Is he normal? 8 year old wont shower???

Question

My 8 year old son fights us on EVERYTHING lately, but the one that peeves me the most is his refusal to wash himself in the shower. He stands in there until the water runs cold and wont even wash his hair, let alone anything else. He is a very active and therefor slightly stinky guy, and I dont know what to do to keep him clean. Is it wrong to go in and wash his hair for him at his age?

Answer 1

not wrong to wash his hair.

Answer 2

I personally would go in there and do it for him with the hopes that it would bother him enough that he'd give in and do it himself.

Answer 3

well, i think that his mom should tell him that if he cant do it himself, she will do it for him. BTW my 7 year old stepdaughter HATES showers too. must be an age thing.

Answer 4

kids thinks that taking a bath is waste of time. they think that the time they took for taking a bath is subtracted from the time they should play. they think that they should have just play than to take a bath.

you should taught him that he needs to clean himself first.

Answer 5

Its normal. All kids go through a stage when they don't want to take a shower. But he does need to take one. Just tell him that if he doesn't act his age and take a shower on his own, you'll give him a bath like you did when he was a baby. That might be a little motivation for him. I mean I'm sure he doesn't even want you to see him in his undies at this point. lol

Answer 6

Yes he's normal.  But that's not an unusual problem for boys at 8.  Tell him if he doesn't smell clean after coming from the shower you'll have to do it for him.  It may only take a couple times of you scrubbing him yourself before he decides he'd rather do it himself.

Answer 7

he might be going through puberty

Answer 8

No, the kid needs to take a bath!

If it bothers him that you're going to wash him, good, maybe he'll do it on then.

Answer 9

Boys understand food.  I would explain that a shower in which he thoroughly cleans himself before breakfast is mandatory.  If not, he does not get a regular meal until he cleans himself.  

If he does not clean himself, he can have bread, cheese and water only.  I would pack that for his lunch at school as well.

That is plenty of food for him to live on.  If he wants better food, he can obey his parents and wash.

Answer 10

Sounds like a phase. He is pushing your buttons to see how far he can go. Add some rewards/consequences and see how quickly his tune changes.

Alternatively, as someone else suggested, maybe there is some physiological thing going on -- is he going through early puberty? Maybe he needs to chat with an older brother or Dad? Maybe he's starting to grow hair in places and is freaked out about it? Or maybe he got a stiffie in the shower when he was washing himself and is afraid to do it again???

Answer 11

Will he not bathe 'at all'? Or does he just not like to 'shower'? If he doesn't like to shower, then give him a bath obviously. Maybe he's scared of the shower.

If he doesn't like to bathe AT ALL, maybe scare him into it, like saying he'll get fleas if he doesn't..

Answer 12

Shoot! If he won't clean himself, one good, slightly rough, cleaning from you might be exactly what he needs! Either that, or you need to stand over by the shower the whole time he is in there coaching him to do it. It's normal for boys that age to not want to get in, but once they are in, most of the time, they do go ahead and wash!

Answer 13

In my opinion, if he won't clean himself, then you MUST do it.  Tell him that this is the way it's going to be done until he can prove to you that he will do it himself.  Then stick to it!  Check him when he gets out (smell him).  It should only take a few times until he gets too embarassed and then he'll finally start doing it himself.

You could just give him a warning first and tell him that you will start washing him if he doesn't.  See if it changes and if it doesn't, get in there and start doing it for him!

Answer 14

He might not like to wash his hair because he gets soap in his eyes. And no at 8 years old it is not wrong to go in there and wash his hair for him in less he already does. Which in your case he doesn't. Something that is wrong is to to wash the little thing that hangs between his legs. So don't. Another thing to know is an 8 year old does not need to shower everyday. So don't make him.