Washing hair

[hellohefalump]

Hi! My boy is nearly eight and he hates having his hair washed. I'm still using baby shampoo. He hates having water near his face, he holds a dry flannel over his face and I wash his hair. He always screams. Is this normal at his age?

My daughter was washing her own hair at his age and hers is harder because it's long.

I took him to swimming lessons when he was a baby, for about a year. We stopped after a year because he just screamed the whole time. When we go swimming now, he takes ages to get in and if someone splashes him in his face he gets very upset.

I suspect he's on the autistic spectrum because he has a lot of traits and he's meant to be seeing a poediotrician but it hasn't happened yet.

He won't take a shower because the water goes near his face. The situation isn't improving at all...

Suggestions?

 

[SarahBear]

No, it's not "normal." Most kids can tolerate it by that age. As for what to do, it depends. If this is the only issue, manage the issue. If it goes beyond this and is impacting him in other areas, you might consider getting support from an occupational therapist. As for how to manage it, I would keep his hair short and minimize how much you require him to wash it. If it's a buzz cut, you could probably even just wash it with a wash cloth. Other things would be just what you're already doing - giving him something to hold over his face. There are hair washing shields (block water from running in the face) for toddlers... do any of them fit 7 year olds? Have you tried asking him what would make it easier for him?

 

[hellohefalump]

That's a really good idea to ask him what would make it easier, I will do that, thankyou!

I also think I might see if he is prepared to wash his own hair...

He actually loves playing with his dinosaurs in the bath, it's just the washing bit he doesn't like. He washes his own body now, but he finds the hair scary!

 

[sequeena]

My son is 6 and hates it, also hates showers for the same reason (he has sensory processing disorder). We keep it short and right now a lot of dry shampoo is being used because he recently had grommet surgery and can't get his ears wet (and won't tolerate a Vaseline/cotton wool ear plug).

When I do wash his hair I make sure it's the last thing I do in the bath, I get it done as fast as possible (flannel over the face doesn't work for him), wipe his face and eyes straight away and get him out of the bath. He still screams the place down but it's done with. We try to wash his hair just once a week as he's still quite young.