Children Should Start Learning

As soon as they are able to hold a toothbrush and understand the importance of brushing his teeth, hair, dressing himself and sorts. My son wanted to do that at an early age and I am still teaching and reminding him to this day. I also believe that if I constantly teach him to learn it himself, sooner or later it becomes secondary and he does it out of habit. He knows how to wash his hair, brush his hair, dry himself after taking a shower and bath, putting on cream on his arms and legs when his skin is dry, sometimes he applies deodarant if he sees his dad applying it, brushing his teeth, washing his face and sorts. Sometimes he gets really fussy and tells me I am doing it all wrong LOL One time he was in a public bathroom with his dad and uncle, and after he had finished, and washed his hands he didn't see his uncle wash his, and he yelled out in front of everyone, "Uncle, You have to wash your hands" LOL all the men in the bathroom laughed hahaha!

Our oldest 3 girls who range from 4 down to 18 months all wash themselves in the bath. They love playing with the face cloth and cleaning their bodies. Our 18 month old has just started naming parts of her body, and very proudly washes them and saying the name. 'Eye, ear, nose, hand, foot'! and she goes on!

My wife taught my daughter to take care of personal hygiene at the age of eight.She is 12 years now and she takes care of her very well now.

Hi there Rozie.I have three kids ages 13,11 and 10.I started teaching mine real young probably around 3 or 4.Now they are big kids they have their proper hygiene care under control.They know how important it is so I have no problems.Hey girlie I hope all is well with you.

I definitely agree. I would say the earlier the better. With my older son, he was able to bathe on his own by the time he was 4. He was independant early on and I would let him do his stuff as and when he showed that he wanted to do it himself. At first I would supervise and then when I was sure he could handle it himself, I would let him do it on his own. He's 7 now and takes care of all his regular stuff as far as personal hygiene is concerned. Once every week, he gets an oil bath when I help him (because he can't do it on his own) and once in two weeks, I check to see if he is clean (places that kids usually miss like behind the ears, nails and stuff like that). My son had no other choice. I made it seem like that was what to be done and he just followed. If you ask me, the sooner you start, the easier it is. And most kids are ready soon enough. We parents tend to pamper them a while longer because we feel they are not old enough and when we feel they are old enough, they aren't ready for it then.

well I would definitely agree to your thoughts in theory.But then when we come back to thge practical analysis of the issue ,I should definitely fera to say that such levels of stringency might not help the child get its growth in a free environment that indeed matters the most as far as the child's brain is concerned.Brain nedds a miluieu that shall help it enjoy and feel the degrees of freedom as well. The small stuffs as is combing and brushing teeth are okay,but then the isues of handling the child in absence of parents might just get the problems crop up.

Children should be taught of these things as soon as they are capable of doing them themselves. However, there are really parents who do not know the proper way of doing things and so what would they teach their children. It would be up to the children to think and to discover how things should be properly done. Each of us should learn and do the right things so that we can teach the younger ones.

as a mother of three wonderful children, i taught them things like washing themselves and brushing their own teeth when they were 2. I continued to help them brush their teeth and wash themselves until they were about 4. then i would sit back let them do it while i washed to make sure they didn't miss a spot so to speak. but i think when you allow them to do it on their own, they tend to learn faster and feel more independent. my children loved to be able to do things for themselves. now that my two boys are 18 and 12, they are so good at taking care of themsleves. i am a proud momma. with my baby girl. i will brush her teeth, then let her do it herself. I will wash her, then let her wash herself.

I guess like with everything else every child is different but I say the earlier they start to learn about hygiene the better. Good habits should be learned early in life, in my opinion. I know with my daughter I didn't really need to teach her much, she just did it at a very young age and she was - and still is - very particular about being clean, taking care of her teeth and hair, the whole nine yards. My granddaughter is the same way and I think was from birth...lol but my grandson is all boy and has to be reminded to brush his teeth. He's good about taking a shower, in fact he takes very long showers so thank goodness they don't have to worry too much about conserving water where they live but he seems to have a problem about brushing his teeth. I tell him he'd better wise up or he'll be putting them in a cup when he goes to bed one day! The sad thing is I always took very good care of my teeth and I still ended up with dentures. Annie

I taught my daughter very early because she ahd an independent streak in her. What I do though is supoervise the brushing of the teeth and bath routines and help her along. Even though she is 9 I still bathe her now and again which she resents sometimes and examine the teeth. I also give her a part in the room as hers to teach her to learn to keep things tidy and neat. You see hygiene is not only about the body but the surroundings too and she has learnt that alhtough I get really upset when anything is out of place. Merry Christmas

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