Is it unreasonable to ask a 9 year old to shower every day?

[GhostlySinCity]

My son came home from rugby last night and I suggested that he might want to get a shower as he'd been running around a lot. He whinged a bit but went anyway.

5 minutes later I went in the bathroom for something and THE ROOM STUNK!! I mean, it was actually nausiating. I had to leave as I was retching. It didn't smell like adult BO, it smelt like mould...generally unclean, fusty, sweaty...it was horrible.

And It wasn't just a case of sticking a nose under his arm pit and smelling it....the entire bathroom reeked.

As he;s coming up to 10, I assume his age may have a bit to do with it. I suggested that he might want to start showering every night and I have bought him some deodrant.

He hates the idea of showering every night. Is it unreasonable to ask him to?

[LynetteScavo]

Well...you can ask him, but wheather or not you want to force him in.....

DS1 is the same age, and has always been a reluctant washer.

As he goes swimming twice a week I only make him have a bath/shower on a sunday evening or if he's muddy. He's startly using deo, as DH bought him some when they were doing "manly" shopping together.

[pagwatch]

hahahahahahaha


please don't worry too much. It is a boy thing. My DS1 suddenly decided that hygeine rocks when he discovered girls.

I'm afriad it is nag nag nag. Then suddenly you can't get him out ofthe bathroom and when you do it smells like a tarts boudoir.

[pofaced]

perhaps you might also explicitly tell him where he needs to wash WITH SOAP...I've found with an older DD that I had to explain it's not enough to get wet, she needs to apply soap to assorted parts and rinse it off. However, I'd avoid deodorant: all it does is mask smells creating a peculiar chemical reaction between stale dirt and whatever they put in the deodorant... he'll just end up as a Lynx boy and you really will be gagging then!

Also, make him shower in the morning as it'll wake him up... then if he needs to wash again, he'll have 2 showers a day... future women will thank you for it

[LynetteScavo]

I was letting my 9yo wash his own hair...then I realised it was nice and soft on top, but yukky round the sides. He was obviously only plonking the shampoo on top!

So yesterday, after swimming, I opened the door to the mens changing room and yelled in

"...and wash your hair properly."

Now, when you go in to the ladies changing room you have to walk quite far and round a corner, before you get to the changing area.
The mens is different...I think I quite suprised some poor naked bloke.

[pagwatch]

i bet he washed his hair properly though .
I bet they all did...

[seeker]

I would be a bit concerned if he smelled as strongly as that - or was it his clothes? Are you sure he hasn't got some sort of fungal infection in his feet, for example? My dd is 12 ans she sometimes pongs a bit after spending hours in a lycra leotard - but I've never actually had to evacuate the bathroom!

[Anna8888]

Gosh no. We have always insisted that the DSSs (13, 11) have a shower every day. And they need it .

I still have to grab DSS2 from time to time and wash his hair for him.

[procrastinatingparent]

DS1 has to have a shower every day or it is really vile. He has now just about got used to the idea but will still take any opportunity (like a week away with the school) to get out of having one.

The problem now is DD who is not yet 7 but who also needs a bath or a shower every day. However she is often so tired by bathtime that the resulting tantrum makes me reconsider just buying a peg for my nose. But I think of the teachers and her fellow pupils and soldier on through, tantrum and all.

[Blandmum]

They tend not to pong too much until year 8 (12-13)

However, there is a natural variability.

Get him to wash if he has been exercising, but otherwise nightly isn't really necessary in most cases

(but you know his whiff best! )

[procrastinatingparent]

[Blandmum]

LOL

for teachers year 8 is the year from hell, smellwise.

They pong, and think that they can cover it up with the Great Smell of Lynx (Barf)

Then they discover that it isn't attracting the girls and they start to wash



The arrival of the Great Smell of Lynx, while grim, is the light at the end of the BO tunnel for most of them!

[bellavita]

We insist our boys (11 & 9) shower every day. They do not get a choice in the matter

I did do the sniff test on DS1's school polo shirt the other day to see if I could get a second day out of it - no, so I produced some manly deodrant for him to use (whether he is using it or not is a different matter), but he generally smells ok.

DS2 is sooooo different, his bedroom smells like a tarts boudior - whatever body spray and deodrant DH uses, then so does he, before school and before bed

[roisin]

ds1 is 11 and he's not pongy yet.

[pagwatch]

I would never make my boys shower every day as they were both prone to excema when younger and bathing/showering daily isn't good for them as a routine.
They both do have to wash very thoroughly though on the days when they don't shower.