How old was your child when they bathed by themselves?
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
United States
September 7, 2010 6:20pm CST
I taught my twins how to shower when they were about 5 and since then I've been leaving them to do it on their own. Tomorrow is their first day of school, so I wanted to make sure they cleaned themselves properly tonight before bed.. so I stayed in the bathroom and supervised while they cleaned themselves. Was I ever shocked! It seems my son, who's almost 8, doesn't actually clean himself, he gets wet and gets back out again.. that's it. He didn't know where to find the shampoo.. then tried only cleaning part of his hair. After about 15 minutes of watching him try to clean his hair I told him to rinse that off.. which took another 15 minutes. Then he grabs the soap. Now each of us has a poofy sponge for washing.. but he tries to put the soap directly onto his hand.. we know how well that will work. I get him to use the poof and what's the first thing he does? Puts the soap in his hair! OMG! I shrieked at the top of my lungs (needless to say I was already stressed at this point) then we had to go through the washing of the hair all over again once he finally got the soap rinsed out of his hair. I needed to sit and take a break before getting my daughter into the shower.. I really hope she's not as bad as he was, but I won't hold my breath!
Do you have any issues getting your child to clean themselves properly? How old was your child when you let them bathe alone without supervision?
4 people like this
15 responses
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
8 Sep 10
I remember that when th boys were about 6 they all wanted to bathe alone without me there. However my husband would do th3e check at night for ticks o their bodies so he was there to supervise. As he declared one son tick free then that son bathed whist he checked the second son for ticks etc but Daddy was there to watch them all. I just loved the story and could imagine it as you write descriptively. Good luck to them all tomorrow
1 person likes this
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
8 Sep 10
My oldest is almost 8. She's been showering by herself for a few months now. My 5 year old is just starting to but now that I read this I think I better check her out lol. My 5 year old doesn't clean herself properly most the time. I feel like a horrible mother because I think she might be the stinky kid in class. She gets bathed, but she has been getting lazy when going to the bathroom. She doesn't wipe for some reason. I've tried getting after her about it but she doesn't seem to care. No punishment helps. I've tried telling her to tell me when she goes to the bathroom so I can make sure she wipes, but she doesn't tell me.
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
8 Sep 10
Don't feel bad.. I don't think any of mine wipe, and they sure as heck don't flush, so I can see that they don't wipe.. I just don't always know who was the last to use the toilet. I've warned my daughter that if she doesn't wipe she'll get a rash, which is true, and I think that has helped a bit. I don't feel as if I should have to babysit them while they pee... babysitting while they shower is bad enough! Ugh.. the joys of motherhood!
@GardenGerty (157545)
• United States
8 Sep 10
When my kids were very young we went to the Y all the time. We showered together until my son was about five, then he got to go to the men's room without me. I guess that is when he became responsible for the whole deal. I do not have any real memories of either of them having any difficulty, except not remembering to brush teeth.
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
8 Sep 10
We've done that with the twins.. but they were really young. When they were 3 we moved into a place that didn't have proper running water. I had a trickle in the kitchen sink, good enough for cooking and washing dishes, but bathing was a problem.. so we went to the Y for our showers for awhile until we finally got the problem fixed.
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
8 Sep 10
It wasn't funny last night.. but I was stressed to begin with... then again I usually am already stressed, lol.
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
8 Sep 10
I really can't remember. My granddaughter is five and very independent but she has hair down to her waist so she can't do it alone. It takes forever to do her hair. I think it's beautiful...but sometimes I worry about it getting caught in things. Grandmas are like that you know! LOL
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
8 Sep 10
My daughter's hair is a mess, and I don't have the time or money to care for it properly (long hair requires conditioners and detanglers, you know) so I keep it cut shoulder length which makes it easier to care for.
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
8 Sep 10
My eldest is 18 now but I allowed him to bath unsupervised at the age of 8, that was until I realised he was not washing properly. The ingrained dirt line on his neck alerted me to it haha! So then he was around 9 or 10 before he was unsupervised. My next one is now 10 and he bathes unsupervised, he does a good job of cleaning himself so I am quite happy to leave him be. The next one down is 8, he has no inclination to bath himself! I have to sort him out, even my 4 year old daughter makes a good effort on cleaning herself. I show my 8 year old what to do but he as yet is not ready to be bathing without me to clean him!
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
8 Sep 10
I think it's about time I start showing the 4 year old how to wash himself.. but it's aggravating that I have to sit there and watch the 8 year olds do it. The oldest, who's 13, has been left on his own to do it since he was 7 or 8.. but I guess I just stopped caring if he was clean enough or not, lol.
@emarie (5442)
• United States
8 Sep 10
I think my boys were around 6 & 7 when they started bathing by themselves. I still went it, started the water and helped them when needed, but for the most part I could leave the bathroom (with the door open) and just keep them in ear shot range.
Since I have boys, the only issue I have is getting them to clean 'down there' properly since their uncircumcised. I needed to teach them how to properly clean it and of course remind them to clean it and not play around because one of my sons kept getting irritated down there. The other issue I had when they were little was not liking to rinse their hair after washing it.
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
7 Sep 10
They were about 5 also, though we still did their hair until they were older. The twins just turned 10, and Cary still has a problem washing all the shampoo out of his hair.
@magrylouyu (1627)
• United States
8 Sep 10
My stepson is 7 and he showers with very little supervision. He does very well. My two older daughters who are 6 1/2 and 5 I still help them from time to time but I just sit and watch and make sure and if they are having a hard time or taking too long I will help them along. I started teaching them at 4 years old. I'm sure in another year or 2 my daughters will be one their own washing. Every child is different though.
@Raven7317 (691)
• United States
11 Sep 10
Good morning! My little guy is just 5 and I still supervise... Mostly for safety because he still has no concept of CAUTION! LOL He still thinks the main purpose for soap/shampoo is to provide him with "big bubbles" to play with! So, I do allow him to be in the bub/shower alone, but I stand right there - we have a clear showere curtain so I can see him and instruct him! He doesn't like it, but one time, I left him in there alone, and he proceeded to dump out an entire bottle of baby shampoo just so he could have the empty bottle to play with! You should have seen the BIG BUBBLES that made! LOL I think for the time being, I'll stick to watching him - just like anything else, he has to PROVE to mom that he's 'big boy' enough to be in there without me!
@shia88 (4571)
• Malaysia
8 Sep 10
Since your kids are 8 years old,they might be able to bath themselves.
Of course,once a while, you still need to supervise them make sure they
clean their body in the right way,instead of, playing water in the bathroom.
For me, I will teach my son to bath himself when he reached 5 years old.
Slowly guide him on how to use the shower gel to clean his body and how to
spray water to clean his body.
Of course, for shampooing hair,it might be more complicated,but slowly
I will guide my son on how to shampoo his own hair.
Impossible I need to bath him till he reached teenager.So no matter what
he need to be independent.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Sep 10
Kathryn, who is almost eight now has been allowed to bathe herself since she was about five years old and she does a really good job with it. She cleans herself more throughly than I do, I think. LOL. Paul I will sometimes let him bathe himself, but I make sure to help him most of the time because he has a hard time washing his hair, he is almost four. However, he tends to take bubble baths, so I know it is doing him a lot of good because he will stay in there for hours.
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
9 Sep 10
Hiya kats,
Well my eldest one was the one who never wanted to have a Bath after the age of eleven. He said he would bath himself with no one in there.
He did bath himself more or less on his own from the age of five and upwards but even so I still kept an eye on him from a distance.
My other one you had to keep an eye on him all the time for ages. He bathed himself from the age of five also but he always wanted to game about a lot.
They have both been okay needless to say they now do all that by themselves without me having to say anything to them (grin).
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
8 Sep 10
My two children must have been about six when i started leaving them to take their own baths.I would have to remind them that washing their hair was also part of taking their bath and getting themselves clean. When they first started taking their own baths, they needed a little assistance from time to time. Over the years, they didn't need me to help them as much.
