Babysitter giving bath

[Former babysitter]

Tracy,
Now that you mention it and looking back, I think it did help some of the boys I bathed get closer to me. Instead of going right to their rooms after their bath, often they would want to sit next to me on the couch and watch TV with me. A couple of the 7 or 8 year olds would sometimes fall asleep with their heads in my lap. They liked it when I ran my fingers through their hair as they lay there. One boy loved it when I tucked him in and gave him a kiss (on the forehead) goodnight. Two mothers told me that their sons actually ask if I'm going to be the sitter for them. If I sat for a boy for more than a few times, I would almost feel like his mother and feel that same kind of affection for him. So yeah, I guess it did bring us closer in a few situations.

[Michelle R.]

I think after you've got the first bath or two out of the way it helps you gain their trust, which definitely brings them closer to you. They see nothing bad happened and that you were nice about the experience and that helps their overall view of you. It opens them up more - how much is there you can't share with the babysitter or tell her if she's already seen you naked?

Bathing is an intimate experience and being bathed, or even just supervised while bathing, may help a boy get closer to the babysitter and trust her more. Have you ever noticed a boy becoming closer and more open with you after you helped him bath for the first or second time?
Maybe it doesn´t happen with the younger boys who don´t care about it, but what about the older boys? In your experience does bathing help the babysitter get much closer to them?
Do you notice that as they become comfortable with you seeing them naked or washing them they also become more friendly towards you?

[Guest]

When I was bathed by a nurse at the age of 11 or 12 I found that it made me even more embarrassed when she avoided washing my genitals because it somehow drew attention to them. I would really have preferred her to have taken a brisk matter-of-fact approach and just got on with washing me all over as my mother had done up to a year or so before.

[Tracy D.]

I just remember he was very red in the face, and I may have been blushing a bit as well. Not that there was something wrong with it (someone had to do it and his parents were away), but again, since I had already stopped bathing him some time before, it was then a situation where I was bathing someone who otherwise didn't need help. So definitely more awkward.

We kind of talked about it after the first bath. He was still really quiet so I wanted to reassure him. It turned out his main concern was being seen now that he had started puberty and was worried he was not as advanced as some boys (he had seen in gym, etc.) and was worried I was going to tell or make fun or him or something like that. After we talked it out he felt much better about it. After the second bath he was more embarrassed about having an erection again, so we discussed that a bit. The last few times before his parents came back weren't as embarrassing for him, although I'm sure there was still some discomfort.

If he was in a hospital, as he couldn´t wash himself, the nurse would have washed him. Its not unusual for young women to wash naked teenage boys, including their more intimate parts. It happens all the time in hospitals. Teenage boys have erections very easily, so probably most of them have one while being washed by the nurse in hospital. Some men do, too. Nurses are used to it and just ignore it. I would have told him that, so that he didn´t have the feeling it was a very unusual situation.
Nurses use gloves to bath the patients, so there is no skin to skin contact between the nurse and the person being washed. In the case of this 13 year old boy it would be odd for the babysitter to go into the bathroom wearing gloves . , but I think a sponge should have been used to wash his bottom and penis. Direct contact between the babysitter´s hands and these areas of an older boy´s body should be avoided, if possible.

[Michelle R.]

I didn't make the comparison with the alternative of going to the hospital. It would have been a good one - at least I had seen him naked not that long ago. I often use a cloth when giving a bath to wash the body, particularly if a thorough cleaning is needed, although not always. (I did for this boy though.) But I never use the cloth for the penis and testicles because it's too rough. (I used to until a boy complained once, so I stopped doing that.)

If he was in a hospital, as he couldn´t wash himself, the nurse would have washed him. Its not unusual for young women to wash naked teenage boys, including their more intimate parts. It happens all the time in hospitals. Teenage boys have erections very easily, so probably most of them have one while being washed by the nurse in hospital. Some men do, too. Nurses are used to it and just ignore it. I would have told him that, so that he didn´t have the feeling it was a very unusual situation.
Nurses use gloves to bath the patients, so there is no skin to skin contact between the nurse and the person being washed. In the case of this 13 year old boy it would be odd for the babysitter to go into the bathroom wearing gloves . , but I think a sponge should have been used to wash his bottom and penis. Direct contact between the babysitter´s hands and these areas of an older boy´s body should be avoided, if possible.

[Guest]

In reply to the last two posts, any boy will tell you that it is excruciatingly painful to wash the head of the penis with a cloth or sponge - my mother used to and eventually stopped bathing me because I complained so often.

[Michelle R.]

That's why I stopped doing it very early on. I think it was one of the first times I was washing a boy when he complained. I really only use a cloth on the rest of the body when a good scrubbing is needed. But on the penis/testicles, on any cuts or between the butt cheeks I don't use a cloth because it's too rough.

In reply to the last two posts, any boy will tell you that it is excruciatingly painful to wash the head of the penis with a cloth or sponge - my mother used to and eventually stopped bathing me because I complained so often.

[Former babysitter]

That first time I bathed the 8 year old, I didn't know if I should use a wash cloth or not. I simply asked him if his mother uses a wash cloth or not. He told me that she doesn't use a wash cloth, except if he is very dirty like on his feet or face. I figured, if his mother doesn't use a wash cloth, then I'm pretty safe not using one either.

[Guest]

We kind of talked about it after the first bath. He was still really quiet so I wanted to reassure him. It turned out his main concern was being seen now that he had started puberty and was worried he was not as advanced as some boys (he had seen in gym, etc.) and was worried I was going to tell or make fun or him or something like that. After we talked it out he felt much better about it. After the second bath he was more embarrassed about having an erection again, so we discussed that a bit.

Was that discussion helpful? Did he continue to have erections while you were bathing him, after you discussed it with him?

[Tracy D.]

I forgot to sign the last post

[Michelle R.]

Tracy - I think it was helpful in helping him get past the fact that it was happening (i.e. it was beyond his control). But he got them the whole time I was there while his parents were gone. Like I said, he was into puberty so I guess it was only to be expected in his situation. There was always a little blushing, and certainly silence (and heavy breathing) when the washing approached his private areas, but he wasn't quiet after the baths were over any more. (Although he tended to stay in his room for a bit after the bath because he didn't want his younger sister to see his erection through his pjs.

Was that discussion helpful? Did he continue to have erections while you were bathing him, after you discussed it with him?

[Alan 15]

I come from the uk and when I was 9 or 10 my mother got a baby sitter for me and she did not stop bathing me untill i was 16. She washed my hard C*** and balls my mother just asked her to be there when i got bathed but she helped and did every thing she was not a young lady but in her 50s she pulled back my forskin to wash that as well

[Kimmy P.]

Thanks to everyone for all these posts. Now I'm not worried about what to do if one of the boys I sit for gets an erection in the bath (I posted earlier in the week). Based on what some people have said, now I think that the older boy sometimes gets "half erections" - it gets a little longer perhaps, or raises a bit (maybe to almost horizontal), but not a full blown erection. He doesn't seem to get embarrassed about it - just has a bit of general embarrassment about being naked I guess. So he may not even notice it when it is happening. But even if it does at least I have some idea of how to deal with it!

[Fred76]

If you bathe the boy while he has an erection, you are obligated to marry him, and make sure his needs are met, before your own.

[Jon K.]

Kimmy - partial erections are very common, even for young boys. As someone posted recently, erections can happen for a variety of reasons, and don't even have to be sexual in nature. For me I recall often getting "full blown" erections as you called them in front of the babysitter, but I'm sure it was far more often that because I was being seen or some physical contact (washing my private areas or rinsing with the water) that it would grow a little bit before returning to normal. And you're right that sometimes the boy may not even notice - sometimes you don't until it's all the way up!

Thanks to everyone for all these posts. Now I'm not worried about what to do if one of the boys I sit for gets an erection in the bath (I posted earlier in the week). Based on what some people have said, now I think that the older boy sometimes gets "half erections" - it gets a little longer perhaps, or raises a bit (maybe to almost horizontal), but not a full blown erection. He doesn't seem to get embarrassed about it - just has a bit of general embarrassment about being naked I guess. So he may not even notice it when it is happening. But even if it does at least I have some idea of how to deal with it!