To still brush hair, dry and assist dd after bath?

[mumtumdrum]

I don't have a problem with it and neither does she but we have always;
Bathed her in her bathroom and brought her into her dressing room to put pjs on, then we sit on the floor in there and dry hair,plait it, put on cream etc. I was just thinking this evening that she is 7 now so should I slowly start leaving her to do this herself or would it be best to help her with the hair dryer and then plait her hair and leave her do the rest (which she does anyway) really I just stay with her.
It is a nice bonding time anyway so as I say I don't mind doing it wit her...but should I start stepping back a bit?

What do you all do after bath with 7 yr olds??

enjoy it while you can, in no time she'll not want you around

Hmm. You could have asked the question without mentioning the dressing room...

I would run a bath for a 7yo and tell them to get in it but would expect them to be able to bath themself i.e. proper washing with soap, getting out, drying, putting on pyjamas (which I would probably have got out ready for them). However I think at that age most children with long hair would still need help drying and brushing it. Maybe you/she could put her hair up for bathtime on non-hairwash nights so she can practice doing just her bath alone? although if you both enjoy the bonding time there is really no need, sounds like a nice little routine!

My 7yr old seems really young. She still needs a huge amount of support !

Instill dry and brush dds hair and she"s 11. She baths, washes and conditions her hair herself tho. I brush her hair everynight. Its nice bonding time amd we have lovely chats. So why not

I take the lead from dc. 8yo likes to do it all herself, as does 10yo. 13 year old had a joint condition and has difficulty washing her hair as it’s painful for her wrists. She had think long hair to her bum now also (should of got that cut at meltdown). She needed help up to the past year but may still call for her from me. I dry after (can’t hold hairdryer). Dd11 has ASD and spends most evenings having a long shower. She doesn’t like being alone, but we try to to stay with her. She washes her own hair (not very well) and I frequently french braid it.

We take our cue from the dc. They are not bothered being naked in front of me. I think the 10yo will be different as she develops.

@ArgumentativeAardvaark but why though?! What difference does it actually make to you or anyone else. I just type as I speak so it seemed natural to me to"paint the picture" so to speak... I shouldn't have to leave out/change details just make others happy. Sorry I know I'm ranting but to be honest I didn't come on here for that, I was looking for advice from other mothers about bath time and i wasn't looking to be ripped apart over the fact that my dd has dressing room. Good god...whatever happened to if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything! Times are hard enough as it is without the sarky comments.

Anyway, thank you to those who responded kindly I will continue for as long she wants me to I suppose.

I would keep doing their hair until secondary school. If your're not washing and drying it, who's checking for nits .

I want to know more about RainbowBalloons poo song!

My DD is 10 and she can wash her own hair but she does ask me to do it for her usually as her hair is thick and long and it gets very tangled when she does it. I then brush it and dry it for her. I have taught her how to do her own hair but she still likes me doing it for her, I know before long she won't be asking me so still like to help her.

I have a 7 yo dd who bathes with her 2 yo sister so I am there most of the time - if I pop out it is to grab a towel or make a bed. We like bath time. We play music and have a bit of a party. The kids play and generally have a nice time.

I wash hair as there is no way she would manage it herself and frankly she wouldn’t bother. She washed herself and brushes her own teeth. She dries and dresses herself but I sort her hair out before bed. She just doesn’t have the coordination to manage her waist length hair.

I will Keep doing it as long as it is wanted but I do give gentle nudges towards independence

sorry if I have bothered anyone I was just stating how the situation is...

just type as I speak so it seemed natural to me to"paint the picture" so to speak... I shouldn't have to leave out/change details just make others happy.

You’re missing my point. What I was trying to say is that you walked into the trap of having other people focus on irrelevant details because you included an irrelevant detail in your description of “the situation”. It’s about having the self-awareness to realise that people who may be positively disposed towards you might form a different opinion if you are seen to be boastful- surely anyone who has been around Mumsnet for more than 5 minutes would realise that?

Compare “Someone pranged my Range Rover in the car park of Waitrose last week, I’m a bit confused about insurance, can anyone help?” with “ Someone pranged my car in the supermarket car park last week, I’m a bit confused about insurance, can anyone help?” or parents who mention that their kid is in private school when it has no relevance to the question being asked.

Which do you think will get the most helpful responses?

@GetawayfromthatWelshtart wow that gave me so much nostalgia for my mum doing the same with me Although if I remember properly it also had lots of me shouting ow ow ow and complaining she was hurting me.

Hair brushing time sat in front of heartbeat before bed. Ah, keep brushing her hair op dds is such a chore because she hates it doing, but one day I’ll miss it.

I had very long hair and my mum helped me wash it till I was about 10.
My DS is 8 and growing his hair long 😬. He showers on his own and washes his hair himself but I chase after him to brush and if possible dry it!

My 8yo has only just started washing her hair under my supervision. I still help her comb and try it. It's curly hair and quite tricky. I brush her teeth too. She has mild ASD though.

If you have time, stick with it, as it's a nice time you share. Blink and she'll be a teenager and those times will be gone. You can teach her independence in other ways but retain this bonding time as it keeps your relationship with her close.

My daughter used to ask her Dad to wash her hair in the bath until she was 11. He still washes our son's hair (he's 14 and has Asperger's) but slowly getting him to do it himself. If they are happy then why not?

I was still chatting to my mum in the shower until I left home for uni and she always made me a cup of tea before school until my alevels.

Jeez @ArgumentativeAardvaark you certainly live up to your username. Here's an alternative perspective: nothing about the OP's post caught my attention except her actual question, partly because neither individual bathrooms nor dressing rooms strike me as particularly unusual but mainly because I don't give a shit whether people bathe their children in a personal en-suite or in the kitchen sink and it isn't relevant to her question. Posters like you who have felt the need to sneer at the OP and lecture her on how she should have censored her description of a totally mundane situation to avoid triggering bitchy replies like yours, are letting your jealousy show and need to get a grip. You've also contributed precisely nothing to the perfectly reasonable discussion of how much help a 7yo should need at bathtime, asked by a mum on a parenting site.

The points about the dressing room and personal bathroom didn’t really register with me until other people started harping on about it. I just answered the OP’s actual question.

@StatementKnickers she got upset about other people focusing on the dressing room, not me.

My eldest was having showers completely independently from age 7. She had long hair but was perfectly capable of towel drying it and brushing it herself and then I would plait it quickly for her.

Dd2 is a different kettle of fish. She's 10 now and has only recently agreed to switch to a shower instead of a bath. In the shower she's now capable of washing her own hair, in the bath she needed help. So now she showers independently, but I have to stay in the bathroom because she gets worried about doing it alone. We just towel dry her hair and plait it while still damp.

So at 7 I'd say do whatever makes you and dad happiest. Who cares in the grand scheme of things? It's hardly a massive issue, she'll start wanting to do it herself at some point and obviously at that point you'll need to step back, but if she's happy and you're happy do it your way.

I was trying to point out how she might have avoided that.

@ArgumentativeAardvaark besides the "only on Mumsnet" comment you were actually the first with the sarky comments to be fair...

@ArgumentativeAardvaark I don't see that above, her reply is addressed to you. You replied with a sneery dig, then kept coming back for more, ended up by telling her she's responsible for people being dicks to her, and never offered any actual advice on the question. Own it.