Do you let your children see you nude?

[Overproducktion]

I started thinking about this yesterday when a friend of mine FREAKED out about her 5 year old son seeing her naked....I didn't tell her........... but ALL my kids see me naked almost every day.

I have 4 children, 3 boys 7, 5, & 3 and a daughter 8 months old.

I usually bath with my daughter and my 3 year old son. A few times a week my 5 yo son jumps in too. My 7 year old would to if there was room. :

I don't purposly walk around naked but my daughter is breastfed so I usually don't have a shirt on when I sleep and kids come and go in my room in the mornings.

We don't have a bathroom door lock so my children barge in when I am on the toilet (which is starting to upset me) and when I am in the tub.

My sons all saw me give birth--they all handled it SO awesome...but I think I need to set some boundaries. (like learning about my privacy!) When my menstraul cycles return I can't have them barging in when I am changing my keeper!!

But is this something that I could work out over the next few weeks---or does this need my immediate attention?

[Pynki]

Yep

There is nothing wrong with being naked.. It is the natural state of being.. If you are not cold there is no physical need to cover up.. I sleep pretty much in the nude every night.. I get up at 7 ish.. Ds1 (who is 5) has usually been in the room at least 1ce that morning..

I figurie he will stop coming in in the mornings when he is uncomfortable with it.. And he will tell me to put on some clothes if i am walking around naked and he is uncomfortable.. I actually have more problems with my DH telling i need to wear clothes around the kids..

I tell him the same thing.. There is nothing wrong or shameful in being naked.. My boobs are not your toys..

What is it with our puritanical society and nakednes.. I don't get it.. If everyone was open and comfortable within their own skin this wouldn't even be a problem..

Warm Squishy Feelings..

Dyan

[dreadmama]

I think it is a totally personal decision. In the US, it seems that nudity is equated with sex, which is why some people freak out if anyone (sometimes even partners... )see them naked. However, when people feel comfortable with their body, it is just a natural part of life.

It sounds like what is making you uncomfortable is not the nudity, but the lack of privacy. You can start by deciding for yourself what your boundries are and figure out the times that you need to know that you won't be barged in on. Maybe you can hang a picture or sign (doesn't have to have words for the non readers) that means you need privacy and for no one to open the bathroom door when they see that sign.

Just a thought. Good luck.

[kama'aina mama]

Yes. My 4 y/o DD sees both my DH and I nude. It's just not a big deal to any of us. When she got old enough that I thought she would register my menstruation and I didn't feel like discussing it with her I explained to her that sometimes want privacy. That lots of people feel this way in the bathroom and that sometimes she would need to give me privacy. She now occasionally tells us, "May I have privacy, please?" Which we of course immediately grant her.


A little stranger to me is going to the local public pool when preschoolers are taking swimming classes. One of the women instructor/lifeguards told me that sometimes mothers (always of boys) complain to her boss about her breasts. Which are large but not freakishly so by any means... just a big boned, curvy woman. All the instructors have to wear a shirt over their swimsuits as a result of this little "issue". The kicker? I swim laps while my daughter takes her class and after we both go into teh locker room to change into dry clothes. Right alongside all the little boys in her class who are being changed by their moms.

[Tigerchild]

My kids see me naked every day. But they're really little. My daughter LOVES to see me naked. She will dance around and clap her hands and say "Yay, boobs! Hi one boob! Hi other boob! Hi fat roll! How ya doin'?"

I merely bask in the glorious outpouring of unconditional love.

Dylan normally squeals loudly (he's a major boobie guy though, so he lights up as soon as he sees them). Tom will often fart or belch and not really pay much attention.

When the kids are uncomfortable with seeing me nude, I assume they'll stop asking me to bathe with them or stop running into the bathroom without knocking, so...problem will be solved without too much effort on my part.

I don't think that just because you don't want your kids to see you nude that you are a prude or uncomfortable with your body. Everyone has a different privacy need. Just like some people are more open to sharing information about themselves, some people have less physical privacy boundaries than others.

[Overproducktion]

Oooooooh thank goodness!

I've heard of CPS taking children away for extended breastfeeding I kind of guessed they would for parental nudity too

Not that if they had a problem with it I would stop what I am doing :LOL :LOL but it would be such a pain to deal with them.

[Lucysmama]

Yeah, dd sees both dh and I nude. She's really into being naked herself, too - and she's very curious about bodies, so she is taking a healthy interest in dh's and my body.

We bathe with her, potty in front of her, walk around, etc....if I'm laying in bed naked with a blanket on, she whips it off and shreaks with delight, "Nake-nake MOMMY!!!!!" :LOL

I think it's healthy and natural. What's unnatural to me is hiding everything like it's shameful or bad.

[IslandMamma]

Originally posted by Tigerchild
My kids see me naked every day. But they're really little. My daughter LOVES to see me naked. She will dance around and clap her hands and say "Yay, boobs! Hi one boob! Hi other boob! Hi fat roll! How ya doin'?"

I merely bask in the glorious outpouring of unconditional love.

Kitty, that is AWESOME. Thanks for making me smile.

We are always naked around our son, but he's only 9 months. WE'll continue to be so, but as he gets older we'll teach him and model the need for privacy.

Of course, we live on an island where we're all a bunch of nekkid hippies anyhow..... well, sort of. Group nakedness seems more the norm than the exception around here. We'll see how that evolves once our kids are teenagers.... :LOL

[Hey Mama!]

Our girls have seen me naked alll the time. I used to bathe with my two year old but since B came along I throw them in the tub together. She'll ask occasionally for me to get in tub with her though. I see no problem with it.

Brandi

[Linda in OZ]

My boys still see me naked, it isn't unusual for them to jump in the bath with me, they like the bubbles. DS8 is becomming more aware of things now so I don't stut around starkers as much anymore. Moreso because DH gets on my case about it. Now he (dh) has a real issue with it and even hides his penis from me :LOL

[Overproducktion]

My husband hides his penis from me too!!!

What the heck is up with that?!

How many times has he seen a baby pop out of my vagina!!??

4 times--Geez!:LOL

[Ani & Cam's Mom]

My kids are 4 and 2 1/2 and we bathe together sometimes. My 2 1/2 year old likes to sit on the counter in the bathroom and watch while I pee lol

When I am having my period, sometimes the kids come in the bathroom. I just tell them that's Mommie's if they ask. They are still young enough that that works.

[Trishy]

Billy sees me naked sometimes. He calls my breasts babies and my crotch a doggie. : Dh does not allow ds to see him naked often and I doubt that he knows that ds sees me nude. He's just funny like that. I keep telling him that he is going to have to teach ds to pee standing up someday so he might as well get used to it.

[anothermama]

My dd is 4 and she sees me naked all the time. I think that after a certain age (I dont know what.......maybe 7 or 8 or 9??) it might be good to start exersicing discretion with your children of the opposite sex. I dunno though.....I'm having my first boy in May.

My dd is just now asking about body parts and we are having a baby and so it's been a very healthy thing for us that she can see the changes in me and it's not some giant mystery.

[Mothra]

I have a 6yo, 2yo, and 2mo. The older two are boys and they see my husband and I naked probably on a daily basis. It doesn't make my 6yo uncomfortable at all. If it did, he wouldn't walk into the bathroom while I'm getting in/out of the shower. I'm nursing, so my breasts are on display all day long.

I read this somewhere else and I totally agree-- Seeing my impefect, real body is not going to be what harms my children. All of those perfect, airbrushed images of model's bodies in the mall, on television, and eventually in the skin mags is what is harmful to children.

[angela&avery]

Originally posted by Linda in OZ
(dh) has a real issue with it and even hides his penis from me :LOL

lol, thats my dh's first instinct when i open the bathroom door.. he covers is penis!!!!:LOL , then again, we live with my parents at the moment, so i can understand that.. and he nevers knows if its gonna be ds wipping the door open to do pee pees....:LOL

that said, until we moved in with my parents we walked around naked all the time, particularly in the summer.... or in summer, i wear skimpy tanks and shorts to bed cause its so hot.... and you know what?? it does turn my dh on and it is about sex, but who cares, its not to ds, right? Ds doesnt know that and i like being reminded that dh finds me sexy. (btw, im not saying nakedness has to be about sex, its really not for me, but it is to dh... but he loves it , he doesnt think its not okay because we have a son or kids or anything.... oh and ds is 2 1/2)

I, too, think i will limit it a bit more when the kids are older..... its not really about gender but more about teaching privacy and allowing the children to decide what they are comfortable with.

[angela&avery]

Originally posted by Mothra
I read this somewhere else and I totally agree-- Seeing my impefect, real body is not going to be what harms my children. All of those perfect, airbrushed images of model's bodies in the mall, on television, and eventually in the skin mags is what is harmful to children.

i agree too!!

[angela&avery]

Originally posted by trishshack
I keep telling him that he is going to have to teach ds to pee standing up someday so he might as well get used to it.

that is why my ds pees standing up , from watching daddy!!

[Peppermint]

My kids all see me naked regularly. My dh chose to start requiring privacy in the bathroom when dd was about 2 and said "daddy, look at your big huge penis!".

I want my kids to know that naked bodies are beautiful and not shameful, but also want them to know that different people have different needs for privacy (like naked mommy vs. I need privacy daddy).

The issue gets sticky for me in when to allow the kids to be naked, or moreso, where to allow the kids to be naked. Last summer the kids were in the kiddie pool in the yard a lot. It was easiest to have ds (who was around 18-20 months at the time) swim naked or just in a diaper. DD was 3 and her body is not at all baby anymore, and I did not feel comfortable allowing her to be naked in the yard because our neighbor could see her, and while he seems like a nice guy, you just never know, YK? It's sad but true. Although I am sure some are even turned on by babies I just get worries about strangers seeing my kids naked. So, I don't allow them to run around the house naked unless the front window curtains are closed, and I just tell them that they need to have some "privacy". I am not ready to explain pedophiles to them.

OK, I am going off topic, so I'll get back to the issue at hand- I think the kids will tell you when they want you to cover up, and you need to be clear about when you need privacy

[eilonwy]

:LOL When Eli is naked, Mike says "He's wearing the family uniform again." One of the first things my dh does when he gets home is remove his pants. If I'm out all day, it's one of the first things I do too. :LOL Of course, Eli is a baby at this point. It's really not a big deal to us, though, and he sees both of us (and himself) naked on a daily basis. I'm with the other posters; eventually, he'll feel uncomfortable about it (or not) and we'll all get dressed and move on.