Have a New Kid by Friday - Dr Kevin Leman [38]
Bathing
“But I don’t want a bath! I don’t need a bath! I just had one last week!”
“It’s none of your business. I’ll take a shower when I want to. None of my friends rag on me about it.”
How is it that bathing and basic hygiene always seem to turn into an all-out war between a parent and child? And it all seems to start at a young age. To young children, baths seem like unnecessary evils. They interrupt the fun your child is having and require him to take time out from what is so important to him.
From day 1, make baths routine at your house—just “what you do”—rather than a big deal. Some infants are afraid of water; others love water. There are all sorts of bath devices to assist with this, includinglittle visors that allow you to shampoo the child’s head without getting soap in her eyes. Use these when you need to make bath time more pleasant. But take charge. When it’s time for a bath, don’t let crying stop you. Remain matter-of-fact and calm.
If your 6-, 7-, or 8-year-old refuses to take a bath, you need to get a little tougher. “It’s bath time. Do you want me to give you a bath, or do you want to give yourself a bath?” No child on the planet—especially a boy—would want his mother giving him a bath at that age. So off will come the pants, shirt, and socks, and off your kid will march to the bathtub.
Bathing can become a real problem in the teenage years (especially with boys who tend not to mind the locker-room aroma) because many teens simply do not bathe as much as they should.
When your teen is sweating or menstruating, and hormones are fully functioning, he or she should take a shower or bath every day. If your teen resists, simply adopt the “sniff test.” You can take a whiff as your teen walks by to snag some breakfast before school, or even insist on the underarm sniff test. If there’s anything smelly going on, you’ll know. If so, simply insist that he go up and take a shower now. It doesn’t matter if he’s late for school. In fact, if you really want to clinch the deal so that he’ll take showers from now on, write in the note to school the reason he’s late:
Franklin is late for school today. He smelled, so I insisted he take a shower first. Feel free to do whatever you do to children who are late for school, and I will fully support you.
Franklin’s mom
After that, do you think Franklin would miss doing his own sniff test before he even came down to the kitchen?
Brushing Teeth
“It’s so gross. I swear his teeth are turning yellow. Pretty soon they’ll start growing mold. I think the last time he brushed was when I made him when he was 12.”
“When I bugged her about brushing her teeth, she just shrugged.‘I chew gum, Mom. It’s the same difference.’”
“He’s often too crabby at night to brush his teeth, and I’m too tired to make him do it. Isn’t once a day enough?”
Brushing your teeth is a basic hygiene action. No one wants to talk to anyone who has bad breath—at least not for more than a couple seconds past the first whiff. Not brushing your teeth also affects more than your social life. Studies from the American Dental Association show that there is a direct correlation between how healthy your mouth is and how healthy your entire body is. And just because you chew gum to make your breath smell “minty fresh” doesn’t mean that you’re getting all the fuzzies off your teeth that can cause cavities or make your body sick.
Adopt good teeth-brushing habits as soon as your child has teeth to brush. Even little ones can learn to be adept at teeth brushing. Brush 2 to 3 times a day (what all dentists suggest!) so that it becomes a routine, not a fight. Brushing after a sugary snack is a good idea too.
If your child forgets to brush his teeth or fights you on it, adopt a “breath check” in the morning. Before your child goes out the door to school, he has to breathe on you. (It’s not the most pleasant job for a parent, but the