My 15 year old son is lovely, but ......

[ComeOnComeOnComeOnGetThroughIt]

He's kind, thoughtful, clever and handsome, but he has the personal hygiene standards of...well...someone with very low standards. I still have to tell him to have a shower, remind him to put deodorant on, and even to clean his teeth. He just wouldn't do it if I didn't prompt him. AIBU to hope that tell it will suddenly all click into place soon?

Placemarking (and solidarity )

Oh my goodness I was hoping ti would stop by 15. DS13 is absolutely lovely, but every single day I have to remind him to sort out his shower, teeth, deodorant. Every day. It is soul destroying.

Most are pretty rancid to be fair. I suppose when someone paticular catches his eye will he start to sort himself out.

Actually my younger son is better. My older boy just can't seem to get the hang of a personal hygiene routine. What if he's like this when he leaves home??!

He will rapidly change when he falls in love. When he leaves home it wont be your problem

My 12 year old is the same. He treats having a shower like torture. It’s drives me mad.

My 14 year old is exactly the same ! No matter what I say or do he just doesn’t care that he stinks . Drives me nuts

It's a relief to hear I'm not alone.

Not alone op.
My 14 year old is the same but not only do I have to tell him to brush his teeth etc but I still have to check his teeth and 3/4 nights out of 7 have to send him back in because they’re not clean!

Eldest D is 12 this summer, Is in secondary, and had to be reminded every single day - the shower, the teeth, the deodorant. She had to start showering and using deodorant the summer before last, she was pungent.

Younger D is nearly 8 and asides from her teeth which is a definite sensory issue, she's very tuned into it all.

The teens are that crazy era of gym sock smells and crusty dishes. I think we gotta rise above (the smell) and power on through 😂

I have 2 brothers, one who barely washes his hair and another who, as a teenager, had a shower everyday. I think most are stinky though!

have to tell my 16 year old son that he stinks !! he does shower every week day before school but doesn't seem to think he needs to at the weekends and holidays ! It is really bad and not helped by me having a very acute sense of smell. I feel horrible mentioning it but he seems oblivious.

I have a very good sense of smell also Babyroobs. It doesn't help really.

Yes I feel your pain. Frequently send DS who is 14 back to wash his hair. Every time it’s a huge surprise to him.

My 14 yr old smells like a goat. I don't even know which bit of him the smell is coming from.

DS16 showers twice a day and his personal hygiene is great. DS13 not so much!

DS has great personal hygiene..

His older brother is still pretty disgusting.

I think you are fairly lucky actually. You have no possible idea of some of the utterly disgusting habits of some teenage boys. Oh and don't think getting a girlfriend sorts it out....it didn't in my house. My DS is over 30 now and I still bear the mental scars of some of his personal hygiene habits...and let's not even talk about his room.

Like a goat

It's not unheard of for school staff to be to identify exactly who has been in a particular classroom half an hour ago purely by recognising the stink. [bork]

But this isn't the 1980s, it's normal for kids to not smell these days, now we have cheap shower gel, showers and a general expectation of hygiene.

Keep telling him.

My 18yr old showers max twice a week - hasn't cleaned his teeth since before Christmas. Wears dirty clothes and stinks to high heaven. It's so embarrassing but I can't force him to do anything. My younger son is also a soap dodger but does clean his teeth every now and again. This is not how they've been brought up but it's how they want to be seemingly. I tell them they smells. They just grunt at me! Like the pigs they are - haha!

Fafoutis

My DD was a bit of a soap dodger from about 9 to 13 yrs, entailing endless nagging - very wearing indeed - until suddenly it all changed virtually overnight when she turned 14 yrs! Honestly it was like a miracle! Now I can't keep her out of the bathroom! Such a relief. So maybe things will turn around really suddenly op? There's always hope anyway!

There’s something about adolescent boys that makes them smell like wet dogs and muddy football socks. Is it hormonal I wonder?
Ds always needed chivying into showering and cleaning his teeth but once he got his first girlfriend all thang changed.

My lovely just turned fifteen year old boy is lovely doesn’t shower that often still needs reminding and smells ok. However, his 13 year old sister still needs reminding is absolutely filthy, stinks to high heaven and goes when I mention the shower and observe that she smells (after she ignores nice polite reminders).

ARe they covering up with Lynx?