What cunning tricks do you have to make sure your DCs keep clean? Tell Andrex® for a chance to win a £250 voucher + a month's supply of Andrex®! NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

Andrex® have asked us to find out what cunning tricks Mumsnetters have to make sure their DCs keep clean, and learn good clean habits.

Here’s what Andrex® say, “We all know the importance of keeping clean, not only to our health but also our confidence. So if you have any ways of keeping your family clean we would love to hear them.”

So, what tricks do you have up your sleeve to make sure your DC keeps themselves clean? Do you have a special song you sing to them to make sure that brush their teeth properly? Maybe you introduce an element of competition between siblings to see who can wash, dry and dress themselves quickest? Or perhaps you encourage your DCs to clean thoroughly by fashioning them stylish ‘bubble beards’? Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!

Add your comment to this thread and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 Spa voucher and a month supply of Andrex®. Please note comments may be used by MN and Andrex® on social media, on the Andrex® pages on MN or possibly elsewhere: anon of course - but please only add your comment if you're happy for it to be used like this!

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

[mai1]

My daughter looooooves her teacher and I take advantage of that by telling her that Elkai (her teacher) said that we have to brush our teeth twice a day, wash our hands after we have a wee and so on and it works like magic,she is always on top of it without me even asking her to. And I give her a fun bubble bath with toys and lots of bubbles so she is always looking forward to shower.

[muze]

1 Star chart for brushing teeth twice a day,
2 bought Pony cleans his teeth, which is a hilarious book about spitting after brushing and cleaning teeth
3 star for washing hands after toilet, including weeing!

[theHowlatWooooooCorner]

Thank you Mumsnet. I'm ridiculously excited to discover what 1 month's supply of Andrex looks like!!!
(and the spa voucher will be lovely too).

[MichelleMumsnet]

Thanks everyone for all your posts! This thread has now closed. Congratulations, to theHowlatWooooooCorner who has won the prize draw for a £250 spa voucher and a month supply of Andrex. We'll be in touch soon!

[ImGoingForATwix]

For nappy changes with our one year old, distraction is key to keep his hands away from the dirty nappy. Handing him a small toy usually works or putting cbeebies on.

He loves his bath at the moment so no tactics required there...

What he does hate is getting his face wiped, I feel like im trying to restrain a fleeing criminal. Tips appreciated for this.

[Pinkandpurplehairedlady]

I bath the two dc's together and then get them to pretend to be mermaids when I was their hair. They both love making each other into bubble monsters with the soap.

[BellaVida]

I have 4 DC's ranging from 4 to 10, so I think the important thing is to have realistic expectations of what your child can do independently and take responsibility as a parent to fill in the gaps. Here are my issues/solutions so far.

• Teeth cleaning- sometimes they can forget especially at night or rush, so I remind, get them to use a sand timer, buy bubblegum mouthwash, use disclosing tablets, explain correct brushing. Frequent trips to the dentist and warnings about tooth decay does the rest!
  
• Bathing/ showering- not a problem generally, except sometimes I have to insist that after rugby this time of year, a baby wipe on the knees just does not cut it! It's more an issue of not being able to get them out. They have too much fun with foam, funky hair, bubble beards and their favourite pretend coffee/smoothie bar.
  
• Drying/dressing- I put clothes in separate piles beforehand no avoid confusion. I have to help my DD's drying as both have long hair, which is difficult to towel dry quickly so they can get dressed. I have taught my older daughter to do the 'towel headwrap' just like mummy. Dressing is otherwise generally fine amongst screams of "No gymnastics on the landing!" and the subsequent race downstairs to be the first to get the TV remote.
  
• Toileting/ hand washing- Judging by the amount of toilet roll they get through, I know they are VERY thorough with their wiping! I could supply several schools with enough toilet roll inner tubes for many happy hours junk modelling (and indeed have)! Good hand washing comes from proper technique taught by a nurse and doctor visiting school, 99.9 % anti-bacterial hand wash and plenty of chats about invisible germs which can make you poorly.
  
• Rolling around on the grass in white school shirts- still struggling with this. Predominantly beyond my control unless the school changes the uniform policy to khaki or camouflage!

[Mummycherry2]

Our DS is only just 6 months old but already a filth bag like his father! He really wasn't keen on baths until I started plonking him in with me or DH and now he absolutely loves it!!! Even more so when the dog gets her paws up on the side and has a good old sniff about too.

[kateandme]

bubbles in the bath or the promise of play after washing properly.gogles once used too.letting them choose the shower gel.then its a treat to wash in it.
play simon says and say a different body part that they have to wash,so simon says can you wash your armpits,saimon says can you do your face.

make them feel that being clean is special and good.be all high pitch and "OOH YOUR GOING TO LOOK SO HNADOMSE/PRETTY ONCE YOU SMELL ALL LOVELY AND LOOK ALL CLEAN!!

[Benzalkonium]

Trouble getting their nails clipped? Do it while they're asleep.

[Punkatheart]

I think it's really important not to make too much fuss about being clean. There are too many people with OCD or anxiety. My daughter is clean enough - but I don't get stressed about it. The same with eating. Eating and washing - have to be done but not made into an issue.

[sazzermol]

Bath time fun, toys, bubbles, glow in the dark decorations for bath time discos! My boys love baths

[k8vincent]

3 boys. We don't make them bath too often! Capitalize on swimming lessons as an opportunity to wash hair.

DS2 & DS3 love showers, so are happy to jump in at any time.

[bristolbabba]

Joint bath time for definite.

[Fizzyplonk]

This might sound unkind but I showed my DS some google images of tooth decay and gave lots of reassurance that he'd never have teeth like that as he's such a good brusher!

[JLucky]

I guess I'm fortunate that mine like a bath, so all I have to do to encourage them is to buy some nice bubble bath. The trick I use to get them out of the bathroom is to say that hubby is preparing a snack, so they usually hurry up if hungry.

[KateOxford]

My son who has just learnt to wipe his own bottom gets pocket money when he does it successfully, he saves it in his money box until we go on holiday then treats himself to some new lego!

[Flossiecrossie]

I encourage our little one to get in the bath so she can play with enormous collection of ducks & do punk hairstyles with the shampoo suds (if that doesn't work I tell her it's just bread & milk for dinner)

[glmcall123]

We have lots of fun so that keeping clean isn't a chore. My DC's love it when I have to put sunglasses on to protect my eyes when I check how clean their teeth are.

[mjmooseface]

Aw I love reading these suggestions!

I have a newly turned 2 year old who still doesn't understand much so I take control of his cleanliness! After he's eaten, I clean his hands and face and make it fun as he doesn't like it! I sing a silly song whilst brushing his teeth and then let him 'brush his teeth' after. I always take his shoes off when we come back into the house. I ALWAYS have baby wipes in my bag!

Mostly, I don't complain about his messyness when we're out. He jumps in puddles and sits on the muddy floor to play. I just wait for him to be finished and get him clean and dry again afterwards!

He loves having a bath but rarely sits down! So I put lots of toys in and make it a game to sit down and be washed and to have his hair washed!

Like grenedeer said on the first page...Comedy is a sure-fire way to ensure co-operation in things your children don't want to do, but need to do!

[theHowlatWooooooCorner]

When showering, DD likes to fill a plastic bottle with the suds as I rinse off her hair.
Bubbles always work - beards, 'drawing' on her tummy, stamp on them etc etc.

[courtney767]

We sing silly songs in the bath. :)

[helcrai]

DH tells DD's that the tooth fairy is very choosy and will only pay money for the best quality teeth!
Pitting DD's against each other to see who can get dressed the fastest helps speed up the morning pre-school mayhem. DD1 is easy to persuade to have a bath- anything pink and bubbly in it is a hit. DD2 not so easy- she likes getting the ensuite shower to herself (as opposed to a dunk in the bath with her sis) and if I let her use my toiletries and shampoo its usually a good incentive.

[caz123456]

We use an egg timer for teeth brushing, and aim to make our hands really bubbly and clean when hand washing.

[GeorgeW78]

A few drops of food colouring in bath water works wonders! Red/green for Christmas, black/orange for Halloween, just be inventive! My top tip is to make some multi-coloured ice cubes, endless fun watching them melt & change the water colour!
Floating flower petals from the garden in spring/summer makes a nice bath too :)