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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
When did you let your preschooler...
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Anonymous
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- brush his or her teeth by themselves, with no parental help?
- take baths by themselves (meaning no parent in the bathroom or near the bathroom during the bath) thanks! |
Anonymous
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I think you're going to have to take the word "preschooler" out of the heading on this question. The recommendation on toothbrushing is age 6. My oldest is 3, and I don't intend to stop helping him any time soon. We just moved to kids flouride toothpaste, so I need to be extra careful watching him. We let him do what he thinks is good enough, and then help at the end.
With baths, I'm just at the point where we will run up and grab a towel if we forget one. I don't see us just tossing him in the tub alone any time soon. |
Anonymous
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We sometimes let our 5 yo brush her own teeth without supervision. But, never more than 2 days in a row.
We never let her take baths by herself. We are generally in the adjoining bedroom with an eye on her. She moves around a lot playing in the bath and I am afraid she might slip and drown. We do let her take showers on her own, but generally pop in and out every few minutes to make sure all is well and see if she wants help pouring out shampoo, etc. |
Anonymous
No need to be an ass about it. And, if your child can't handle brushing his teeth by the first grade, you may have bigger problems on your hands. |
Anonymous
Yikes. Hostile at all? I don't think the post was hostile at all. S/he wrote what her family did and what the official recommendations were re: toothbrushing. |
Anonymous
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We started letting our son take baths by himself around 5. That was around the time he was more interested in playing with toys in the tub than interacting with us. We purchased this kid showerhead attachment from Home Depot this past year and now he takes showers too. It is shaped like a fish and the nozel is kid height. The spout is shaped like a fish and the water comes out of his mouth. For showers and baths I cut the water on and make sure the temperature is correct. For showers he ends up playing too much so that actually is more supervised than bathtime.
I would say arond 5 or 6 for the teeth brushing as well, however I still double check that he did it or tell him to brush again and oversee the process when he comes into my room some .002 seconds later saying he is done. Every once in a while I watch him brush his teeth just to make sure he is indeed doing it as I instructed. Our son is almost 7 now. |
Anonymous
Seriously-- I was not intending to be hostile AT ALL. My child is THREE, not in first grade. I said they SHOULD be able to do it by first grade. And I'm pretty sure not too many people leave preschoolers to bathe alone--especially since OP specifically qualified it with "no parent...near the bathroom." SHEESH. |
Anonymous
| Ugh, I wish I could let DD brush her teeth by herself, because she HATES it (she's 21 months old) and we have to hold her down every night. Hopefully it won't continue to be this hard... my son hated it at her age too and now he easily lets me brush his teeth twice a day. |
Anonymous
PP here--I guess I read too much into your "I don't intend to stop helping him anytime soon," like the OP had a stupid question. Bathing is clearly something to be supervised--ITA. I think I might be pg, hence the overreaction. Apologies. |
Anonymous
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Hi there. My 4.5 year old brushes her own teeth every AM and PM, and I brush them after her at night for 8 or ten LONG seconds (she gets to pick how many seconds 8 or 10).
She bathes herself every night...I am always across the hall in her baby sister's room with an eye on her, but am comfortable going to my room for a bit. I have gotten her to the point where she does her own soap and shampoo, lets out water, gets out, towels off, dresses on PJ's, and combs hair.....ahhh, I love the kids getting older. Every 4.5 year old can do that, you just gotta let 'am and expect it not to be perfect. |
Anonymous
| My 4 yo brushes his teeth by himself. Every other night or so I'll go in behind him and make sure he did a good job. We just went to the dentist this week and they commented on what a good job he's doing brushing his teeth so I'd say that at 4 they can brush their teeth by themselves! |
Anonymous
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My nearly 4 year old brushes her own teeth, and takes a bath by herself while I'm just outside the door. I help her wash her hair, but she does the rest herself.
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Anonymous
| I supervise my 4 yo DD brushing and am usually in the room or the next room when she's bathing or showering. I will usually help with the shampooing and make sure she's attempted to wash a bit. |
Anonymous
| Our dentist recommended letting DC brush his teeth first with me brushing them afterwards until he was 7. As far as bathing, I may leave my 5 year old in the bathtub to BOLT into the adjoining room for a towel, but that's it -- I don't think bathing is a matter of letting them do a poor job just to let them do it on their own -- it is a safety issue. I may be overreacting, but I would be afraid he might slip and drown. He is also very interested in the faucets and I can easily imagine him turning on the hot water, either for the bath or the shower. |
Anonymous
| From the time mine was 4, I would sit in the next room and read while he bathed. He is now 6 and when he bathes, I still do that - normally he showers. I don't do it because I am uncomfortable or feel he would be unsafe. It's just that I enjoy the few minutes of peace and quiet to read. As for teeth, I still brush them and don't have any intention to change that anytime soon. |