My LO does not like having her vulva/vagina washed because it's ticklish. It's a struggle during bath/shower time. It's frustrating for everyone involved. We try to get her to do it but she isn't thorough. And at school she wipes herself and she's not great at that yet either.
Any tips?
honeydew / 7303 posts
I don't really wash my daughters because they are supposed to be self cleansing and over washing can lead to yeast infections/etc.
The only time it's really necessary is if she poops and wipes the wrong way and then we have no choice really.i just use a wash cloth in the bathtub like I would a wipe when she was a baby.
watermelon / 14467 posts
I just have her stand up in the bath and wipe from front to back before rinsing. I try not to mess with it too much, but yeah, she wipes her self and doesn't do a great job. We always wipe for poop though.
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
We just wash the outside during bath time. She wipes herself at daycare so things can get a little smelly, so at night sometimes I use a wipe and just do a really quick wipe. Haven't had any issues, so I assume its generally staying clean enough.
eggplant / 11716 posts
We do all wiping after poops (and daycare wipes after poops), so generally in the bath I don't do much else. I mean, she's sitting down in soapy water, so I call it a day after that.
If it's a non-bath night, I put her up on the changing table and wipe her bottom and outside area with a baby wipe.
coconut / 8234 posts
@avivoca: @Silva: This is what I try to do...she won't let us wipe her...she keeps her legs closed tight and we don't obviously don't want to force her. Sometimes she complains she's itchy but it's an obstacle course to clean her.
watermelon / 14467 posts
@mrsjazz: My little is younger than yours, so she is still pretty compliant when it comes to that. Could you try to have her wipe with your supervision? It probably won't tickle if she does it.
coconut / 8234 posts
@yellowbird: Yeah but she needs a wipe or a wash because she's stinky after daycare and wiping herself!
persimmon / 1483 posts
@yellowbird: this.
In the bath or shower, I will wash the outside only by letting soapy water run down over it. We still wipe for poop though, so I'm not worried about that yet.
coconut / 8234 posts
@avivoca: This is what we've been trying to do lately...it goes a little better but we still have to take time and convince her to do it. I guess it will get easier the more she does it.
squash / 13208 posts
@mrsjazz: my 5 yr old is like this - I just tell her to open her legs I do it quickly -I don't use soap but use a washcloth in the tub - yes she laughs like crazy but it only takes 1 second
persimmon / 1483 posts
@mrsjazz: is she taking a bath? If she's sitting in soapy water, I wouldn't do anything more than that.
coconut / 8234 posts
@Madison43: We switched to showers because it's faster and hotter out now so she needs a daily rinse off but maybe we need to go back to baths.
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
@mrsjazz: switching back to bath might help. i figure that mostly gets them clean without much scrubbing involved.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@mrsjazz: Maybe even see if you could get her to sit criss/cross in the tub to open her legs up some for the water? Again, probably dont need to really scrub but at least then you know its getting a rinse.
pomelo / 5298 posts
My girl is nearly 5 and likes to play in the bath. We let her have a little bath time and then turn on the shower for her hair (it's to her bottom). We've got a few things we do:
1) if she takes a bath, the soak in the soapy water is generally enough to get her "clean"
2) we have bath mits (sort of like bath puppets), and she finds them fun to use.
3) we let her pick the soap. We have a selection that are appropriate for her to use and have become looser with this as she's aged.
When all else fails, we sing and make up some silly song about washing all of the body parts.
persimmon / 1483 posts
@mrsjazz: we alternate showers and baths nightly in the summer for the same reason. In be shower, I literally squeeze a super soapy washcloth on her stomach and provided she doesn't have her legs closed, it gets where it needs to go. It also gets pretty soapy when we're washing her legs, which I basically scrub because she usually has sunscreen and bugspray on. Maybe you could discreetly do it that way?
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
@mrsjazz: WE started buying the toddler flushable wipes to help with this, she's more willing to wipe down with that than a washcloth. I figured as long as she's getting wiped with one (we have issues with her wiping after poop) we are okay with the bath water cleaning otherwise.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
I don't do anything other than let her sit in the tub. If anything, I just do a quick little wipe while she's sitting there. She's only 2, but I've also started encouraging her to wash herself as well.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
My LO is almost 3 and recently potty trained and I'm so glad you posted this. Even though I wipe most of the time I feel like she kind of gets stinky down there! Glad it's not just us.
She still just takes baths so I assume the soapy water and a quick swish with the washcloth is enough for now.
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