washing hair/water in the ears

24 years ago

Now that 7 month DS sits up in the tub, I find it difficult to rinse his head. He doesn't seem to mind the water in his face (that much!). Should I worry about water in his ears? How do you rinse your little one's head/hair?

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Comments (5)

smom40
24 years ago
Mine is seven months old too...number two and I do/did both of my children's heads this way at that age.

First I put about 2-3 inches of warm water in the tub and lay him down in it. I wash and rinse his hair quickly, and then sit him up to do the rest of his parts (adding more water at this point). I always do it first thing, because if I were to merely sit him in the tub and then try to do this later, he would protest.

Once he's old enough to sit really steady by himself and I'm not worried about him tipping over (age dependent upon the kid), I soap the head and have the child tip their head back and rinse. My dd wasn't thrilled, but she didn't freak out with this stuff either. I always did it gently and slowly..Used my hand cupped over eyes and ears (doing one section of a time). And we played and talked during the whole thing. I'm a firm believer that bathtime should be fun, or every day is misery...
discotrish
24 years ago
There are these "cap" things in stores (looks basically like a sun visor) that goes over the ears and around the forehead. They are designed for rinsing toddlers' heads without getting water in the face or ears. I keep a dry washcloth handy in case DS squirms and I accidentally splash him. I rinse him with fresh water using a large cup.

Trish
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Jeannine i wasd laughing when i read your post, why, because that's the way i do it, except i have a towel folded in front of the sink so al can rest part of his body on it - i guess chin. i also fold a towel around his neck and the cape. i don't have one of those hoses attached to the sink to i have a plastic one that you put on the fawcet. i also open the cupboard drawers under the sink so he can get a little closer. they have washed al's hair with the tray in the hospital, but you still have to have a pail under it to catch the water. funny how creative we all seem to be, i love it! enjoy your day, we're getting ready for rain but it's about 50 out right now, so for us it's hot - ps - i have shorts on!, i know probably you're all saying what a fool, that's cold out!
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I also really love the Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo, it's dirt cheap and doesn't harm my very delicate fine hair. I just stumbled upon it too. I had bought it for my husband and he didn't use it so I had this huge bottle and used it and was surprised at how well it did for my fine hair and plus, it doesn't make my scalp itch, that has become an issue for me. I also found a conditioner that I love, it's Martix Biolage, the detangling one. Finally, a conditioner that doesn't make my scalp itch AND actually takes the tangles out of my insanely tangle prone hair. I used to shampoo daily because I styled my hair every day. Now, I just put it in a ponytail and call it done. I wash my hair about every third day now. I'd be very afraid to put baking soda in my fragile hair...I'm sure it would destroy it. I once (ONE TIME) used Dr. Bronner's liquid Castile to wash my hair and it damaged it so badly that it had to grow out before it was normal again. UGH! I'm lucky that I have hair, don't get me wrong, but my hair is very weird! My scalp is also very oily...so I cannot go very long without washing. Three days is pushing it and I can only pull it off because I wear it in a ponytail. I also can't stand the smell of stinky hair...UGH! It gets stinky after a couple days. That's when I know it's time to wash!
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Since one of my SILs used to wash her teenage sons hair in the kitchen sink even though he showers I have often wondered if she took this to heart. I would have died of mortification when I was 17 before I asked anyone other than at a shop to wash my hair. Now if dawn would remove my fat I might do this. I do know some people that will shower then wash their hair in the sink and never understood it unless they were afraid of getting water on their face. The took a water class three days a week so just chalked it up to one of those things.
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nadastimer
24 years ago
Try to not get a lot of water in they're ears. Babies and children can't get the water out of they're ears and you can't tell since it's not your ears and then they often end up with ear infections. DS has a habit now that he's 2 1/2 of laying down with his ears under water so he can hear all the sounds and he's had 2 ear infections since he was 2 from it. Those are his only 2, though, so we can't complain too much.
michie1
24 years ago
Hi Stacie,

My baby is also 7 mos, as you know & what I've found is that she doesn't like her head tilted back so I use a big tumbler & pour small amts of water at a time (it's not like they have that much hair or so much soap to wash off) & then I use my other hand to glide the wter quickly towards the back. If you don't our allot at a time it usually doesn't get into the ears. Also, just make sure that when you dry the baby to dry the ears as part of the routine & you should be fine.
nikten
24 years ago
MY PEDIATRICIAN SAID THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH GETTING WATER IN THE EARS AND SOMETIMES SHE EVEN RECOMMENDS IT FOR A LOT OF WAX BUILD UP (SOAKING THEIR EARS I GUESS). I STILL TRY TO KEEP IT OUT OF DD'S EARS THOUGH. I HAVE ALWAYS GOT HER HAIR WET AND RINSED THE SHAMPOO OUT WITH A WASH CLOTH.

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washing hair/water in the ears

Comments (5)

smom40

discotrish

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nadastimer

michie1

nikten

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