Constantly struggling with my child to understand the concept of hygine.. Laziness or just not clicking.. It's driving me mad to the brink of visualising of throwing them in the shower with their clothes on cos frankly sick of them smelling like ass.. Help me! Tips and or suggestions on how to drill simplest of tasks into the numb skulls head..
8 Replies
How old is your kid? It's a bit hard to give advice without knowing their age.
8yo
Ah, ok.
Honestly, at that age personal hygeine is something we as parents still have to monitor and enforce. My 2 oldest are 9 and 10, if I don't hassle them about brushing their teeth, they won't just take it upon themselves to do it (sometimes I have to actually lock Mr 10 and myself in the bathroom and literally watch/force him do it). Same with showering, if I don't tell them to go shower, they won't.
They don't care if they smell or are dirty, I think once puberty hits and/or they start becoming more self aware that's when most kids start being more efficient with hygeine (nobody wants to be the smelly, dirty kid at high school).
In the mean time, showering needs to be non negotiable. Get a routine in place. Night time works better with kids really.
Nice hot shower, use soap, clean pjs on, brush teeth, up for school next morning, brush teeth, wash face, clean uniform on.
Just keep being persistent and stubborn with it, eventually he'll just realise it's easier to just do it.
I think it’s just teaching them what happens if they don’t clean themselves properly and why it’s important. Graphic photos of skin conditions might work. Lol. Also tell them how it affects others.
How old is the child?
It depends on how old your child is.
My brother is almost 30 and hates showering (he's also on the spectrum) and doesn't realise how bad he smells because he's used to smelling like arse and he used to be a kid that wanted 2 baths a day. Also doesn't help that he was molested in the bathroom when he was younger by a "boyfriend" of our mother. However it doesn't matter how many times we tell him he smells etc or how many times my mum begs him he still doesn't understand why his odour offends us, it's his body right? My 11yr old won't shower every day, his idea of lessening the washing pile is not changing his socks 🙄 He has more than enough for a pair a day and I do wash often enough. For him it's simply his down time doesn't include a shower. His games/home work/socialising etc in his mind come first. I remind him every second day to shower (we're on a farm) and its before school not after. I remind him to brush his teeth, use deodorant etc I find its my job to teach him and remind him until he remembers to do it himself. He will eventually get it and in winter showers with no pressure are brutal so I kind of understand. I'm not looking forward to when he finds masturbation as a release though he'll probably be in the shower forever and I won't be able to get him out. If you have to take away gaming devices and phones or even the wifi and give him a list of jobs that he has to do before he gets it. You'll eventually help him realise the importance of being human.
My child is 8yo. Sorry I should have stated that.
At 8 years old they generally still need to be told when to have a shower etc most 8 year olds I know will happily go without for a very long time. I find it needs to be built into the bed time routine.
1. Eat dinner
2. Shower
3. Quiet time
4. Bed