathing guide or system that has yet to fail me.

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My Bathing Tips for Children

To get my children to take their baths, I came up with a 3-step plan. The first step is getting together pajamas for my boys. In their bedroom, I’ll lay piles of pajamas on the floor so that they can just grab the first pile they see when they walk in the room. In each pile, there is a set of pajamas, a pair of underwear, a pair of socks, and an undershirt. The best part about these pajamas? They are interchangeable. It doesn’t matter which pile my sons grab, it will fit. My youngest son can wear my oldest son’s pajamas, and vice versa. They’re all the same, and this saves me the headache of having to sort out who grabs what pile!

My second step is potty time. I’ll put my baby behind a safety gate and my three boys will sit on their respective toilets. My oldest son will sit on the real toilet, and my two younger sons will sit on baby potties, usually with a book and a bottle of water. This gives me the chance to bathe my 3-year-old daughter, comb her hair, brush her teeth, and then put her behind the safety gate.

My third and final step is sudsy time. By the time I put my daughter behind the safety gate, my boys are just itching to get in the bath! So I’ll put them in, do my best to clean them (if they let me!) and allow them to have a few water fights. After just several minutes, my boys start coming out one by one, I dry them off, and I send them along their merry way to get dressed for bed.

If your children resist getting out of the bath and into their pajamas, watch my video for tips on how to turn it into a game! Parents, what are your bathing tips for your kids?