Bath / Shower Time

I know it sounds funny, but when I gave my kids goggles, they both started taking showers. Eventually they grew of out the goggles, but it made it more kid friendly. My son was 6 when he started showering and my daughter 9. Neither of them like the water in the face or shampoo either. But I have a special pair of goggles in the shower for them and they now do it on their own (they are now 9 and 12). Good luck. PS It really saves on the water bill!

I would just let him use the tub for now. If he doesn't like the shower, why create an issue by forcing him to use it? My kids have both gone through phases where they did or did not like the shower. Unless he is able to clean himself and shampoo and rinse thoroughly in the shower on his own (not likely at that age -- my 10 yr old didn't figure out how to be sure all the shampoo was out of his hair until he was about 9!) then you need to be there anyway.. and if you are standing outside "helping" it is messier than running the tub.

To make things easier (including rinsing my daughter's very long hair in the tub) we had the shower installed as a handheld on a slide bar, so that they showerhead can be removed completely, or adjusted from way up high (for my 6 ft 3 in father) all the way down to my daughter's height (around 4 ft). She refused to use a standard shower, but with these, she prefers it...

It might be that he doesn't like the sound or the feel of the shower. Sensory stuff. Does he need to use the shower? If not then, I would just let him keep taking baths.

As far as when is he old enough to shower alone? That is totally dependent on your comfort and his comfort level. My son was crawling in to the shower at 6 months. He is five now and can go in turn on the shower adjust the heat level and take one all by himself. He LOVES to shower and take multiple ones a day (again a sensory thing, it relaxes him). My 3 yr old daughter could care less about the shower. So each child is different.

Try talking to him to see why he doesn't like the shower. Maybe he likes baths better because he can relax in the water, play with toys & splash. Or maybe something about the shower scares him. I know it may sound silly but you never know. You could try to put a little water proof kid radio in the shower so he could sing & play.

If anything, just be happy he still likes taking baths. Alot of little boys refuse to take a bath or shower. =)

one thing you can try is what my oldest refers to as a shower bath. its how we broke into showering. plug the tub and run the shower. she got to play in the water and shower at the same time. now at 11 she will do either or and occasionally still likes a bubble bath... who doesn't :) i think part of it is the water hurts if you have a powerful sprayer and the water temps can vary. i know i can feel the temps with the tap running turn on the shower kids hop in and squeal it too cold and sure enough it is. adjust it a little and its a little too warm. as an adult i love hot showers and took my girls in with me if i have to go somewhere and we both need a bath however with a son u can't do that. like i said shower baths are great and if he doesn't want to be under the spray he has more mobility to get out of the spray but still get cleaned

Why does it matter if he takes a shower instead of a bath? My 11 year old son just started taking showers this past school year and he still takes a bath instead every now and then. He likes to hang out in the water, so in cases like that a bath actually uses less water because he can fill the tub and then stay in for a while. In the shower, his mind tends to wander as he feels the warm water and his showers can drag on forever if I don't peek in the bathroom door and get him to focus and stop "wasting" water. If you are concerned that a bath takes too much time, draw a line in the tub with a crayon of how high you want him to fill it, then set a twistable kind of bakery timer for how long he is allowed to hang out in the tub. When the timer rings, he needs to scrub up, let the water out, and get out.

Let him take a bath and yes he is old enough to take one on his own.

Have you tried the attachment that goes onto your Water Spout/Spicket - whatever the thing is called that the water comes out of to fill up the tub. There is a plastic/Rubber thing that fits over the spout and has a hose with a shower end on it. My son doesn't like the shower head we have, he said the water hits him too hard, and he can't NOT get water in his eyes. So we bought the attachment thing, and he has the water on low and he does just fine with it. He is also 5 1/2, and has been able to shower himself (with our guidance for the first month or two) for about 7 months. Good Luck momma :) PS The attachments are at Walmart, and probably another bunch of places

Hi L.,
I agree with the moms who suggest a handheld sprayer to support the intent to shower (and perhaps, to rinse hair) while tubbing, but honey I'll tell you this: I MISS my kids' BATH TIME.
The years fly by and bath time was fun time for us, with tub toys, and bubbles, and me, sitting on the floor reading books to the tubbed kid. ENJOY the bath time while they want you to be involved. Soon, they wont want you to see em naked, and wont want help from you, for anything!

Ha! I love this story. I have a son that is going on 10 and still loves a bath over a shower. He just recently started showering more, but I learned that he does things when he is ready. Now that I have a 1 year old daughter - it is amazing that she is in to some things that my son did not care for until he was 3. Boys tend to work at their own pace...at least that is what I have learned.

I can completely understand regarding the shower vs bath thing. I have a 5 year old as well and he loves the bath over the shower. But the problem is sometimes he wants to stay in the bath for almost an hour or more, and that is just not possible when its close to bed time or other things are going on. As far as the shower we have installed a bar in his shower which enables the shower head to move up and down. Along with this bar there is a shower head at normal level as well but we keep it turned off so that he can use the lower one. He is able to move the shower head in any direction he wants so that it is not going directly into his eyes, face, etc and it works out perfectly. Yes he still does rarely want to take a shower when asked but there are times when he does not get to choose between shower or bath because he needs to get clean and there may be a limited amount of time to do so. He will say that he would rather have a bath but once he gets in there he could care less. He has tub toys and crayons that he uses to color while showering and it works out perfect for all of us. You have to realize that yes its great that he does want to take a tub but sometimes its not practical for you or him at the time. Therefore you have to be the one that makes the decision, maybe if you get toys, crayons, lower shower head or something it could work out better. Also, my son showers alone without an issue, I help him with the soap/clean part and he is within earshot and knows he can call me at anytime, he truly just gets enthralled in playing and enjoys being in there. Hope this helps.

Try changing the angle of the shower head - I never liked taking a shower because I was really short and if the angle of the shower head was wrong the water beat directly down onto my head and into my eyes.

be glad he likes to bath- and heavens why make this a problem?
Let him bath, why not?
k

If he doesn't like the shower don't force him to shower. You will just put a fear of water in him. When he is ready to take showers he will let you know. I would never force a child to shower if they don't want to .

i would not force it alot of young kids do not like showers. forcing the issue will only prolong it. just let him hav his baths.when he is ready and wants to try it fine. i mean every now and then you can say would you rather take a shower. but not too often.just let it go for now--and think really "How Important is it????" as long as the kids takes baths.