# How often do you wash your child's hair?



## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

I have a 4-year-old who hates having her hair washed. She loves playing in the bath, but doesn't like the hair thing. I'm trying to decide how much I can let that go.

What are your hair standards?


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## MichelleZB (Nov 1, 2011)

My boy's almost two. I wash his hair every week or so, maybe a little less. We bath other times, I just don't touch his hair.

People say it's different with girls who have long hair, but it really isn't. I've had long hair my whole life. My mother would wash our hair once a week, and then braid it up in tight french braids and leave it for days. We were perfectly clean.


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## kblackstone444 (Jun 17, 2007)

As a preschool teacher, I see everything the kids actually get into at school/daycare. You'd be surprised what some kids will do- lay on the (public) bathroom floor next to the toilet, use their hair for paintbrush, lay all over the ground outside with their hair in the mud/dirt/ whatever, smear food in it, etc. I've always bathed my kids every other day, or every day, if needed, and washed their hair just about every time I bathed them (unless it was a potty training accident or something like that). My 2 year old has hair just past his shoulders, wants to grow it longer, but when we're outside, he just can't seem to NOT lay all over the ground and then there's so much dirt, etc, in his hair, and he's growing his bangs out ( they're to the bottom of his nose), so he gets a lot of food in his hair, so lately, I find myself bathing my son and washing his hair every night. I think for my three oldest, it was every 2-3 nights they'd be bathed and hair older two are teenagers now, so they're every night) and for the sedond youngest, the 6 year old, she's the kind of kid where she walks into a room, mess flies at her, so she really needs to be bathed and hair washed every 1-2 days, or she looks like a sticky mess.


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## blessedwithboys (Dec 8, 2004)

Daily baths and hair washing is the general rule around here. I sometimes go longer with my hair bc it is very dry from being colored, but my kids have been taught proper hygiene from the start...kids play hard and get dirty and therefore must be bathed daily.

That said, if it's a lazy indoor day or maybe a rare cold day in the winter, we might skip one day. But only one, never two.


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## ananas (Jun 6, 2006)

My DD is only 11 months old but I only wash her hair maybe every 2 weeks. Generally if it stinks and only then.

I don't think a lot of hair washing is healthy, though. I wash my hair FAR less often than most people do.


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## Chloe'sMama (Oct 14, 2008)

We have baths here about 2 times a week (maybe a quick rinse if they are muddy). Hair washing happens rarely, maybe 2 times a month.

Almost every bath though they do rinse their hair. I have super dry skin and hair and don't use soap on myself very often and only wash my hair a few times a week.

I wouldn't stress if he doesn't like his hair washed.


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## Neera (Jul 15, 2007)

Once in two days or if it's sweaty and needs it then as soon as it's required.


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## kime3124 (Feb 16, 2011)

My daughter has always been the same way. She is 5 now. Before we started kindergarten I would let her go a week between hair washing. Yes by the end of the week it was a bit ratty and hard to get a hair brush through. Now that she is in school I make her wash it on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. It seems to work fine and just starts to get hard to brush on the last morning. I will also put a bit of leave in conditioner in her hair before brushing it.


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## MrsNichols (Oct 15, 2013)

I've always only washed my daughters hair about once a week. Which sounds bad, I guess. But she doesn't go to daycare and is a very neat child on her own. Plus we use natural shampoo that doesn't have phthalates in it, which I am convinced is what causes your hair to get greasy. Her hair always looks great. Of course if she gets hot and sweaty or does something messy I will wash it. Just as a general rule though not often. I definitely don't think it's something to stress about. If your kid stinks, wash em. If not no need for unnecessary fighting and/or crying about something that can be avoided.


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## pamelaRRRR (May 27, 2013)

We have our 5-year-old rinse his head every time he bathes, but he hates having his hair actually washed do that only happens once a week or so. He has downy, soft hair, clean hair I never have to brush (he also hates combs and brushes). Within an hour of waking up, his hair is always back to its normal state. It's so stubbornly straight I can't even put gel in it and style it.


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## khensberry (Apr 1, 2012)

My 22 month old isn't super fond of hair washing, but we've been battling really bad cradle cap since birth and the only thing I haven't tried is washing her hair more often than every 7-10 days. So I'm aiming for every other day now. It'll be some time before I see if it's working but it's hard because she really isn't into it. I can't wash her hair if she is tired so I have been doing bath time a little earlier, and that helps some. We had a rinse cup for a while, and that helped sometimes as well. Something like this (though I have seen them much cheaper). http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Shampoo-Rinse-Cup-SRC44/dp/B001GI4FXI We lost it though and I was super bummed! Maybe something like that would help? Or what about washing hair in a shower with mom instead of in the tub? I think hair washing goes along with bathing -- you don't necessarily need to do it every day but the head, like the rest of the body, does get dirty and needs to be washed periodically. Hair smells and gets ratty otherwise. So I try not to push it if she is in a bad mood, tired, had a rough day, etc., but if she is doing well then we do wash it. I liked that cup cause it was super fast. I just keep telling her how much I appreciate it and I know she doesn't really like it. When it's done then I quickly change the subject to another toy or tell her to splash or something like that to distract her.


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## motherVS (Jun 13, 2013)

My 3yo doesn't like getting her hair washed either, but I make sure to wash it at least twice a week. Her hair naturally falls to one side, and underneath that swoop of hair, every once in a while she gets a rash-type-cradle cap-type something. I still haven't figured out exactly what it is, but I make sure to scrub her hair GOOD during those times. The twice a week thing seems to work for us. during the rest of her (daily) baths, I will often just rinse her hair with plain water. If the rash thing gets bad enough, I will rinse her hair in diluted apple cider vinegar, and that helps a lot.


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

It depends. My youngest is 4 and I wash her hair daily in the warmer months because it's really thin like my own and gets oily fast. But in the cooler months I wash it about every other day and sometimes I will go two days without washing it. None of my kids liked getting their hair washed and I had to use games and tricks to get around that because I wanted them to be clean. But it's up to each parent how they want to do it.


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## BennyPai (Jul 22, 2005)

Hair washing more often than once a week is not a necessary part of good hygiene, unless there are extreme contributing factors such as dragging it through the muck as a previous poster suggested, or perhaps smearing it with food. Private parts are the most important parts to clean more regularly. Four-year-olds don't tend to be the best wipers when it comes to potty time, so mine gets a daily dip in the bath to take care of anything missed in that department. Hairwashing: once a week at MOST in this house, for all 4 of my daughters who range in age from 22 months to (almost)10 years. My hair is washed twice a week.

From what I understand after much reading on the subject, frequent hair washing strips the scalp's natural oils and leads to additional oil production and a more oily scalp, needing more frequent washing... it's a cycle. Best to break it if you're in it.


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BennyPai*
> 
> Hair washing more often than once a week is not a necessary part of good hygiene, unless there are extreme contributing factors such as dragging it through the muck as a previous poster suggested, or perhaps smearing it with food. Private parts are the most important parts to clean more regularly. Four-year-olds don't tend to be the best wipers when it comes to potty time, so mine gets a daily dip in the bath to take care of anything missed in that department. Hairwashing: once a week at MOST in this house, for all 4 of my daughters who range in age from 22 months to (almost)10 years. My hair is washed twice a week.
> 
> From what I understand after much reading on the subject, frequent hair washing strips the scalp's natural oils and leads to additional oil production and a more oily scalp, needing more frequent washing... it's a cycle. Best to break it if you're in it.


I think it's personal preference. I don't believe much of what I read on the internet. Everyone has their own opinion on some of those sites that talk about this type of stuff. But I do know that I hate, hate, hate feeling dirty and I've met others that are the same way. They have to have at least one shower per day (usually two) and have to wash their hair daily. I have to do it too. I wouldn't have made it back in the day when I couldn't shower daily. I usually do a shower and a bath daily if I can. I work a very hard job and the bath feels good at the end of the day but I don't go out until I've showered so I end up doing both.

I've seen lots of children over the years through work, school, church, home school, my kids in school and a child with dirty hair sticks out really bad! It just looks bad on the parent. And usually the parent doesn't notice it because they don't keep their hair clean either. Like I said before, personal preference mostly. It is a known fact though that different textures of hair and thickness will contribute to drying it out, making it oily, etc. ;-)


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## VocalMinority (Apr 8, 2009)

At the risk of incurring condescension, I'll admit that I almost never wash my 5-y-o's hair.

He has sensitive skin and hates shampoo and even bubble bath. IMO, he looks and smells terrific, with daily (or nearly daily) showers or long soaks in a tub filled with nothing but water and toys.

His grooming habits are excellent, for his age. He prides himself on careful tooth brushing AND flossing. He washes his hands before he eats, without complaint. If he's particularly dirty, he'll use a soapy washcloth in the shower (although if he does this too often, he gets dry skin). Until he gets closer to puberty and starts NEEDING more soap and shampoo, I hate the thought of turning his bathtime into a struggle, by insisting on routine shampoos just because that's what I consider normal.


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## Breezy88 (Apr 23, 2011)

I have all girls. They wash their hair once a week. More often if food or snot is in it. My question is what about their vulva? Do you wipe it with a cloth or just soak in tub and dab?


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## Mama505 (Jan 7, 2012)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *VocalMinority*
> 
> At the risk of incurring condescension, I'll admit that I almost never wash my 5-y-o's hair.
> 
> ...


I rarely wash my 3 1/2yo's hair either, maybe twice a month. He does baths, showers, or soapy washcloths on the rest of his body. He has the most beautiful hair and keeps it brushed. I think that , like someone else stated, the more we wash our hair the more it seems to need it. I wash mine way less frequently than most and my DH even less than me and both of us have very healthy hair. I also think that when kids hit puberty (or are rolling around on public restroom floors) washing habits need to be re-evaluated. Until then, I am sticking with less is more.


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## francabu (Mar 31, 2011)

This is the first time I hear that you can wash hair once a month... I'll have to read more on that.

My 3-year old daughter has really curly hair so if I don't wash it every 2-3 days, it starts getting really tangled and dry at the ends and it's very hard and painful to untangle. Maybe I need to brush it every day but she HATES the dry brushing more than the bath, so I do it in the bath with detangler to help her.

As for myself, I can't go more than 3 days or my hair also gets dry and very frizzy. I would love to only wash it once a week...


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## angie011812 (Oct 8, 2013)

In my house we take showers everyday, sometimes even twice a day. That includes hair washing as well, I can't stand not taking a shower I immediately feel dirty. I think my 2 year old daughter feels the same cause she sweats a lot at night then at day time she plays a lot too. If I don't wash my hair everyday it gets really oily which I absolutely hate.


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## mariee (Mar 4, 2012)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kblackstone444*
> 
> As a preschool teacher, I see everything the kids actually get into at school/daycare. You'd be surprised what some kids will do- lay on the (public) bathroom floor next to the toilet, use their hair for paintbrush, lay all over the ground outside with their hair in the mud/dirt/ whatever, smear food in it, etc. I've always bathed my kids every other day, or every day, if needed, and washed their hair just about every time I bathed them (unless it was a potty training accident or something like that). My 2 year old has hair just past his shoulders, wants to grow it longer, but when we're outside, he just can't seem to NOT lay all over the ground and then there's so much dirt, etc, in his hair, and he's growing his bangs out ( they're to the bottom of his nose), so he gets a lot of food in his hair, so lately, I find myself bathing my son and washing his hair every night. I think for my three oldest, it was every 2-3 nights they'd be bathed and hair older two are teenagers now, so they're every night) and for the sedond youngest, the 6 year old, she's the kind of kid where she walks into a room, mess flies at her, so she really needs to be bathed and hair washed every 1-2 days, or she looks like a sticky mess.


Yeah, we wash every single day, pretty much for this reason right here! Laying on the floor next to the toilet- gross!!


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## lula'smom (Jun 21, 2006)

Once a week at most for the 7.5 year old. Possibly once a month for the 3 year old. I don't think my kids' hair stands out as being dirty, so I really think it depends on the hair, etc. But it is true that I'm not as clean as I could be myself at this stage in my life so my lens may be cloudy. We do baths probably every other day or so, depending on the season, how much time we have, and my girls' preference, and they usually get their hair wet (especially in summer) so it gets rinsed but not soaped more often. I do like them to wash their bottoms and vulvas with gentle soap (we can only use CA baby or we get a rash) every day or every other day. If we haven't had a bath in a day or two, I will do a warm wet washcloth or diaper wipe.


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## L SorchaNuala (Jul 30, 2013)

My 5 year old DD hates having her hair washed, like panic attack type of fear. So we do it as little as possible, and give her lots of warning, and choices. We actually try to encourage her to do it herself, so she can control the water, since she doesn't mind getting her head wet herself as much. In the summer, when she gets hot and sweaty and gets sand in her hair, we try to wash it once a week, once every 10 days or so at the least. When it gets colder, (like now), it's more like once every 2 weeks. And its the same with our DS who's 16 months.


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## Janet Kelley (Oct 18, 2013)

I'll be honest here: We hardly ever wash the the kids' hair. My daughter is 5-and-a-half and has long hair. I wash it every two or three months or so. If we go for a haircut, I have them wash it too. She enjoys that. Then periodically she will wet/wash it herself. I brush it daily and can monitor if there is a problem. The brushing removes dirt, etc. I also put in coconut oil to detangle and condition it.


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## leilasmama (Sep 18, 2010)

My nearly-4-yo dd also doesn't like hair washing. Personally, I think less frequent is more healthy anyway so she probably gets it washed roughly once/week. Over the summer though, my mom suggested that she (dd) do it herself & that worked really well - we assist but as she thinks she is in control it goes much more smoothly, usually without tears. She also prefers tilting/lying back to dip her hair rather than sitting up having water poured over - of course we have to do a bit of that to get all the shampoo out, but again, these small measures seem to make it better.


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## Shazer (Oct 6, 2006)

My 6.5 yo has sensory issues, especially about her face and hair. When she was one, she started expressing fears about being sucked down the drain in the bath. She went almost a year without a bath, instead coming into the shower with me. But I would at most rinse her hair to minimize the possibility of water getting in her eyes. If she had food in her hair, we would use a washcloth. Now that she is older, she handles hair washing. At most, I wash her hair once a week. Usually it is every two weeks with a rinse when needed.

My son is three. He hates having his hair washed. So I use a washcloth or gently rinse his hair. He has crazy thick hair and unless I spend fifteen minutes rinsing, he gets shampoo residue on his scalp. Thirty seconds of rinsing and he is annoyed, so no shampoo for him. And my son has a bath when he is dirty. This is usually every other day or twice a week.


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## Lacey Fassett (Oct 18, 2013)

yes


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## Lacey Fassett (Oct 18, 2013)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kblackstone444*
> 
> As a preschool teacher, I see everything the kids actually get into at school/daycare. You'd be surprised what some kids will do- lay on the (public) bathroom floor next to the toilet, use their hair for paintbrush, lay all over the ground outside with their hair in the mud/dirt/ whatever, smear food in it, etc. I've always bathed my kids every other day, or every day, if needed, and washed their hair just about every time I bathed them (unless it was a potty training accident or something like that). My 2 year old has hair just past his shoulders, wants to grow it longer, but when we're outside, he just can't seem to NOT lay all over the ground and then there's so much dirt, etc, in his hair, and he's growing his bangs out ( they're to the bottom of his nose), so he gets a lot of food in his hair, so lately, I find myself bathing my son and washing his hair every night. I think for my three oldest, it was every 2-3 nights they'd be bathed and hair older two are teenagers now, so they're every night) and for the sedond youngest, the 6 year old, she's the kind of kid where she walks into a room, mess flies at her, so she really needs to be bathed and hair washed every 1-2 days, or she looks like a sticky mess.


This cracked me up reading this! I can totally relate, i am sure my 5 year old daughter would totally do these things at school! I try to wash her hair everyday, unless on a weekend and we just hang out at home most of the day.


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## Kidsalmostgrown (Oct 18, 2013)

As a hairstylist at a children's salon I've seen it all! When we talk about hair washing we can't all be given the same advice because we all have different hair types, skin types, what kinds of products we have access to and how much time we have in our schedules, etc, etc. My professional advice is this: Hair products contain a lot of potentially harmful substances for our children, ironically baby shampoo is one of the worst! Cradle cap is thought to be caused by shampoos (containing sodium laureate sulphate) stripping the hair and scalp of natural oils and the reaction of the body is the over production of oil to compensate. Then because you've just mushed around the suds instead of really scrubbing, the dead skin cells are held in place by all that oil that was just produced. It's a vicious cycle. Use olive oil or some other organic oil (not baby oil) to massage into the scalp to loosen up flakes and then scrub hard with a sulphate free shampoo.

For those of you that like to make bath time part of your bedtime routine do not shampoo the hair every time, maybe once a week, less if the hair is curly. You can wet and rinse any food or sand or dirt out with just water. Concentrate on the scrub, not the product. If your child has curly hair, wet, add conditioner, comb or brush out knots, then rinse. Towel dry any child's hair by blotting, not rubbing, combing out will be easier. If you can afford to buy a sulphate free shampoo and you absolutely feel you have to - then go ahead and wash more frequently. Another added bonus of not washing your child's hair too often is that it's a lice repellent. Lice love squeaky clean hair and hate dirty, oily hair. If your child has swim lessons it's important to wash out the chlorine/salt residue after and condition well. Lemon juice in the conditioner is good if you don't want to shampoo it.

Personally, I wash my hair once a week with a natural, sulphate free shampoo, condition well and shower every other day with a shower cap. I never wash my face with soap, just use a washcloth to slough off dead skin cells. The beauty industry is a trillion dollar business and most information is from marketers, not professionals. I wouldn't trust most of mainstream info.

We as a society today are too clean about ourselves. As my midwife told me "Babies aren't dirty." Wash only the important bits - hands and bums - everyday and leave the rest to once a week. You can't go wrong.


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## One_Girl (Feb 8, 2008)

My dd and I both wash our hair and bodies daily. I can't imagine washing my curly hair only once a week, it gets clumpy and gross if I don't at least toss conditioner on daily. The thought of being that unhygienic is repulsive to me. I never wanted my DD to be the stinky kid because it affects how.children interact with them so I have always required good hygiene.


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## LeeNYC (Jan 7, 2012)

DD just turned 2. We bathe and wash hair 3x/week or so. She doesn't mind; although sometimes she doesn't like the rinsing. I use a small amount of chemical-free shampoo/bodywash.

Frankly I'd wash her hair a little less frequently if she weren't in the habit of running her food-covered fingers through it


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## mammal_mama (Aug 27, 2006)

Dd 2 and I wash our hair once a week. Dd1 used to have weekly shampoos, too, but for the past two years, she has been doing morning showers, and washing and conditioning her hair in the shower each morning, and that is how she combs through her long, thick curly hair.

Dd2 has long hair, too, and what she likes is to keep her hair in two braids (even at night) to keep it from getting too tangled. At some point each day, I take out each braid, one at a time, give her head a good scratching, brush her hair, and rebraid it. After the weekly shampoo, along with conditioning and combing through it in the shower, I rebraid it again while it's still wet. I'm so glad we started doing the braids because even though her hair's not as curly as dd1's, it still tangles quite easily when it's left down.


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## mammal_mama (Aug 27, 2006)

P.S. When each girl was smaller and went through a period of not liking water being poured over her head, I would often get a big, thick washcloth good and wet and just rub it all over her scalp really well while she was in the bathtub.

Also, each of them went through a time of preferring to lie back in the tub to wet and rinse her hair, rather than having the water poured on. Now they both prefer showers to baths.


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## Mylie (Mar 15, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *blessedwithboys*
> 
> Daily baths and hair washing is the general rule around here. I sometimes go longer with my hair bc it is very dry from being colored, but my kids have been taught proper hygiene from the start...kids play hard and get dirty and therefore must be bathed daily.
> 
> That said, if it's a lazy indoor day or maybe a rare cold day in the winter, we might skip one day. But only one, never two.


Ditto....Every night is def a must in the warmer months...In the winter we may skip a day but not two....


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## BennyPai (Jul 22, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kidsalmostgrown*
> 
> As a hairstylist at a children's salon I've seen it all! When we talk about hair washing we can't all be given the same advice because we all have different hair types, skin types, what kinds of products we have access to and how much time we have in our schedules, etc, etc. My professional advice is this: Hair products contain a lot of potentially harmful substances for our children, ironically baby shampoo is one of the worst!


Thanks for the useful tips, @Kidsalmostgrown. Hair-washing around here happens once a week or less for the kids, and their classmates do not know the difference! In fact, my oldest DD (now a fourth grader) frequently has classmates playing with her long, beautiful hair when I visit her classroom.

On another subject, I think we should all be careful about the words we teach our children to associate with their bodies. We are not gross. Our bodies and hair in their natural state are not gross. It may be possible to send the wrong message to our children when we go overboard on hygiene. It took me years to get the words my mother used about our bodies (Like the word nasty) out of my personal body image.


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## mammal_mama (Aug 27, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BennyPai*
> 
> On another subject, I think we should all be careful about the words we teach our children to associate with their bodies. We are not gross. Our bodies and hair in their natural state are not gross. It may be possible to send the wrong message to our children when we go overboard on hygiene. It took me years to get the words my mother used about our bodies (Like the word nasty) out of my personal body image.


I totally agree!


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## mightymama1976 (Mar 6, 2013)

I was absolutely stunned when our next door neighbor and a TERRIFIC mother told me: "Did you hear S. screaming today? She got paint all over her hair and we had to wash it for the first time in her life...She's always hated water and was only OK with wash cloth". The girl was close to 3 years of age when that happened. I saw her almost daily and her hair never looked oily or dirty.

I personally wash my kids' hair once or twice a week. I wash mine every 2-3 days. However, with the exception of certain areas (like hands, armpits, private area and legs whenever I shave them) I have not been using soap on my skin for the past 20 years or so and neither on my kids' skin, unless they are incredibly dirty. Just plain water bath or shower does just fine and I always get complements on how amazing my skin looks. I too think that excessive washing with soap/shampoo is not good. Not only it washes out body's oils drying out skin and forcing it to produce more oil, but it also disrupts bacterial balance on the skin, washing out good bacteria which keeps in check harmful germs, protecting us from unwanted pathogens.

I think that if a person feels dirty without being soaped on a daily basis (unless they have work that makes them objectively dirty or very sweaty), it would be a good idea to look deeper and try to find what it really is that makes them feel dirty about themselves. Just my opinion.


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## swd12422 (Nov 9, 2007)

Never in a million years would I have ever thought I'd be typing these words... We almost never wash the boys' hair. They get a bath maybe twice a week or whenever the mood strikes them, and maybe one of those times each week I wash their hair with water only, no shampoo. The little one has sensory issues and can barely stand to have his scalp scrubbed and is completely unable to keep his head tilted back enough to rinse soap out. He also cannot tolerate water on his neck, so.... That's that for him. Thankfully, he does NOT lie around on the ground, or on the bathroom floor ANYWHERE. My older son hates using soap on his head/face. I don't know why. He just can't do it. So I make sure he washes his face well enough with water after meals and before bed, and if it's bad, he has to use soap. His hair doesn't ever seem to smell or get dirty, so I wash it with water only too, and scrub his scalp and it looks fine.

FTR, my hairstylist (you know, the people whose jobs have suddenly become all about selling "product" rather than cutting hair?) told me it's best not to use shampoo, that it's not necessary and can damage hair, etc. and challenged me to stop using it. (I used to shampoo and condition every day, twice on days I had a tough workout or went out in the evening.) She does sell lots of styling products, etc. but I don't use any and she says my hair is healthier than that of any of her clients. So I'm good with no shampoo on the kids.

I think that you have to do what works for you and for her -- if you can get her hair looking healthy and clean without shampooing, great. If she needs a sudsing up every week or every other day, then do that.


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## delightedbutterfly (Oct 5, 2006)

For the longest time in our house I was a bath only when needed for our kids. They both had eczema as babies/toddlers and the water made it worse. Now that they are 8 & 5 they need baths more. The youngest baths whenever she feels like it, which is a lot as she loves them, but at minimum twice a week with a hair wash on Sunday's. The oldest we are striving for a shower/bath three times a week with a hair wash on Sunday's. We try and wash hair as little as possible because my oldest keeps getting lice notice's sent home and they don't like dirty hair. Plus we braid hair at night for less knots during sleep and put it up someway (again for the lice) every day. And neither child likes to get dirty as much as I've tried to encourage it over the years... So they both stay pretty clean. My oldest could get away with bathing less but she has come to the convulsion that she feels better after a shower and doesn't want to stink so it's her own want as we've talked about ways to keep our bodies happy and healthy.

I think we often overbathe our children, as long as they aren't obviously dirty or have been doing dirty activities then I don't see a need for daily bathing. 1-3x a week is good depending on age and dirt level in our house


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## monkeyscience (Feb 5, 2008)

We bathe our 1-year-old twice a week, and his hair is washed both times. It's only been recently we added the second bath.

Frankly, I find the assumptions that anyone who bathes/shampoos less frequently than you do is dirty, smelly, and/or gross to be very rude. Unless you've actually met the person in question, it's impossible to tell if they are any dirtier, smellier, or grosser than you. All of our bodies are different.


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## Cali2SC (Mar 16, 2009)

My now 4yo was/is the same way. She mostly was trying to avoid getting soap in her eyes, since we do not use tearless shampoos. I wash her hair when it is dirty so maybe once a week or every other week (sometimes longer between washings LOL!) We do bath more frequently without washing hair. I don't feel that more frequent washings are necessary and it just wasn't worth the fight.

It is no longer an issue, but we still do not wash hair as frequently as other posters. Some things that have helped:

having her tip her head way back to rinse with a cup and using a wash cloth to keep water/soap out of her eyes and face

If it isn't too dirty, giving her the choice of washing her hair this time or at her next bath, and then reminding her at the beginning of her next bath that we will be washing hair, like she had decided. Some level of control and plenty of warning seem to help here.

Also letting her know that it is important to take care of our bodies and part of that is keeping our hair clean. I gave her the choice of getting it cut short if she didn't want to wash her hair as often. She loves Rapunzel and so agreed that she would let me wash her hair more often without fighting, in order to keep her longer hair. Occasionally we do have to be gently reminded of this choice. If you are not willing to cut hair short, or are unsure of how your child may answer this could backfire. 

Hair washing has become much easier here. Hang in there. Wash when needed, and try to avoid making it a constant fight. Good Luck!


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## MrsNichols (Oct 15, 2013)

Quote:


> If it isn't too dirty, giving her the choice of washing her hair this time or at her next bath, and then reminding her at the beginning of her next bath that we will be washing hair, like she had decided. Some level of control and plenty of warning seem to help here.


Oh, I love that idea. Thanks!


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