Shower time for teens

[Miss Marple]

In an effort to be objective I've decided to post a poll here. The question is "How long do you allow your teens to be in the shower". I'm looking for the usual time - not those times where they've been chilled out in the snow, etc. I'm especially interested in the times allowed for those with multiple children using the same bathroom.

This is especially pertinent to boys - I realize girls have to shave their legs, their hair care might take a while if it is long, etc.

Edited January 7, 2010 by CynthiaOK

[Aunty Social]

I'm probably not the most objective person, since I really enjoy my nice, warm shower. I usually allow my kids around 15 min of water running time. Actual bathroom time, with brushing teeth & hair, primping, etc usually runs to about 30 min.

[Garga]

I voted for 10-15. I, personally, hate a rushed shower. A boy could probably be done in less than 10-15, but I wouldn't want to rush someone in the shower. It's too annoying to be rushed.

 

However, a boy shouldn't need to be in the actual water more than 15 minutes. (this poll doesn't include time in the bathroom--right? Just under the running water?)

[Miss Marple]

(this poll doesn't include time in the bathroom--right? Just under the running water?)

 

Yes, just water time - actual time in the shower.

[Plucky]

I'd prefer 5 minutes, but let them take 10 if we don't have a bunch to shower. Often I'll forget and he'll take 20 and use up all the hot water. When I have kids showering one after the other I set a timer and run all over the house banging on doors to get them out. It's quite comical, but we only have so much hot water.

[Sasharowan]

I don't time them, but instead stagger shower times. For instance ds13 will shower midafternoon when there is little likelyhood of anyone else using it. Prioroity right now is making sure there is hot water for dad when he comes home from working outside all day.

[Pippen]

At my house all the males take far longer in the shower than us girls. Go figure...

 

I don't limit the teen boys--I'm just really glad they're willing to get clean!

 

Our hot water heater heats water up fast but I do stagger the times and delay running the dishwasher and warm/hot loads of laundry until they're through. The youngest goes in early in the evening when she can, and then the boys need to have at least 15-20 minutes between showers.

[hornblower]

Both my ds & dd have hair past their shoulders & dd rarely shaves her legs etc so they're both about the same - 10-15 min. When they start dawdling for too many days in a row, I send in a timer with them. It gives a 5min warning which lets them know they should be thinking about rinsing the conditioner & finishing up.

 

My father spent his life on the sea & he still takes 'ship showers': turn water on for about 1 min. Get wet. Turn water off. Soap up & apply shampoo. Turn water on. Rinse about 1 min. Turn water off. Get out of shower. He lives in a building with unlimited hot water & he still does this :confused:

[Macrina]

Turn the temp down on your hot water heater, so that they get out on their own when the hot water runs out. We have a small heater, anything longer than 10 minutes and it's cold. You'll save oodles of money this way too.

[secular_mom]

I don't limit bath/shower time for any of my kids. I want them to take care of their bodies, and I figure we chose to pay extra on our electric and other bills when we decided to have kids. :)

[RegGuheert]

I posted >20 minutes based on DD17. I have installed a GREAT 0.85 gpm shower head, so I don't stress too much about waste.

 

We all really use just one shower, so we do sometimes run into problem cycling everyone through. There is not enough time on Sunday morning for all to shower, so MomsintheGarden cycles some through on Saturday night. Just like in the olden days! :D

[ereks mom]

We used to have to limit ER's shower time. We would set a timer and tell him he had to be out of the shower in 10 minutes and out of the bathroom in 20. I figure that's more than fair; dh & I can shower in under 10 minutes each, and that includes shaving time. When we didn't limit him, ER would be in there FOR. EVER. and use up all the hot water. College put a stop to that, though. He hates having to share a bathroom with 50 guys. Now he showers in record time, even at home.

 

Now to get EK to take a shower in under 30 minutes... :001_huh:

Edited January 7, 2010 by ereks mom

[dirty ethel rackham]

I voted 5 - 10 minutes, but I have to say that I sometimes forget to roust them out. Ds13 would be in there till the water ran cold if I didn't bang on the door for several minutes. I think he sleeps standing up (I do that sometimes in the shower, especially if I am cold.)

[Guest Katia]

I didn't vote, because I needed one that said "no time limit" . That is really different than more than 20 minutes, because they could be much shorter.

 

When my ds was a teen, some of his showers were jump-in and jump-out. Some. But most of the time, he wanted to just stand there......so the only restrictions we put on him were that he had to shower last or late at night. He would stay in until the hot water ran out. That was ok with us; we were just glad he wanted to shower!

[MamaT]

I don't limit shower time. My dh and oldest ds get up early before anyone else is up and take their showers, and my youngest three stagger theirs in the evenings. My 16yo ds is the only one who takes a shower right before school. That way we never run out of hot water.

[Murphy101]

It varies, but the average is 10-ish.

 

I don't really limit them, but they tend to self regulate each other. At some point one of them will bang on the door to get out and if that doesn't work they'll flush a toilet or turn on the bathroom hot water faucet.

 

Now what drives me nutso is when I could swear they were in there for a good 20 minutes and they come out smelling of sweat and with dry hair!! Argh!:001_huh:

[hsmom3tn]

I voted 10-15 min. because that's about how long my kids are usually in there. I don't limit it, though.

 

We have 5 people sharing the same bathroom, so we try to stagger it as well -usually two of us in the morning, one in the afternoon/early evening, and the last two at night.

 

ETA - Oops, just realized that you asked about teens. Sorry, mine aren't quite teens yet. :)

[DesertDweller]

We have no limits here and never have. As long as I have hot water when I want to shower, I don't care. Eventually the hot water will run out, so they'll have to get out. And, if it isn't keeping them from something that they need to do, it's no problem.

 

Now, I only have two children. If I had several that needed shower time, that would probably change things. I know when more than two of us are needing to shower around the same time, I usually make a point to remind everyone not to use all the hot water. Most of the time though, we take showers at different times and everyone is free to spend as much time as they want or need. I'm probably the worst offender anyway. I love long, hot baths.