Bathing
39CHAPTER
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Regular bathing is important for all children. Bathing the severely disabled
child, however, is often not easy. Children whose bodies get stiff or whose knees
pull together may be very difficult to clean. As the child gets older and heavier, the
difficulties often increase. Here are some aids and ideas that may make bathing easier.
For the baby or small child, some kind of a tub may be a big help.
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A rectangular tub of the size you
need can be made out of mud or
mud bricks (or dried bricks) and
covered with a thin layer of cement.
IMPORTANT: Talk
or sing to the baby
as you bathe her.
Tell her each thing
you do, and the
name of each body
part you wash,
even if she cannot
understand. A child
must spend a long
time listening before
she can say her first
words. So get an
early start.
This is a good way to hold
the child who stiffens and
bends backward, or throws
open her arms when you pick
her up.
A baby that tends to
stiffen backward can
sometimes be held like
this for bathing.
A mother bathes her child in a cement
wash tub. (PROJIMO)
Gently spread the
child’s legs as wide
as possible to clean
between them. Also,
lift arms high above
the head. In this
way, bathing can be
combined with range-
of-motion exercises
(see Chapter 42).
As the child grows, make every effort to help her take part in bathing herself. Help
her do more and more until she can bathe herself without help, if possible.
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Our goal in bathing is SELF-CARE, even for the
child who is severely disabled or mentally slow.