Hygiene issues...help?
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I don't have any real advice as I go through the same with all my kids my sons. But for them i think it's straight laziness. But maybe try getting her wipes maybe ? About the clothes could it also be that th we smell is staying on the clothes? My oldest would lie about wearing deodorant so his shirts stunk and the smell wouldn't come out I started adding vinegar to the wash and it helped a lot. And unfortunately seeing as your the only one mentioning it to her she probably doesn't see it as a problem. Also with the clothes I have my kids bring the clothes they take off to my room everyday so they don't repeat them Because they will wear an outfit until I say otherwise
When you had a talk with her, what did she say in return?
@Enayda we had an issue with lying about deodorant for awhile there..I have her wash her own clothes because she knows how and has been. She does tend to forget them in the wash sometimes and then has to re-wash them cause they smell..perhaps it's that, the vinegar thing is an excellent idea, I'll have her add a cup to her load each time in case it is the clothing it self. Thank you!🥰
@Shauna♡🔗 I have a few talks, alone with her because I don't want to embarrass her, and she just tells me, "I do clean/wipe good. These pants/shirt are clean.." but sometimes idk..
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@Enayda I think it could be laziness, she does have that tendency.
@Cate your welcome my son does the same thing or he would not dry them fully and it was smell like mildew. Hopefully you can find a solution to help her I know I try I rather prevent an issue vs. Fixing it after
@Enayda yes, the mildew! Lol, I swear.. and I like the wipes idea, I really appreciate you responding.
@Cate anytime hun
Yes try lumi deodorant I love them I noticed the gel types work better then the solid ones.
@Shauna♡🔗 so right now we use arm and hammer but we've also use tide, all, and gain. That's what makes me think it's her..downy unstoppable is good idea! Love those.timer is good too since she always has that phone..But if it is her hygiene I'll only be masking it 😔
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@Cate after you put those things into place then it'll be easier to keep up with everything else. The flushable wipes & changing deodorant, like I suggested, will help her hygiene. Then you can setup a nighttime routine of when she showers as well. I know when a child reaches a certain age you want to give them space to learn and etc but I say still with guidance even in their teens.
Well said! I've started the shower routine which ses to be going well with me following up.. I need to follow up on the other things I'll put in place as well. Good suggestions 💜
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Even laundry has a routine of every other day is a wash day and if someone starts the wash on a non wash day EVERYONE has to wash that day whether they like it or not (even my toddler washes because that's the age I start chores on to set a lifetime routine). So when they get older they keep the trend of what they learned about hygiene.
@Cate thank you. My oldest is 15, I don't need to follow up anymore because they get it, to shower before 9p as it goes along with all daily chores (after chores is shower) so the routine has been set all their lives and had to be reinforced when they turned teenagers (I added more chores) but I still follow up every other day as well as in the AM i.e hey... don't forget deodorant you have gym or it's really hot out carry wipes and put on more deodorant etc. It feels natural to them so they don't take it personal. Or if I come home and I smell funk, hey take a shower early, and they don't take it personal. Kids love LIVING in the SAME clothes for weeks and I do the, if I see you in this one more time I'm throwing it in the garbage, 😆. But they know not to take it personal and laugh about it and get the hint they need to change clothes (it's always the inside clothes - not the outside clothes).
@Shauna♡🔗 I gotcha, I have a 16yr SD, she gets it, she had her time of not washing enough tho lol
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@Cate kids go through this stage no matter if they're high aged teens. Even adults do it. Lol. Just gotta be on top of it a bit. They'll do fine. 😆
Mine was the exact same at 12 (she’s 14 now.) I confronted her once about wiping and she swore to me she did and then I pointed out that there was no toilet paper in the bathroom and then she was forced to come clean and said she just doesn’t sometimes and didn’t know why. We definitely had to make sure she showered every day and once she still smelled AFTER she showered and I found out she wasn’t using soap, just rinsing with water. We made her go shower again. Maybe when she does her laundry do a sweep of her room and pull out anything that smells that you think should be washed and add it to her laundry pile. She might be skipping things because she doesn’t want to wash it. We also got her lume deodorant and lume wipes for her to use after PE at school. She’s slowly gotten better but is still a little stinky!
@Cate what detergent do you use? I suggest, ik someone mentioned vinegar, I'm suggesting adding oxy clean to the load as well. Look into Unstoppables by Downy. Think about also changing her deodorant to something stronger. Have her use flushable wipes, that can also assist- this way when she wipes it's also cleaning her. When she does her laundry have her put a timer on her phone to alert her for when it's done.