Ages for personal grooming/hygeine...

[Cascadian]

What age did your kids:

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)?
2) Brush/floss their own teeth?
3) Wipe after poop?
4) Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)? Obviously not applicable to cosleepers.

Curious...I don't know how far out of the ranges we are for the above...

[ann_of_loxley]

Well - my son was 4 in September and he can not do any of those things.

He can wash himself - but there is no way he can do his hair (and he has long hair!)...hair is the battle in the bath really. Our compromise is once a week at the most and he has a special shampoo cup we use now he can just about tolerate! lol

Brush/floss....maybe brush. But not in a way thats 'good enough'. As with the wiping after poop....not 'good enough' lmao...And because I would have to go over it again, it just puts him off trying. Hes a perfectionist thoug - so when he can do it 100%, then he will ...and won't need me. When that is...no idea! lol

Put himself to sleep?....How do you mean? We go to bed as a family, he falls sleep. We still co-sleep and I think will do for a few years yet - espeically as we have another family member joining us soon. Eventually I would like them to share a bed. But 'bed time' for now is still part of 'family time' for us really. He doesn't need me in any other way to get to sleep though. There have been times he was so tired beforehand he just took himself to bed - but he needs to be tired enough! hehe

[Alyantavid]

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions)? 5ish? I know at 4 I was still doing all the soaping/shampooing.
2) Brush/floss their own teeth? My 7 year old does this totally on his own, my 3.5 year does it himself but I go over afterwards
3) Wipe after poop? sometime before kindergarten
4) Put themselves to sleep? Right now, my kids both go into their beds at bedtime awake and stay there so they fall asleep on their own. I was still laying down with them both until 2.5-3.

[3*is*magic]

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions)?
My DD started doing everything but her hair by age 5.5. She just started showering completely independently (and washing her own very long hair) around the first of the year. She's 7. I followed her lead on these things. My younger kids (3.5 and 5.5) are responsible for soaping themselves up, but I supervise and wash hair.

2) Brush/floss their own teeth?
I don't brush teeth after age 5. They are responsible for doing this independently (though I inspect once or twice a week). They are terrible flossers, but very good brushers.

3) Wipe after poop?
4.5, I think? Not always accurate, but independent.

4) Put themselves to sleep?
Do you mean falling asleep on their own? If so, they've been doing this since 6 months old. But none of them *put* themselves so bed. We tuck them in and cuddle and talk about the best parts of their days every night.

[SeekingJoy]

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions)?
DS 4.5 and DD 2, both do this, but my standards are fairly low. Most days, splashing around in the water is good enough for me.

2) Brush/floss their own teeth?
DD and DS both take a turn and then I take a turn still.

3) Wipe after poop?
Not yet.

4) Put themselves to sleep?
DS falls asleep by himself after a story and backrub, but he is fairly sleepy (we calll it "blinky" -- i.e. where the kid can barely hold his eyes open) before he is left alone. DD at 2 is still nursed to sleep.

[MJB]

My youngest son did all that at 3, some at 2 (wiping and bathing).
I didn't even ask my oldest to do any of that until 4 (at which age he did the first 3), and he didn't put himself to bed until 6.

[Cascadian]

I'll clarify the falling to sleep in my first post. Thanks - this is what I expected in terms of ages...


1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions)? My 6 yr old does this 1/2 the time, but shampoo is still my job.

2) Brush/floss their own teeth?
We let the 4 and 6 yr old do it in the mornings, but we do the full job at night.

3) Wipe after poop?
At around 5 yrs old for my oldest.

4) Put themselves to sleep?
Ha! In my dreams We coslept for 4 years, and still lie down with both to go to sleep. It's getting a little old, TBH, since they love to lie in bed and do everything but sleep.

[Mama2Bug]

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)? DD is newly 5 and has been washing herself (though a lot of it is just soaking and playing) since she was around 3 1/2. She gets reasonably clean. I still have to wash her hair and probably will for a long while yet. She has long, thick hair- well past her waist- and does not want to cut it. She also doesn't like getting water near her eyes.

2) Brush/floss their own teeth? DD brushes her own teeth in the morning but doesn't do a very good job. DH or I brush them at night. DD has some oral sensitivities and will not allow us to try flossing yet.

3) Wipe after poop? DD began trying to wipe after poop kind of sporadically around 4. She still called us to finish the job and probably would still be doing so if we hadn't insisted that she was big enough to do it on her own. She has been doing it solo since her 5th birthday (our assistance cut-off ).

4) Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)? We coslept until DD was around 3 1/2 (when she showed an interest in her own bed) but even when she was still in our bed, I put her to sleep before us. I nursed her down until she was 2 1/2. After that, I had to stay with her for several more months- I'd guess that she was maybe just a bit over three when I could leave her still awake without multiple reappearances.

[ProtoLawyer]

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)?

Everything but shampoo at 5. Shampoo at 6 1/2-7. No idea whether she does a good job anymore because she wants privacy. She doesn't smell, though.

2) Brush/floss their own teeth?

Brush around 3-4. She still won't floss well but I (and her dad) would probably be arrested for child abuse if I did what I needed to do to do it for her. So I leave that to her mom.

3) Wipe after poop?

3. She had to do so independently in order to move to the "preschool" room at her day care, so it was just something that went along with toilet training. She didn't have any sensory issues or physical difficulties doing so, so once she had it down, "wipe me!" got a negative response unless she was sick or injured.

4) Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)? Obviously not applicable to cosleepers.

She did for awhile at 6 1/2, but hasn't in awhile.

[eepster]

DS just turned 4 yo (just a few days ago.)

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)?
DS does none of this yet.
2) Brush/floss their own teeth?
He brushes, but I put the paste on the brush since DS views it as a condiment. DS has very widely spaced baby teeth, so floss won't be an issue till he starts to get adult teeth, which I expect to come in late anyway since he was a late teether.
3) Wipe after poop?
DS did this for the first time yesterday.
4) Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)? Obviously not applicable to cosleepers.
He still nurses to sleep.

[LynnS6]

1) Bathe themselves:

Our kids are 5 and 8 and can do everything but the shampoo. Actually dd (5) could probably do the shampoo and do a reasonable job. Ds (8) won't even try.

2) Brush own teeth: age 4-5. Floss -- they still don't do well and I don't push it.

3) Wipe after poop? 4 for dd, 5 1/2 for ds (after major bribery).

4) Put themselves to sleep without us in the room? About age 3-4. But that's after a long bedtime routine. They put their pjs on, we give them a snack, they do their reading for school, brush their teeth, we read stories, say prayers and tuck them in. They then fall asleep on their own in anything from 15 minutes to an hour. (Ds likes to read for a long time.)

[LaughingHyena]

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)?
Both children (3 & 5) wash themselves but I do hair. I am still in the bathroom with them checking that the washing happens though.

2) Brush/floss their own teeth?
Both children will have a go at their teeth and DD (5) does a pretty good job but I generally have a go too.

3) Wipe after poop?
DD did this most of the time from about 3. DS (3) is not looking like it anytime soon (they both were dry in the day by 2 1/2)

4) Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)? Obviously not applicable to cosleepers.
I think they were about 2 1/2 when we started leaving after bedtime stories and they would stay in bed and go to sleep. For at least 6 months before that we would read their stories then DH or I would stay with them (reading our own book usually) till they fell asleep.

I remember when DD was about 3 DH though he had the bedtime routine made as he would read to DD then she would insist he sat outside her room with a glass of wine

DD (5) will now say she is tired and if we are not available instantly we will go up and find her in bed, though not always in her PJs

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)?

For DS, probably about 5, but he has super short hair. For DD, about 6 1/2 including taking care of her long hair.

Brush/floss their own teeth?

Brushing without any active supervision or help, about 6. However, at nearly 7 and 10 I still have to remind them to do both.

Wipe after poop?

Preschool age, though I confess that DD still forgets to wipe on occasion and both sometimes still do a poor job at ages 7 and 10. It drives me nuts to get soiled underwear from the laundry hamper. And both of them forget to flush more often than I would like as well.

Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)?

My 10 YO certainly could do this and obviously did last summer at summer camp. However, we both still enjoy my reading aloud to him every night and then having a little time to cuddle and talk in the dark. I generally then get up and go about my chores while he gets himself to sleep. 7 YO DD probably could do this as well but again, I enjoy reading to her and snuggling and she generally falls asleep during this process. At some point they will be tired of having me there and I'll really miss it! Definitely the best 15 minutes of my day!

[lyterae]

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)?

DD just turned 4 and she does all of her washing herself ( I'll wash her back or face if she misses a spot), and I'll rinse her hair. She prefers to do everything else herself.

2) Brush/floss their own teeth?

She brushes her own teeth most days, I help out a couple times a week to get the harder to reach spots.

3) Wipe after poop?

Everytime unless it's a loose BM and then she requests assistance.

4) Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)? Obviously not applicable to cosleepers.

We have an evening routine of turning music and a night-light on, hugs and kisses, and then she goes to sleep on her own. She refused to sleep when trying to co-sleep and has been in her own room since about a year old.

[Porcelain Interior]

Originally Posted by Cascadian

What age did your kids:

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)? Around 8-9, but we have girls with long hair.
2) Brush/floss their own teeth?Age 4 with parent checking to make sure they've done a good job.
3) Wipe after poop?4
4) Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)? Obviously not applicable to cosleepers.3

Curious...I don't know how far out of the ranges we are for the above...

Those were the ages my kids VOLUNTARILY and regularly did things.

[snoopy5386]

FWIW, most dentists reccomend that parents brush kids teeth up to age 6-8 and floss for them up to age 9.

[loraxc]

1) She was bathing herself at 4, but didn't start washing her own hair till she started taking showers at 5.
2) She's been brushing mostly herself since 5. She flosses a couple of times a week with help.
3) Early 4, I think.
4) Ages ago, in early toddlerhood. Like, oneish. (We don't cosleep past infancy.)

[TXmom2]

1) Bathe themselves (incl. soaping the nether regions and shampoo)?
DSD (newly 9) does baths and/or showers on her own (since 7) still gets some help with making sure hair is washed and rinsed well. DS (newly 14) has been doing this on his own since 5, although he could still use help with his hair sometimes (he does have VERY thick/curly hair)

2) Brush/floss their own teeth?
They both have been doing this on their own since 7 (they could definitely do a better job though), with spot checks on occasion. They were brushing on their own since about 5-6


3) Wipe after poop?
DSD was 4, DS was 5. Didn't stop seeing "streaks" in underwear until closer to 6 for DSD, 7 for DS.

4) Put themselves to sleep, meaning going independently to bed and falling asleep without a parent there (after bedtime stories, tucking in, etc.)? Obviously not applicable to cosleepers.
DSD still has her bedtime routine (15 min. her reading aloud, followed by 15 min. of us reading to her, kisses & hugs, & lights out) and falls asleep on her own...she's been doing this since around 6. DS has been going to sleep on his own (after cuddles and kisses & tucking in) since 3-4. He does his own thing now though and has been since around 10.