How to stop my DD using so much shampoo and body wash?

[Fifi1010]

I bought a litre of shampoo + 500 ml of shampoo 2 weeks ago and 6 bottles of 500ml bodywash. I'm down 3 bottles of bodywash and the shampoo is nearly gone. I wash my hair every 3 days. DD is nearly 10 ,what is she doing with the shampoo and bodywash? I've asked her repeatedly to just use a bit but she never does so. 1.5 litres of shampoo gone in nearly 2 weeks!! Do I ration it out everytime she has a shower? It's really pissing me off the shampoo was £14!!!

Do any other mothers of preteens have any advice ???

Bars of soap and bar shampoo

I agree with PPs about telling and showing her how much to use. Also tell her that this bottle has to last x weeks / months. Plus using so much detergent on her skin (because shower gel is detergent) isn’t healthy. And bar soap and shampoo are much less wasteful and much much better for the environment.

@BarbaraofSeville Absolutely- We hear all this stuff about young people being environmentally conscious, and that the terrible older generations aren’t. But I’m the only one in our house who uses bar soap and reusable bags, and always have, and the teens are the only ones who buy bottled water, disposable everything and rice in plastic pouches. So I won’t be lectured by teenagers, thanks!

A pump dispenses what, 5-10 ml at a time? A teaspoon full.

I was wrong in my previous post, it's over 100 ml a day, not nearly. So she must be using 10-20 pumps of each a day. Tell her to only use a normal amount so 1 to 2 pumps.

Bar soap and decanting shampoo/conditioner into smaller bottles that have to last her x number of washes maybe. I would never suggest bar shampoo, my hair was awful when I used it.

exactly-let alone if you live in an area with exceptionally hard water 😳 let the poor child wash as she sees fit

But in terms of normal sized bottles, she's using half a bottle a day. However hard your water is, no-one needs to use half a bottle of shampoo a day.

Potions. She’s making potions.
my dd was the same at the same age; I was astonished how quickly she went through things. I gave her cheap stuff to make her potions with and she left the nice stuff for using properly.

Use shampoo bars and soap.
Much less gets used

Think this might be it she was making potions last year. I thought after I told her to just do a bit she was over it she's probably started doing it again.

Get the big bottles of value bubble bath from the supermarket, they work fine as shower gel, and were £1 last time I looked. Same with the shampoo and conditioner, get the cheapest ones going. Then water them down!

If it's potions she's making best leave her to it. Never a good idea to anger a witch, even a white witch.

A child doesn’t need a posh shampoo for a start. If she really wants something nice then Aldi or Lidl do a dupe of Aussie. Same with shower gel, they do a knock off of Molton Brown.

I don’t get on with bar shampoo either and you can apparently dilute it into bottles but never tried this.

If she likes nice posh soap and can be trusted to use it sensibly then TK Maxx have lots of luxurious ones.

My first thought was potions too, or general mucking about with it. If she can’t be trusted in the bath you’ll have to sit in the room with her tbh, she’s old enough to know better, and if she complains then explain it’s a consequence of her actions. Until she can be trusted she needs supervision, giving her cheap stuff and letting her waste it isn’t ok and teaches her nothing

She’s playing with it, either to make bubbles/foam or concoctions in containers or whatever. “Doing laundry” with the washcloth. Bubble baths for any toys she takes in there. You know, reasonable stuff. I got in trouble for the same when I was nine. 😂

I agree on getting her cheap shampoo/conditioner until she grows out of it. You can also try setting a timer if she’s spending ages in there playing. It will help make her more aware of how much time she should be taking.

Do you share a bathroom with her? If so, get a shower caddy for your own stuff and keep it elsewhere so she can’t waste it. Even if she has her own, she’ll still use yours if it’s in there because it’s different.

I had this issue with teen with additional needs. He used to get through 2 bottles of shampoo each week. Now I give him a shampoo bar. It looks like a bar of soap. It lasts him about 5 weeks.

Wow! I used to make mixtures of all the different bathroom products (it was the irridescent bath stuff that was the best) but only used a small amount of each and didn't do it very often!

Point out how much you're spending and that if she continues using the good stuff you will take it out of her pocket money (or some other consequence, PP have suggested lots of sensible ones).

If you're willing to accommodate her in her "potions" maybe you could get some cheaper bits and bobs in and some small empty bottles so she can make shower gel concoctions. Iridescent or glittery ones to add will be fab.
Mix them in a little bowl or tub and pour into a little bottle and she can use it too.
Just make sure as PP have said, she gets a limit on how much she can use or you'll just end up buying endless bottles of the cheap stuff instead.

We only buy Lidl lime shower gel for our DS’s goodness knows what they do with it, it seems to disappear overnight!

My DS 10 is the same! I think he makes potions, plays around with it and then uses way too much to wash himself! He would spend all day on the shower if he could. At least he’s clean I guess …