My 6 year old son is petrified having his hair washed any suggestions?

Question

He is afraid of water in his eyes and ears, I have tried goggles, earplugs he bends forwards, goes back everytime turns into him screaming like it's some form of torture and then he goes into full body shakes how do I make him not so afraid and make hair washing not be a tramatic event everyday

Answer 1

have him do it... tell him to get it wet and give him shampoo to wash it...

Answer 2

My son too he loves the bath but does not like shampooing his hair. Well I have two techniques first if he is going to have a sit down bath I let him play for a while then with the shampoo I drop some on his back of his head not on top then while he is playing if he is in his own world I take the shower head and my hand, do a quick swipe wash. That is the only way I can explain that one. The other one is a screaming just do it technique put him in the shower squirt him down scrub him and at the last moment to a quick shampoo and wash. Surely your little boys hair isn't long so it should take very little shampoo and effort washing it. He cry's you get him out hold him tell him it is okay then it is over with. He has to be done my boys does the samething. Hope it helps. It works at my house oh my daughter is a whole other problem and her hair is long and thick.

Answer 3

His hair doesn't really need to be washed every day does it? But that's beside the point. Maybe you could let him shampoo his own hair. Let him play in the tub first and then after 10-15 minutes explain that its time to get clean and that he is old enough to wash his own hair like a big guy. He may not get all the shampoo out at first but that really isn't a big deal.

My grandson is terrified of having his hair cut. You would think that his hair had feeling because he just screams as if he is in severe pain. Kids are weird aren't they?

Answer 4

My son is the same way, try using a cup and letting him lay his head in your hand. You could also purchase a shower head with a handle and cord that you can take off and us in the bath to rinse his hair. We purchased ours at Lowes for about 20 bucks. It was well worth it because my son wouldn't put his head under the faucet and the cup was hard because I couldn't get all of the soap out at times. I think that every child goes through it, some just later than others. My son actually still doens't like the tub drain you have to let him out of the tub before you pull the drain. We have explained over and over that he won't fit down there. But he still isn't so sure.

Answer 5

Cut his hair very short. Then wet a rag and put a very very small amount of no tear shampoo on it. Give it to him and let him 'scrub' his own head. Then rinse it out, wring it out well, and give it back to him to rinse. If you cut his hair short enough, this will keep it clean and allow him some control over what is going on.

Or, Tell him to lie down with his face up towards the ceiling and then put a thick towel over his eyes while you wet his hair and wash and rinse it. The water will run away from his eyes and forehead. Practice it several times "dry" while you talk him through it.

Answer 6

I have to wash my 5 year old son's hair everyday because of his allergies.

What I used to do is wait until the end of bath time. That way, he would be relaxed. I use Loreal Kids 2in1 shampoo. I have a suction cup mirror in the tub. I would use a tiny dollop just enough for bubbles to form. When my son's hair was long I would make crazy shapes. It would make him laugh and made him relax even more.

Then I would use a hand shower to rinse quickly. I told my son to close his eyes and stick his fingers in his ears.

Now he's prefers to wash his hair himself.

It sounds to me like your son maybe suffering from a sensory integration disorder. (Because of the violent reaction you describe. Check out the link below.)

I have seen a shampoo visor that looks like it's made of foam that you put on the child's head to keep shampoo out of the eyes. I think I saw it in the Right Start catalog.

Good luck and hope this helps!

Answer 7

1. Do not wash hair everyday because it dries out the scalp and make the head itchy.
2. I would recommend trying to make the hair washing a game. This means making hair into elaborate troll coifs or monster horns.
3. Incorporate some sort of fun system into the hair washing routine. For example, for every time your son doesn't make a huge fuss about hair washing, allow him to make a tallymark on a chart. When the chart has a certain amount of tallies on it, your son gets a prize, or small reward of his choosing.

Answer 8

Consider getting him a very short haircut - like a crew cut style. That way, he can wash it himself - even with a washrag and shampoo without having to really sumerge in water to get teh soap out. Tell him that it is just like washing his face, the he has to scrub the soapy rag on his hair, then use fresh water on teh rag to get teh soap out. Maybe taking this "baby step" will get him more used to having water on his head and you can gradually get him to wash it in a more conventional manner. The good thing about a crew cut, is that as long as he makes some effort, it wont look dirty.

Answer 9

There is a new product in the baby section at wal-mart (providing you have one in your area) that is just for this problem. It's a cup with a rubber head protector that keeps the soap and water out of their eyes when you pour the water over them. I think it's a cool invention. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 10

I use a fish bathing mitt, that my daughter holds over her eyes when I wash her hair. She has control, because she is holding it.

If it is so bad, try it without actually using any shampoo for the first couple times, s that he understands there will be no burning in his eyes.

Poor kids, the world is so new big and sometimes scary, when they do feel a little sense of control over their world it gives them confidence. Good luck!

Answer 11

I had my son clothes his eyes and pretend it was raining and then talk to him put a suggestion in his head like do you hear the rain can you feel the wind is it blowing the trees hard out there do you see the rainbow when you get done rinising his hair it worked for him and now he is not affraid to wash his hair at all