Babysitter giving bath

[jake_the_man]

I remember my youngest babysitter, I was 10 and she was 17. I don't remember ever being embarrassed about her giving me a bath.

[Logan5675]

Yup you are going to ruin that boy getting him a babysitter to give him a bath at age 12????? are you crazy??? I was takin baths by my self when i was about 5. Woman, tha boy is almost old enuff to stay home by him self.

[guest_beka]

I bathed my brother when he was 10, but I was 23. Ten is a good age to stop, but it wouldn't hurt to give them a bath at 11 or 12 if it was necessary.

[Dom]

I had both my hands in plaster after a motorbike crash when I was 20 and my mother had to bathe me and wipe my bum which was embarrassing for both of us.

[tim.az]

okay i need to get my opinion in here.

please do not take any of this personal.

but it sounds to me like another single mom raisng a underdeveloped boy. i currently know a single mom who still lets her 12 year old son sleep with her and lets him see her naked and vice versa....like if they are getting in and out of the shower. i find this odd. there comes an age when modesty comes in.

at 12...your son should absolutely be bathing himself probably showering. as for the pulling back of the forskin and cleaning properly....this is something he should have been taught starting at 6 or 7 years old.

and being 12, simply saying you need to pull your forskin back and wash properly should be understandable. i hope you are not doing this for him now.

i babysat a handful of boys when i was 18-21 because i worked part time a rec. center while going to college. and many moms would ask to sit so they could go out. i am a male and moms wanted a male around for a role model.

most of the boys i know and babysit for could bathe themselves and they are all 7-11 years old. i would say that at least by 10 they should be able to do so.

i find it okay to maybe help wash their back since they may have a hard time reaching. or keeping them company and talking if they do not have a problem being seen nude. boys usually do not seem to have an issue being nude in front a male, but might react differently to a female that is simply not their mom.

but 12? i can not fathom this. i can not think of 1, 12 year old who wants or excepts to be seen nude especially by a teen girl.

i knew one 12 year old that i did have to help bathe becausue he broke both of his forearms while skateboarding. although he knew he needed the help, it was still uncomfortable, but he got use to it. he did not want his mother to see him nude or help him, he would specifiaclly ask for my help and when aksed why, he said becasue i am a boy and i doe not want females to see me nude...it is a puberty thing. i was the same way at tht age.

and not washing properply? if your son is in hot soapy water and can run a washcloth over his body...this would be suffciant. get him to start taking showers.

my concern would not be of who or what age the babysitter needs to be because of a bathing issue, but the fact that at 12 he still can not bathe himself.

i also find it odd that the first response your son had was i don't want the baysitter bathing me, like it was expected or he had no choice of whether to bathe himself? if i was told a baysiter was going to watch me...the last thing would be concerned about is a bath because i knew i could handle that on my own.

as stated before. whenever i use to babysit and would tell one of the boys to go take a bath...they went, it was not a mtter of i'll be in to help or them asking for help or expecting it. they went, washed themselves and would hollor my name if they needed anything, usually just a towel or a pair of boxers.

i almost hate to say this, but i feel sorry for your son. think about how other boys his age would react if they knew his mother still bathed him.

i can honestly say, and ask any doctor or specialist. that it is ab normal and your 12 year old son needs to be doing this himself.

[guest222]

[color=violet]I think your son should be able to bathe himself. Not bathing yourself at 12 is ridiculous. I'm 14 and i have 12 year old friends who are boys and they are really mature. Your son needs to start bathing himself immediatly. My 11 year old brothers been bathing himself for a long time proably 2nd 3rd grade or even before that. I think the reason he cant bathe himself is because you have been babying him to long. And if you must have the sitter bathe him go with the 17 year old. like i said im 14 and that would be like bathing one of my friends. 15 is probably going to be weird too. Not going to school with the girl will be best.

[l.e.m.]

In my opinion, at age 12 your son should me able to bathe himself. But at age 12, some boys still need an athoritarian figure to keep them on task, and make sure they do a good job. This is a very hard topic because boys are in a time of transition at this age, and they start to become more modest about their bodies. One thing I have done in the past which was very successful with the children around your son's age is for you, or the babysitter to carry a magazine into the bathroom with the child, close the door, sit on the toilet and bury your eyes in the literature while he bathes in the tub. This protects your son's modesty from being the main attention while he is taking his bath because the babysitter will be reading, not looking at him, and this ensures he stays on task and is clean. This also allows you to choose any babysitter you want, because now he wont have to deal with being bathed.

[stumed]

I'm going to ignore the age issue in my response (even though I do think a 12 year old should be mature enough to bathe himself or at least have a shower).

My point is that if I had children I would not let anyone else other than my husband bathe them. I think its a very personal thing and that its not something that strangers should be helping with. Find time to bathe your children yourself.

[Glenda34]

I think it is a good idea for any parent or babysitter to sit in the bathroom while a child in taking a bath. By age 12, your son is obviously old enough to bathe himself, but I have found that staying in the room with them will keep them on task. Boys at this age have a tendency to not bathe very well, so sometimes that influence in the bathroom is a big help. A trusted male babysitter would be a good option for your son, but adult males with young children sometimes brings up the obvious stereotype. I have found female babysitters to be the best option in most catagories for caring for children. As for age of the babysitter, I think that a girl at least two years older is a safe age range, my son had a babysitter until he was 11, and he was perfectly fine with his babysitter, who was 16, to sit and talk with him while he bathed himself. Studies show that boys are about three years behind in development both physically and mentally.
Just remember that you are the parent, ground him if he continues to be rebellious about his bath, or find some other punishment. As for the babysitter, any will be fine, my sons babysitter was very professional, and to my knowledge could have cared less what was between my sons legs. Some people need to trust teenage girls more, just tell them if they need to mind your sons privacy, and bathtime talk can be very helpful for your son.

[Brittany W]

Are you insane? At age 14, if I got a chance to babysit and watch a 12 year old boy take a bath, I would share every detail of his body with my friends. This is a priceless opportunity for a teenage girls to mock a boy about his most private of parts. Choose the 14 year old babysitter, I would love to see the look on your sons face when all the girls at school start to call him "little" Billy! LOL

[IR1337]

He can't bathe himself at twelve-years of age? I suspect...GAH CAROLINA! *repeatedly stabs*

[sally]

My son is 7 and showers himself!

[Andrew1]

Are you kidding?.. Twelve years is tooooooo old to be bathed. This boy doesn't need any help or supervision in a bath unless he is physicaly disabled. The idea that you will allow a fourteen years old girl to supervise or even bathe your child seems very strange to me. I know that the most of girls at this age can take care of children, but not the twelve years old boys!
At the summer camp where I was spending the summers in my childhood, it was common that older girls helps to take care of the little children, including baths. But the little kids were only seven or eight years old. I think it is the upper age for boys to be bathed by older girls without problems. I visited this summer camp at seven for the first time, so I was bathed too, and it was embarrassing at first even at such younger age.

[Captain]

I think toddlers/small children are okay to be bathed by a trusted babysitter. Older kids should either bath themselves or stay dirty for that evening.

[Brian84]

I don't believe that other boys became that self concious at that early of age. I remember that my aunt used to give my sink baths when I was still in 5th grade. I would have been between the age of 10 and 11 when I was being bathed by my 32 year old aunt. I was never embarrassed until the summer after 5th grade, so I had to of been at least 11. Either I was to being modest, or others just think the were more self concious than they really were.