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Bath time?

Guardian: Psychologists award dads the order of the bath: "Children who are regularly bathed by their fathers during their first year are less likely to encounter behavioural problems in later life, according to a report today by researchers from the University of Central London."

They found 30% of children who missed out on regular bathing by their father or a surrogate father figure experienced "significant and enduring friendship problems."

But these difficulties affected only 3% of those bathed by their father at least three or four times a week.

Howard Steele, a psychologist at the university, said: "The function of the father is to introduce the child to the social world beyond the mother, through assuming some of the early caregiving duties and increasingly via playful and joyful stimulation of the child's interests."

Bath time was a good opportunity for the working father to provide this support.

The report was commissioned by the utilities provider Powergen after customer service staff noticed that callers asking the correct temperature for baby's baths were predominantly mothers.

Dr Steele and his wife, fellow psychologist Miriam Steele, based their conclusions on a sequence of interviews with 200 parents who had a child 14 years ago.

Hmmm. I don't bath Bradley that often, I used to bath Esme a lot in comparison -- things will change.

Discuss