My 13 year old son refuses to take baths?

Question

For the last month, when I tell my 13 y.o son to go have his bath or shower he refuses and says no, and after a argument he might go take one, but will not wash or wash his hair. He does get extremely dirty, and I threatened and alerady took away things such as toys, etc but that isn't helping. He hasn't hit puberty yet, and isn't interested in girls yet either.

What do I do? He hasn't had a bath for at least 10 days now.

Answer 1

I would BOLDLY torture him until he did it..plain and simple...at 13 you should still have plenty of control over him...every time i looked at him I would say go bathe....when he asked me something i would respond with..go bathe and  then we will talk....no permission to do anything..no money....no eating...i would say your too funky for my fridge..get away from it...come back when your clean. I would also tell him that his hair has got to go...if he won't wash it then he is not keeping it...period.....hope you find something that works...another thing...could he be suffering from depression.? feelings being hurt by someone? does he have friends..anybody picking on him? just a thought..

Answer 2

Just don't talk to him until he takes a shower. Can I go over my friends house? Nope, not until you take a shower. Can you make me dinner? I'm not making you food until you take a shower.  

Answer 3

Let him have his way for awhile with the consequences. I would tell him he can eat dinner but not at the same time as you because he smells. He can watch tv but not when you are because he smells. You won't give him a ride anywhere because he smells. Let him figure out that to be acceptable near people hygiene is important.When his friends don't want to hang around with him he might get the hint.

Answer 4

um first off what kind of relationship do you have with your son, and how exactly do you know that your son hasn't hit puberty

Answer 5

do not make him bathe but you do not have to let his sit on any of your furniture!!!!!!!!!!!!  tell his his body is his and you do not want yuck from the sores from not bathing to get on any of your stuff so it is off limits to him.  that includes your car and everything. lol i think it is the teen years that do this to them.  my son lasted 5 days.  

Answer 6

leave him to it, tell him what will happen to his body if it remains unwahed, bacterial infections under armpits, genital thrush, atheletes foot, bad b/o .  find some skin infections images on google, print them off, give them to him and tell him its upto him, but this is what will happen.  then he'll continue not to wash because he feels he's won a victory over you, but one day he'll notice infections starting, probably genitial thrush first under his f******n, then he'll start having washes when ur'e not around cos he wont want to lose face, then he'll make up an imaginary girlfriend he is seeing as an excuse for washing and things will be back to normal. best to leave him be. the more you encourage him the more he'll dig his feet in

Answer 7

Tell him that no one will be his friend if he is dirty and everyone will want to stay away from him

Answer 8

Well, there are a few things you can do.

1. You can let him learn his own lesson- don't bother him to shower, and let him see how people stay away from him.

2. Make him stay in his room until he agrees to take a shower.

3. When you finally get him to take a shower, you'll have to find a way to KEEP him in the shower. Ask him what his favorite song is, and play it outside the shower. Get wet in the beginning, soap up in the chorus, rinse off in the next part, and wash hair in the chorus. It's a good concept.

And don't threaten things- if you say you're going to take something away, do it.

Answer 9

I know parenting gets tougher when kids get older and it's wise to pick your battles, and this is one battle you're going to have to fight.  I would make out a bathing schedule with him (at least make him shower 3 times a week).  If he doesn't follow it - no tv, no playstation, no computer, etc the next day and each day thereafter until he follows the rules.  Explain why you want him to bathe and maybe even allow him to pick out some manly smelling shampoo, soap and a bath sponge.  I would try being loving in the manner you go about it, but remain firm.  This is a hygiene issue - he needs to wash his lower regions, get the water under his nails and on his feet.  Good luck!!!

Answer 10

Taking things away from children will make them think of the whole experience negatively. Kids can be very stubborn. If you were to offer something in exchange for a bath/shower it might go more smoothly for both of you. (I don't mean you have to buy him anything, maybe a later curfew, extra tv time, etc). After a few weeks he may get into a routine himself without having to coax him.

If that doesn't work, just keep on and on about it until he does it just so he can have a bit of peace!

Answer 11

He might be suffering depression & doesn't have the energy.

If not that, maybe he enjoys being dirty. Maybe you might take him to a therapist to see what's going on.

My brother used to be like that. Never took a bath, & when my former foster mom told him to take one, he would sit in the tub & play in the water without washing himself.

Answer 12

take away the privileges he enjoys until he bathes. but someone else here has it right....let him pick out his own shampoo and body wash and maybe he'll want to shower.