To ask son to shower every night?

[mrsgregorypeck]

I ask my son (11) to have a shower every night before a school day. This leads to lots of huffing and puffing and occasional temper tantrums.

To be fair, I remember my brothers at that age were required to have a bath every Sunday and only "a good wash" at the sink in between.

Have our perceptions changed of what constitutes acceptable levels of cleanliness or am I just being unreasonable?

my chaps shower every night (pre teen and teen); it's evolved from the bathtime routine when they were wee.

No bad thing to be clean, this age is when the whiffyness can start, and we can all remember going to school with a smelly child.

At 11 mine started showering every morning - it's what wakes him up! He staggers out of bed at 6.20 - 6.30 and stands in the shower for far too long, but he does it without question and is always ready to leave for the bus at 7.20.

Unless he plays rugby daily then he doesn't need a shower daily. A 'gentleman's wash' at the sink, cleaning his armpits and bits, should be enough. Do his arms and legs smell?

YANBU. My 8 yr old DS is getting to the stage where he needs to shower every day. At the moment it is probably 5 days a week he showers. I don't want him to turn into DH who thinks 4 or 5 times a week for an adult male is sufficient!

i said daily too much!

Yes if you like paying to heat water.

I don't get this washing when your not dirty habit.

I disagree Cream - at that age the hormones are kicking in and they get quite stinky without a daily shower.

not unreasonable if hes stinking.

I make mine bath every other day

It depends on your reason, like whether or not he smells, or if he has trouble geting up in the morning.

I have to ask ds who is the same age to shower every night or he honks of sweaty pre teen He does a lot of sports at school so needs to.

My 7 yo showers most days. YANBU.

At 9/10 ds could get away with every other night, now it is definitely needed every day.

The OP makes a good point though - think it is totally the norm these days for all and sundry to be bathing/showering every day .
BUT, 'back in the day' we never did, and the fact remains, whilst, yes, there was always the few who needed better personal hygiene, the fact remains - most of us were perfectly clean. Teens/Tweens/Kids/Adults are no smellier now that they were then..

My kids have baths or showers every day - they'd be like that kid from Charlie Brown, all hidden in a miasma of dirt and stink, if they didnt.

Enjoy it while it lasts. Soon you won't be able to get him out of the bathroom!

I was always taught that you bath/shower to stay clean not to get clean.

No that's no unreasonable...it's just hygienic!

Thanks for all these supportive replies. It's not as if we are expecting him to wash at an outdoor cold tap in the yard; he has a very nice shower-room all to himself. And I look forward to tallwiv's prophecy coming true, as I'm sure it will.

Don't worry Op, girls will be on the horizon very soon, and your ds and the bathroom will have a permanent smell of lynx.
DS has been showering everyday since he started High School.

YANBU. I think they really need to wash properly every day at that age and if there isn't time in the morning then it's sensible to do it at night. I couldn't function without washing properly at least once a day (each morning at a minimum) and would do at night too if I had time.

I think it's a good routine to get into.

Not sure why anyone would think this is U.

YANBU, personally I feel greasy and yuck if I don't shower every day

Agree with tallwiv and LadyBeagle, so I wouldn't worry about it while he is only 11. Then you will feel glad he has his own shower room as you won't have to make your way through a fug of Lynx in order to get your own shower.