Personal hygiene and healthy habits are important life skills, and while you think your teenage daughter knows how to take care of her body and mind by the time she reaches adolescence, you might be surprised. The truth is, most teens and teens need a little hygiene advice from time to time.
It may be uncomfortable to raise the topic of personal hygiene with adolescent girls, but it is necessary to teach your daughter the life skills she will need to become a healthy, clean and responsible person, education expert Jennifer O'Donnell says in an article on the Verywellfamily website.
A consistent cleaning routine
Writer Dennis Whitmer, author of The Parents' Guide to Everything Raising a Successful Child, says in an article on the Verywellfamily website, “The first step to teaching hygiene habits is planning a routine. Whatever your daughter’s needs you define with her, Help her create a routine so that personal hygiene becomes a habit and part of her daily schedule.
Whitmer outlines a list of regular hygiene habits that you can follow with girls to include:
- Brushing the teeth twice daily.
- Use dental floss once a day.
- Take a shower once a day.
- Wash hair regularly.
- Wash your hands regularly during the day.
- Remove excess hair regularly.
- Trim the nails of the hands and feet once a week.
- Properly use personal hygiene products, including deodorant, feminine hygiene products, acne facial cleansers, etc.
Finally, wear clean clothes, and change underwear daily.
10 helpful tips
Jasmine Reese, director of the Adolescent and Youth Clinic at Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital in Florida, offers helpful advice for parents on the Hopkinsallchildrens website about teenage hygiene including:
Daily showers : Your daughter needs to shower once every day, and shampoo her hair at least twice a week. She might enjoy a shower at the end of the day to relax before bed. Other girls may need to shower in the morning to wake up and start the day actively. As for those who exercise and are prone to sweating, they may need to shower more than once a day.
Teach your daughter how to focus during the shower on areas of increased sweat such as the feet and lower arms, in order to prevent odors and avoid any build-up of oily skin.
Washing the "T-zone" of the face, there are certain parts of the face that tend to become more oily, such as the forehead, nose and chin. Using facial soaps or facial products that are mild cleansers can help keep the skin clean. Wash hands before touching the face to prevent the spread of germs and bacteria.
Shaving properly , mothers should talk to their daughters about the right time and method of shaving. No one knows how to shave properly from the start, it just takes patience and practice. Try to find the right shaving method for your daughter, it is possible to buy a battery-operated razor, which gets the job done easily, and you may decide to use another method.
Skin care , your daughter does not know what she knows about how to care for skin, so explain to her what she needs to keep her skin clean, explain to her how to wash the face properly, moisturize it if necessary, and use the popular over-the-counter acne treatments.
Smelly feet , smelly feet and shoes may be a problem for your daughter, she can avoid this problem by giving her feet more attention in the bathroom, and making sure that they are completely dry before wearing her shoes. Encourage her to switch shoes and wear cotton socks instead of synthetic fiber socks.
Menstruation . Girls also need help understanding menstruation. Such as talking with them about how often you should change the sanitary pad, how to dispose of it properly, and then how to purify after it is finished.
Body odor , when teens reach puberty, a new type of sweat gland develops in the armpits and genital areas. Skin bacteria thrive on the sweat produced by this type of gland, and this can lead to unacceptable body odor.
Regular body washing and changing clothes , especially after physical activity, helps reduce bacteria build-up. Also, changing underwear and clothes that come into direct contact with the skin is especially important, because these clothes accumulate dead skin cells and sweat on which bacteria live, and this is the reason behind the bad smell.
Use deodorant , the onset of puberty is a good time for your daughter to start using antiperspirant deodorant, as it keeps your daughter's spirits up and keeps her smelling fresh. Have her keep extra deodorant in a backpack or gym bag.
Teens generally tend to choose deodorants that have strong scents, but sometimes these products can irritate their skin. So you have to help your daughter find a product that does the job without causing skin problems.
Have fun , The teens enjoy choosing their own clothes and cosmetics. Allow your daughter to shop for her own soaps and shampoos. Know that the most expensive items sometimes aren't necessarily the best.
Give her her own space, adolescents and adolescent girls need privacy, especially with the beginning of the change of their bodies, especially since adolescent girls at this age flee from confronting their mothers in many matters related to their personal affairs, so your intrusion into your daughter’s world must be wisely, confident and cautious in choosing circumstances and methods Correct education and counseling.