My five-year-old son refuses to wash himself – my husband says he’s too young to use soap

A mother has sparked debate after revealing her five-year-old son refuses to wash himself in the bath and goes into meltdown when he’s asked to use soap.

Seeking out advice for how to deal with her boy’s tantrums, the poster – on British parenting site Mumsnet – said her husband insists their son is simply ‘not ready’ to take on the responsibility.

She explained: ‘[Our son] flat out refuses to touch soap or himself when asked and screams about it (he is more than happy to play with soap if making a potion or whatever). 

Although her husband believes they might be rushing their son, the woman insists: ‘If he can wipe his bum after he poops he can wash himself in the bath.’ 

Elsewhere in the post, the mother explained how her and her husband ran into similar difficulty when they were first toilet training their son.

She continued: ‘When it came to learning to wipe his bum we had to leave him on the toilet while I cried about not wanting to do it. Did it once and he doesn’t complain about it anymore.’

But while she has laid down the law, the woman says her son still acts up for her husband in this department from time-to-time. 

Posting on the AIBU (Am I Being Unreasonable?) forum, the parent also described her son as ‘very lazy’.

Seeking out advice for how to deal with her boy’s tantrums, the poster on Mumsnet said her husband insists that he’s simply ‘not ready to wash himself’

Commenters rushed to offer their two cents, with reactions ranging between offering practical solutions to advising the mother to ‘back off a bit’

She said: ‘He is very lazy as in will sit on the other side of the sofa to the iPad and have a tantrum when I refuse to leave the kitchen to hand him the iPad.’

Commenters rushed to offer their two cents, with reactions ranging between offering practical solutions to advising the mother to ‘back off a bit’.

‘Sounds like its about power & control, not laziness,’ one user suggested. ‘Make it fun and see if he joins in more.’

Elsewhere, a parent offered giving the little one his own cleaning materials to make the experience feel more in his control.

However, not everyone was so supportive as some commenters insisted the young boy needs to ‘get on with it’

‘Could you get him a special flannel or body wash or something to make it seem like a “grown up” he’s ready for it thing? Worked for me,’ they advised. 

One user also insisted that five is ‘so little’, and said there is no need to panic about in the situation.

‘I have several boys and they were older than that before they successfully and happily washed themselves,’ they penned. ‘Don’t worry, when they are in their teens they don’t need any help.’

However, not everyone was so supportive.

‘Crikey! What a palava, just give him the soap and tell him to get on with it,’ one shocked poster remarked. ‘Why’s it waited until he’s 5?! Surely most [little ones] are given soap/sponge/flannel from tiny to rub around their bodies.’