I know this post is very old, but I came across this expression and I may be able to give more specific informationabout it. It is indeed of German origin, and it is relatively . It first appears in wrtitting in Thomas Murner's (1475-1537) versified satirical book Narrenbeschwörung (1512) eighty-first chapter of which is entitled "Das kindt mit dem bad vß schitten" (To throw the baby out with the bath water) a treatise on fools who by trying to rid themselves of a bad thing succeed in destroying whatever good there was as well.should you need further refference I can offer you a link to a rather complete explanation, should such a thing exist.
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