Mila Kunis is totally unapologetic about not bathing her kids very often

Much like sleep, kids just don’t understand the luxury of a good bath! This is probably why Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis don’t make sure their kids are bathed every day—they’re just going to get dirty again anyway, right?

Over the summer, an episode of the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard went viral when Kunis and Kutcher talked about general hygiene habits, which led to a discussion about not bathing their kids super often.

Now the star is doubling down on her no-baths-everyday stance on Ellen.

In a clip from her new appearance on the talk show, Kunis declares the entire debacle over her family’s bathtime controversy “so dumb.”

“My intent every day is to bathe my children. I wake up and say: Today I am going to shower my kids! And then bedtime happens and I forgot to feed them…” and apparently, sometimes, baths just don’t make the cut.

Growing flustered, she told DeGeneres, “I mean, I shower, Ellen. The kids — there’s a body of water they touch just about every day. Almost every other day. Sometimes it’s the pool, sometimes it’s the sprinkler. It just depends. It’s COVID. We didn’t leave the house. Who cares?!”

Kunis and Kutcher proved they were good sports after their comments went viral. They shared a hilarious video poking fun at themselves as they showered their kids a few days later:

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A post shared by Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk)

“I wasn’t the parent that bathed my newborns. Ever,” Kunis said on Armchair Expert back in July about her two kids: daughter Wyatt and son Dimitri.

You’re not technically supposed to bathe your newborns more than a few times a week, max. Bathing them can cause their sensitive little newborn skin to become overly dry and/or irritated, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. With the exception of the occasional blowout, newborns aren’t really dirty.

Additionally, babies and toddlers who aren’t walking yet don’t have many opportunities to get messy. As a substitute for daily bathing, simply rinsing off, brief soaks, and just wiping down with a washcloth can go a long way for little kids.

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A post shared by Armchair Expert Podcast (@armchairexppod)

Kutcher agreed with his wife, and also said that the mentality about bathing has more or less continued as babies grew into kids.

“Here’s the thing: If you can see the dirt on them, clean them,” Kutcher added. “Otherwise, there’s no point.”

Though this is a solid response to their bath-time overshare, it’s important to understand why not everyone finds it funny when wealthy white people openly discuss not bathing regularly. And many people did not, in fact, find this whole thing very funny at the time. And many of them took to social media to explain why.

MSNBC host Joy Ann Reid pointed out some sobering facts on Twitter: “Segregation included barring Black folks from swimming in pools or at public beaches on the premise that we were dirty by definition. … So when did it become rich kitsch to brag about family filthiness?”

Many other celebrities like The Rock and Jodie Turner-Smith also shared that their families bathe regularly, just in case anyone was wondering.

Every family has different preferences and different routines. Whatever works for you may not work for someone else. As long as our kids are happy and healthy is what always matters most.

A version of this story originally published July 28, 2021. It has been updated.

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