How can I get my six-year-old little girl more interested in taking care of her personal hygiene? My eight-year-old has no problems with taking showers and brushing her teeth and, as a rule, doesn’t have to be told to do so. Her sister, on the other hand, would rather go days and days at a time (if we let her) not bathing or brushing her teeth. I don’t want her to be the smelly kid around her peers. We’ve tried bath bombs, fun bath toys, etc. I don’t exactly think there should be rewards for taking baths/showers when those are life skills. Any ideas would be appreciated!
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Take her to a GP.
Have them explain why it is so important to practice good hygiene.
Doctors hold a LOT more sway than a parent.
It is also an amazing opportunity to show her that she doesn’t need to be embarrassed to go to the doctor for anything, even if it’s just for advice.
I understand not wanting to reward her for doing what she needs to do daily, but she is only 6. Sometimes they need to be rewarded in the beginning to get them to do something, then when it’s on track, just reward her for just being good every so often anyway and you can work this into it.
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How can I teach my child good personal hygiene?
No tips but my 6 year old is the same 
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No problems with my 5 year olds hygiene but my 3 year old daughter is the same 
Just keep pushing it. She’ll eventually be around someone a little funky and get the idea. Not had this problem from by boys but they know what funk can manifest if they don’t scrub. 
Honestly I think it’s the age… neither of my kids ever want to do these things either. They just feel like it interrupts their time playing… my almost 10 year old is getting better, he doesn’t complain much when it’s shower time anymore, so I think it’s something they grow out of eventually
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My 9 year old loves showers - I buy him the fun toothpaste and shower gel - sometimes a diff smelling shampoo - we usually do a routine come home from school put your clothes in the hamper take a shower have a snack and do homework maybe try a routine or something diff
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Maybe let her choose her shower stuff and toothpaste at the store
Wait until they’re teenagers …
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Potty training is a life skill as well…but people still do rewarding for that… i dont see a problem with rewarding for like skills if it you to your goal
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My son was like this I then got on you tube and search for germs for kids videos made him watch them he is 11 now and he showers not baths it helped with showing him the reason for hygiene
Bathing is not an option!
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Mom made bath time and brushing teeth fun with songs and toys for me 
It’s a kid thing hun. SMH. Boys are worse I think. My 16 and 13 year old boys are on it…my 12 yr old boy however reeks of sweat and hardly changes socks…showers EVERY MORNING …but refuses to wear deodorant or put on clean socks.
Am I the only one who still assisted at this age?
Are you leaving her to do it on her own? Perhaps she’s not thoroughly washing herself?
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Good luck i have 4 teenagers that lack those skills🤣 its because they’re lazy teenagers
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My 7 year old is the same way!! 
She could have Sensory differences, or other reasons why its just not as easy for her as it is for your other child. Stop thinking of it as a life skill she should just be better at because its the norm, and start working on helping her have a healthy relationship with hygiene. I was always this kid and a reward system to change things up would have saved me a lot of health issues and bad habits.
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Tell her she’s taking a bath no options
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My daughter was the same.exact.way! She would go in and run the shower and never get in it! Drove me insane. I finally decided if she wanted to be the nasty, smelly kid, that was on her. She’s 14 now and showers every day, sometimes washes her hair multiple times a day.
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Keep trying she will get it.
I have a 6-year-old and we still stand with her when she brushes her teeth to make sure she gets all of them and as far as bath time we still wash her hair and stand there while she washes her body but I think it’s just the age. However I also have three teenagers and I have to tell two of them to take showers.
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Sometimes kids have sensory issues when it comes to those sorts of things…Maybe ask why they dont like doing those things…My Niece has sensory issues and only likes strawberry toothpaste and wont use mint…
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Well, bathing super frequently isn’t healthy 
Maybe let her have a small “win”? Teeth every day and bath every other or every 3 depending on the season?
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Keep a set time for bath. It has helped with 8 yr old. You can go anytime before but at 6 no questions asked it is bath time. Any waiting around results in lost electronic time. Every minute you are late you loose that much time. Only takes a few times of wanting to play a game and having to sit and watch the clock worked for us
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Shes 6 lmao just keep a routine apart of her daily lofe amd she’ll catch on
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For my house bathing/ heigene is a non-negotiable. I don’t give a crap how he or anyone else feels about it, he will shower daily.
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From personal experience… let her be stinky and then when her peers say something it will get her butt in motion. When I was super young it didn’t matter what my mother did or said… I just refused. It was more about just not doing what she said than me just not wanting to bathe. But eventually I sat next to a friend on the bus and they commented on my smell…. I changed real quick lol. At 6 though… I’d be throwing her in the shower. She’s still young
Daily showers are not necessary if she hasn’t gotten dirty. Sitting around the house is not need for a daily shower. Sold a bill of goods by the soap/personal hygiene companies to sell more products. If she got dirty, sweaty or went swimming, then a shower is necessary. And it shouldn’t take her more than 15 minutes. But give her time and peer pressure will do more than anything you say.
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Make it a part of her nightly routine my 7 yr old takes a shower every other night after dinner during the colder months and every night after dinner in the warmer months .
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I switched up what kind of toys. I bought different soaps, shampoos, conditioner from the dollar store, have a turkey baster, large syringe, cup spoon and little travel bottles to fill and make " concoctions" with.
A six year old should have no choice, at a certain time every day you tell her to go get some panties and pajamas that it’s bath time. Then you take a towel and rag into the bathroom and start her water. After she’s been in tub a little bit you go in and supervise or aid in bathing and hair washing. Same with brushing teeth twice a day. My granddaughter is 6 and absolutely has to be supervised for all hygiene except wiping her own behind.
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Executive function be like that sometimes, look up neurotypes that have issues with it and see if any of them fit her.
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Tooth brush with music!
Fill tub. Ask her how much water she wants in it. Stick her in and scrub her and rinse
Whatever you do. Don’t compare. That will mess with a child’s self esteem. (Not that you do)
Make her a nice little area of her own. Let her pick out her tooth brush… let her choose between the hard,medium and soft choices… hair brush , maybe some nice headbands etc. And a deodorant of her choice) Even a nice loofah and body wash. A mirror. Make it special.
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Potty training is life skills and we give awards for that … in my opinion, anything that needs to be improved can be a chart haha my kid strives on charts!
Have the sibling talk to her, maybe if she’ll get through to her on the importance of good hygiene
Pokemon smile app is free and can help with brushing teeth
My 6 year old wouldn’t take a shower either if It wasn’t because I make her. 
She showers every other day unless she gets sweaty or dirty but she needs to be reminded every single time. she sometimes tries to get away by saying “I took a shower yesterday” lol
She also doesn’t brush her hair or teeth if I don’t remind her I been having conversations with her about how important it is to do these things but still … 
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I wonder if losing tv, computer, ipad, aren’t the answer. Cut all that off at 7. She takes a bath or shower, or no more electronics until she does.
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Try having her take showers instead.
Make a set schedule… like every other day or as needed.
Have consequences for her not brushing her teeth or showering.
I mean that’s kinda up to my kids. If they want to be stinky, and they get made fun of, we can discuss why.
Brushing teeth is so important though. Sugar LITERALLY turns to acid in the mouth and in turn erodes enamel causing decay and cavities and dental insurance doesn’t cover some stuff and it’s expensive to fix in the long run.
I’d honestly prefer my kids to shower every other day at the VERY LEAST, but brush religiously.
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Force a routine. No options allowed. Teeth time and shower time. It’s gets even tougher as they get older. The earlier you force a routine the better they are when they are older to comply. You have to co Stanley remind them to do it.
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I saw a post where someone took a pic of them sleeping and photoshopped cockroaches on the person.
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Oh it is tough being blessed with a strong willed child. The personality type you pray she keeps when she gets to the bare knuckles of teenager. Certainly you want to encourage her to listen to her own voice for her own good and not respond to demands from an outside voice. She ain’t no push-over after all. Make taking a bath her choice- her control but her choice and her control on your terms. Say something like, “I will be happy to take you to a play date at Julie’s house as soon as you finish your bath.” Or, “You can have screen time as soon as you finish your shower and brush your teeth, feel free to have a nice little fit in the mean time” or, “We can all sit down to watch the Disney movie right after your shower.” Or maybe give her control through choices by asking “Do you want to take your shower before dinner or after dinner?”, do you want to take a bubble bath or a shower tonight?" or “Do you want to take a warm shower or cool shower tonight”. When she answers with “I DON’T WANT TO TAKE A SHOWER!!!” Reply calmly with “I understand that and that isn’t what I asked, warmth shower or cool shower?” Calmly repeat this phrase with every angry retort she screams back.
The calmer you remain the more likely she will get wet.
We always told our kids to only brush the teeth they want to keep, and to feel free to let the others turn green and fall out.
Good luck…raising kids can be such a frustrating challenge but they grow up so fast and by the time they are teenagers you will look at the water bill and wish they didn’t take so many showers.
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Maybe try making her realize how good being clean or having clean teeth FEELS. Some kids wont notice the difference (I loved showering as a kid but didn’t notice how good it felt until I got older and started really appreciating an after work shower. Then if you havent already try setting a routine, maybe something without a set time but more like an after dinner we brush our teeth and shower, then an activity before bed. Activity doesn’t start until shower and teeth are brushed. I think making her feel the difference will really help.
I think it’s just a kid thing they don’t like having to stop and do things like that. We’ve all been through that phase. I think being consistent and having a bathing routine will help!
Make it part of a routine. Follow the same routine all the time. Get up, get dressed, breakfast, teeth brushing.
Night time, dinner, play, shower, pj’s and brush teeth story time and bed.
Shes 6. She’s not old enough to be regulating hygiene. That’s your job as the parent.
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Still fighting with the 9 & 13 year olds to take showers…I say bath time and the two 6 year olds run for the tub. It’s an age thing/phase. A gross smelling one, but they’ll eventually learn how much nicer it is, but it could take a while….
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It’s part of our routine at home, it’s not an option.
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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How can I teach my child good personal hygiene?
Maybe try to do it with her. Brush your teeth together, etc. Model the behavior you would like to see her do, but at 6 years old she definitely needs positive guidance.
Water proof speaker for the shower and a toothbrush that plays music to time her brushing. Also, maybe ask her why she doesn’t like to bathe and brush her teeth. My dad, my 3 children and myself all have overactive gag reflex when brushing. Some flavors / brands are worse than others do to the flavor, intensity or amount of bubbles. If this is the case for her, make sure she uses an actual pea size amount (not too much) and possibly try different flavors.
Maybe try bringing someone else, another female, into the picture. My son was the same way until I brought a friend around and they would brush teeth together, comb hair, clip nails, etc. Hygiene buddies
Make a consistent routine with bath time at the same time each day. I don’t think a material reward is needed but positive words of praise and encouragement make a huge difference. I like to tell my daughter how beautiful her smile is after brushing her teeth , or mention how nice her hair smells when it’s clean. I also think its important to note that my daughter is 10 and just started washing her hair alone. She had a hard time getting all the shampoo or conditioner out of her hair and keeping the soap from getting in her eyes . Encourage your daughter to learn but also be sure and not be critical if she’s just not ready to do these things alone.
My 10 year old has to be reminded still. I got tired of helping her comb her rats nest and I threatened to cut off her long gorgeous hair. She is a little better but I still have to remind her to shower, brush her teeth,and hair. Its like she just doesn’t care.
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You should totally get her some bathtub crayons! Those things do wonders for that type of situations…I mean,come on 
u get to draw anything you want to in the tub!!!
In my personal opinion, I think she is still too young to do this on her own. I have a 5 and 7 year old that I still bathe because they aren’t thorough if they did it on their own. It is time consuming but it has to be done.
Your 8 yr old sounds like the exception to the rule and the 6yr old is the rule. Its fine, just remind her. Stay on top of it. Through her life if you notice it’s still a hassle then consider there might be a bigger problem. But for now, just tell her
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Consistency is key!
Make it fun for her buy some kinda bath fizzles, colors, soap slime etc.
Maybe try doing certain parts of the routine with her.
Make a sticker chart and at the end of the week give her a prize.
Good luck momma🙏
Keep trying and be consistent it’s your job to make sure she’s clean she’s eight not twenty eight😎it takes time and stop comparing to her sibling
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Consistency…dont “let” her skip hygiene; one of the most important for women .
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Buy a pool and at least the summer time is covered, lol, you want to swim? Great, you have to brush your teeth first, oh look now your butts clean too 
Shes 6 still needs you to remind her
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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How can I teach my child good personal hygiene?
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How can I teach my child good personal hygiene?
She’s 6 yrs old… Why is she having this level of responsibility without any help… If it were up to any 6yr old I’m sure they would wear the same clothes for a week… Help her and stop expecting her to do it all herself
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Oh my god really??? Does anyone else think this is a load of fake BS???
& Even if it is true FFS the child is 6 not a hormone filled teenager, I remind my 9 year old & 15 year old guys don’t forget your teeth or you could do with a shower/bath it’s no big deal seriously 
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Maybe a chart. No tv, video games or anything else fun before all these things are done. Bath, chore, homework, etc. If she doesn’t complete all tasks and cross them off her chart, then that activity gets taken away for that day.
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Why is this an option? You have a bath every night. You brush your teeth minimum twice a day. Permissive parenting is the problem. Just cuz your first kid parented themselves… Doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the second one.
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Run a bath and shout down. “BATH TIME!” empty all of your plastic cups and tubs into the bath. Give them a bottle of baby shampoo to make concoctions and hey presto, perfectly clean 6 year old. 
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Your children are just different. One is more disciplined and the other isn’t… you can not train that into a child. IT IS JUST THE NATURE OF THE BEAST… So basically you will be reminding your youngest till she leaves home to have a shower and brush her teeth…
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Leave her alone. Don’t worry. If you want her to do it set up a schedule. You are the parent. So be a parent. Stop thinking a small child is going to make proper adult choices.
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Just because one child does it doesn’t mean the other should.
We are all individuals.
Agree with above. Shes 6… help her
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Make bathtime FUN so that it won’t be a chore. My daughter learned to count to 100 because it was fun to count when the conditioner was on her hair. But I stayed with her and counted and encouraged play in the tub. Have done that with the grands too. Good luck. And be careful about comparing kids. They are all different.
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Sounds like possible executive dysfunction. It’s common with things like autism and adhd. Routine/schedule can help to an extent.
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She’ll get there. My two girls were exactly the same. Right now, it’s just too much trouble for her. I promise, she’ll get there.
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Help her. Start at the top of the body and work her way down when we got to the private areas I would hand her the wash cloths and have her wash herself teaching about not putting too much soap for that part of the body. After that I would have her wash the bum. Teaching that T.P doesn’t do as good as a bath. I would tell the kids the sugar bugs will eat holes in your teeth if we don’t scrub them off.
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Make it a routine every night dinner, bath, teeth, bed and every morning dressed, breaki, teeth. Once you get into the routine and habit. It might take some tears and tantrums. Good luck and keep at it. It’ll get easier the more you do it.
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I showed my son videos of the bugs found on your body when you don’t take a bath and pic of teeth rotten problem solved
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Be the leader. She does not have a choice. Stand over her if you need to. Offer the fun things, of course, like the Bath & Body Works visit etc. But at the end of the day it’s irrelevant if she’s interested, it’s just a thing she does every day.
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I still have to scrub my 6yo down in the shower before he takes a bath. I give him the opportunity to scrub himself down first so I can see how poorly he handles it. I’ve also gone into the bathroom while he was ‘brushing his teeth’ to see that he had turned his electric toothbrush on, run the tap and then sat over the heating vent, pretending. I think by 10 they should definitely be managing their own hygiene, but every kid is different.
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I dont know why this is a choice. This is what we do and how we do it. As a parent we are to teach our children. It could be fun, do it together… at bedtime get up and say it’s time to brush our teeth…and show her how to brush properly, and when it’s time to take a bath, just say it’s time to take a bath. Let’s go… don’t give her an option until she’s old enough. At 6 you are not old enough.
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Set it up as an expectation with routine like every night after dinner before a show is shower time . Get the kids their own personal hygiene products . With smells that she likes and colour sponge or towel she likes .
Assoicate showering as a nice experience but also a must not an option
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Let her pick out her own smelling body wash and such. Give her the choice and make her feel like it’s her decision. She will want to use the smell good stuff she bought
They are only life skills once they are actually learned. We give rewards for learning potty training. This is no different.
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Set expectations for a daily schedule that includes homework, bath time, breakfast, dinner etc with her input. Share with her the social consequence of ppl who neglect personal hygiene and its implications for her own health.
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The parent should have been teaching that before 6yo. Plus there need parental supervision.
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Hygiene wasn’t up for debate with my kids, it’s just what we did DAILY
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Let her pick out her own bath soaps and some body cream … maybe go to the store Bath And Body with her … Make it fun with more of her own choices and controls… compliment her how pretty she smells.
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I second starting to get on a strict schedule first. Also giving her freedom to choose certain things. For instance, she must take a shower but let her pick out the scent of body wash. Same with a tooth brush, what hair style for the day, etc. My daughter occasionally huffs and puffs when it’s time to bathe/brush hair, and I find letting her have some control over those things gets her more excited!
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You guys could do it together my mom used to have me shower with her until I was like 4. I’m still not great at brushing my teeth but point is having someone to do
it with them could help.
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We had the same problem with my Grandson, I started giving him a choice to take a bath now or in 20 minutes of course he always chose to put it off. Once he started feeling like he had some control over it he was much easier to work with. Good luck
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This should not even be a question. You are the parent. She’s six. You make the rules.
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Kids are different, some need more help than others, I wouldnt worry about it too much at this age. I have to warn you, it may get worse before it gets better, pre-teens tend to need more prodding to take a shower than the younger ones do.
This is all normal
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Tell her is she can wash her body and then you will help her with her hair. Reminder behind the ears, elbows and back of the ankles are where people will see the dirt . If she doesn’t do it right you will have to watch her do it
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My mom used to call us out for it. Be straight forward with us and say we stunk (even if we didn’t) I know it sounds more like a punishment but it’s not. Ask her what her favorite thing about bathtime is? Use that. Compliment how good she smells and how pretty her teeth are after she gets clean. Make her feel like it’s worth it and over time she’ll understand why it’s necessary.