At What Age Do Kids Start Taking Showers? Is 3 1/2 Normal??

I took showers with my Mother and Step-Dad (all together) from very young till I can remember. I am female. My 2 yr daughter showers with me or dad, but she also loves baths.

Side note: "but I also usually disagree with almost everything his mom does" makes me think you need counseling, perhaps solitarily or joint with husband and ex. My parents were divorced when I was 6mos old and they have fought and belittled each other my whole life. It has made me nothing but miserable. Even when they "hide" it. I can tell. I hope you are not making a bad situation worse for this little boy.

My son is a little over 3 and he has taken showers with ever since he could stand up. He also enjoys baths with his brother on occasion (it takes a while for my bathroom to recover when they do though :-). I wouldn't worry too much about this one.

My daughter will be 3 in April. She has been taking a shower for about 4 months already. She loves it.

My son is 2 and he would rather take a shower than a bath. Not trying to be rude but as long as she's not hurting your step son then it really doesn't matter if you disagree or not. Thanks!

Hi K.,

I too have a step child and she likes to take both baths and showers.. At our house if we are in a hurry we usualy take showers. It saves on water and time. However, baths at night time is a great way to spend quality time with you child. I wouldn't worry to much on the his age as long as he is supervised.

My younger son was around 3 or maybe a bit younger when he got his first shower. He definitely prefers a bath, but sometimes we do a shower when we are in a hurry. When he was younger he would shower with me, but now that he is 5 I wash him through the door but don't get in with him.

My daughter started around 4 years old but only because she hates water in her face!!!! I have about 15 families I babysit for and most children are under 5 and most of them take showers... some as young as 18 months. Supervised of course. My daughter does it on her own but is 6 now.

HTH

My nephew started taking showers at one year old (as soon as he could stand) and loves it. My daughter is a little over 2 and terrified of the shower (even when we go to the pool, or I just want to rinse her off) - it really depends on the kid. If he likes it and is supervised - I don't see an issue.

I say as long as the mom is in the shower with him, it doesn't sound like a problem. My daughter will be 4 in April and I shower with her most times now rather than giving her a bath because her hair is so long I didn't feel like it was getting rinsed well.

i tend to agree with rachel h on this one...and yes i think it can be normal. my 2 year just recently decided she wants to take showers, still doesnt like water in her face tho..all kids are different, maybe taking a shower makes him feel like a big kid

I'm not sure why you are concerned. I've been showering with my daughter she was just a few months old. Now we a do a combination of bath and shower depending on the day. She's been asking for a shower since she was two years old. So long as he is getting cleaned, don't sweat it.

As long as you don't feel he is in actual physical danger, you don't have to agree with anything his mother does. I know very few step-parents who feel as though the "other woman" is doing all they can (myself included). Once I accepted "her rules, her house" "my rules, my house" (and made it clear to the kids) it is easy. Easier with older kids, but even a four year old is old enough to know that different place have different rules.

Good luck. She could be your friend some day.

My parent's have a handicap shower in their house and my son has been taking a shower since he was 2 there. However, it is very large and my mom is in there with him (she is dressed and off to the side). He often sits on the floor and plays with toys, but he does "shower" too. I think it depends on the situation and, as one poster said, the slipperiness of the floors.

My duaghter is now 2 and she is and has been very resistent to sitting down in the bathtub every since she learned how to stand. So, we have a slipproof matt on the floor of the tub and she just loves to stand in there (even though she is technicallly taking a bath). We don't have the shower on, but she stands the WHOLE time.

-L.

My 5 year old just started with showers but that is because he is capable of washing his own hair and body. I think that is when they are ready, self-sufficient in the cleaning dept. :-)

I think the "strange" part is that Mommy is in the shower with him. I started requesting privacy when one of mine asked me interesting questions about my body at the age of 3 and the other was just giggling! Why can't she just give them a bath while she is dressed? I she needy??

Good Luck!
E.

Hi,
I personally think it is a bit young. They could slip and fall. Yes, there are mats in the tub, but if he accidentally places his little foot on the tub part, well....he is too young to catch himself before he falls. Just watch him carefully.

my 3 year old takes a shower with his 6 year old brother, it is SOOOO much quicker than baths. Please read the Ex-etiquette experts, its so helpful not to get worked up about these things.

i've showered with my daughter since she was born. Something about the sound of the running water that soothes her, it was one of the few things that would stop her crying she had colic as a very young infant, and at almost 2 she still wants to get in the shower every time I'm in there...almost wish i'd kept her exclusively to baths! But i wouldn't worry. Might be better that he is in there with her than hanging around the house unsupervised while she showers.

I so wish I had gotten my son started on showering at that age. But he always preferred baths. Now he is way too old for baths - but refuses to take showers and consequently takes forever to get ready in the morning.

My daughter will be three in March and she's been showering w me on and off since she could stand. It's alot easier than having to bend over the tub to bathe her. I don't see anything wrong with he and his Mother showering at his age.

I don't see a problem with it, AS LONG AS he is showering with mom and NOT the boyfriend.
Our twins and our son began taking showers around the age of 3 with myself or daddy kneeling on the floor to bathe them.

I don't think its an age thing, whatever works better for you both. All three of my kids prefer showers over baths.

My daughter who is 20 months loves to take a shower.

My kids start as babies. I shower with my newborns. My 10-month-old loves showers and will crawl around, playing with bath toys while my husband, older boys, or I shower. My 3- and 7-year-old shower most of the time. We rarely do baths.

My 5 yr. old grandson goes back and forth..one time he takes a bath, the next time a shower. I think they should be able to decide when they are old enough to take a shower. If they feel comfortable taking a shower all the more power to them..But NEVER unsupervised. My grandson went thru a period of wanting to take baths at his house, but taking showers at mine. Same with his hair..Mommy couldn't wash his hair, but Ninny could..of course telling him to look up at the make believe helicopters on the ceiling helped a lot, and having the time and patience helped too.

Why not? Variety is the spice of life.

My son is turnin 3 in couple of weeks and he likes baths better...but if Mommy is taking a shower...he wants to be in the middle of it.

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer it's just what the child is comfortable with and what can be seen as "safe".

Milo will spend EONS "swimming" in the bathtub...the shower is DEFINATELY quicker...

Both of my sons have been going in the shower since they could stand as we did not have a tub. We would never however, allow them to be in there unsupervised. They both love it and the water.

I don't think it's strange, my oldest likes showers and he has been showering since about that age (not always, but on occasion). At that age he may have still showered with me some, but I tried to stop around this age. He will shower with his daddy, or I'll just pull the curtain back enough to reach in and wash him, then let him rinse himself off and play in the shower.

There's no right or wrong age I think! My daughter has been showering with me on occasion since she was 18 months or so. Usually she wants to take a bath because she likes to play with her bath toys, but sometimes she prefers a shower (and still plays with her bath toys, they just don't float in the shower! lol) Whatever he prefers is fine I'm sure!

No right or wrong age , my son has loved showers since about age 2...it's actually a good thing that he doesn't mind having water running down over his head and face , some kids freak out at that.

I have four year old twin boys...one prefers the shower and one a bath. On most days because of speed, they do showers with me standing outside of the shower washing their hair and body for them. They've been doing this for a couple of years so I think it's perfectly normal. Honestly, I prefer them to shower, I feel like they are getting cleaner....when they stand up out of the bath, I just can't help feeling like their bodies are covered in soap and shampoo from the bath water. But the shower leaves me feeling like all that is pretty much rinsed off so the shower is definitely my preference...

I know my own son loved to climb into the shower w/me from about 18 mos (i.e. as soon as he could figure out how to open the door ;-)!
So I took it as an opportunity to multitask: wash my hair, wash HIS hair, etc etc...
We still had our bubble baths at least 2 - 3 times/wk bcz he needed a good SOAKING...

I showered with all of my kids at that age. It was a lot easier for me to clean them then leaning over the tub. Don't worry, it is pretty normal :)

my son showers with my husband on some nights. he's 3 1/2 and not particularly fond of it but...

My son started taking showers at that age. I give him the option because I don't really care what he does, as long as he does one or the other. Heck in the summertime last year, he wanted to take a shower outside, so I let him!

That definitely falls under the category of not worth fighting and who cares if they do it differently at mom's house. Just be glad he's getting clean! :)

My oldest son has taken showers since he could stand up i think around 9 months, loved them! supervised of course.
My youngest did not start taking showers until recently hes 2. So no I do not think he is to young, as long as supervised.