nudity around children - Page 2

[autumn]

our dd is only 8m old, so this isn't something we've had to think much about...yet. my dh loves walking around nude, so i bought him a robe for xmas for the neighboors sake. i tend to get cold (we live in minnesota), so i usually have something on around the house. as far as nudity goes though, i have no problem letting ella see us naked while she is young. ella and i have always bathed together. no doubt i will have the same problem as sweetpea had once i get pg again as my belly with ella was HUGE (could barely fit in the tub with myself! hee hee).

i remember seeing my mom naked when i was young and it never bothered me. we still change in front of each other (she has the nicest, perkiest boobs! much less saggy than mine and she's 60!). my dad used to walk around in his tidy-whiteys and i admit that embarassed my a bit...mostly if i had a friend sleeping over and we entered ou kitchen to the site of my dad, sipping coffe, in his undies. agh! that was past age 9 though.

autumn

[Moooommy]

We're naked where it's appropriate--getting dressed, in the hot tub, etc., but not while cooking breakfast or some such. Ds #1 is 7 years old, and doesn't seem disturbed by it, sometimes he sits on my lap in the hot tub. It's nice to have the skin-to-skin contact again. Ds #2 gets plenty of that since he's 10 mos.

A lot of this is simply practical: I can't imagine not being interrupted while dressing, and I'm not about to try to be discreet while nursing in my own home. Not to mention having Ds#1 present at the birth. I wasn't about to dress for that event!

Personally, I love seeing my naked boys (all three ). The kids' inherited their father's tush!

[grisandole]

My son bathed with me until he was 3 1/2, and saw me nude (after a shower, getting undressed, etc., I didn't walk around naked) until around 7 1/2. Then he began getting modest, and so I began closing doors when I changed. He is currently, at 9 years old, in a phase where he thinks nudity is gross!

[LEmama]

I haven't read through all of the replies, but this is an issue our family has been thinking about now that our older son is 6 1/2. We do not walk around undressed, but we also don't close doors while we are changing, nursing, etc. I have heard that once your child seems to wants privacy while in the bathroom, etc. then that is a sign for the parents to use more discretion as well. Makes sense to me.

Both dh and I occassionally bathe with a child/ren, although I will only join ds#1 if we use bubbles (I have never mentioned 'why' to him)

[mamababe]

Thanks every-one for your thoughfull replies. We are almost all in the same boat it seems. Good luck to all.

[paula_bear]

I have been very open with my children, I suppose, with regards to nudity. I don't feel ashamed or uncomfortable with them seeing me naked. They are also both very clingy and would not like it if I closed the bathroom door to get dressed, undressed, showered, etc. My son is just now starting to develop some modesty (at almost 8 yrs old), so I have practiced more modesty around him. I think it's good for the kids to get a realistic view of what a woman's body looks like. They love me and accept every last ounce of me - I hope they can apply that to others down the road.

DH does not undress or go to the bathroom in front of the children. I'm ok with that, because I think a man's body can be frightening to a child. My dad always slept in the nude, so I saw him naked a few times as a kid and didn't like it. Seeing my mom naked never really bothered me, but I remember asking about why she had "hair down there."

Anyway, it looks like this discussion is winding down, but I had to add my thoughts...

[alianmama]

My sons are 14 & 8, and our family is very comfortable with nudity. I was raised very european, and raised my children that way. When I was 14 & visiting family in Germany, we all (teens included) did the sauna and ran outside to spray each other with freezing cold water from the hose (considered healthful!!) For us it is normal, healthy and totally non-sexual. We still go to hot springs together, nude of course- except for ds 14, who got modest a year or two ago. His modesty was accepted without question. He doesn't display any discomfort with our nudity, either. I don't tend to walk around naked, but change clothes without concern, and ds14 doesn't turn away or stare. No biggie for him; he grew up w/it and gets to see exactly what a real woman's body looks like.
DH was raised extremely modestly. For him (and so many people, sadly) nudity=sexuality- now THAT is unhealthy!! (no wonder breastfeeding has been sexualized in our culture...) Being with me has been a shocker and wake up. He never even let his daughters see him without a shirt on before I met him! Thought hot springs were for depraved hippie sex fiends! LOL!! Would undress under the covers...that blew me away. Now, 3 1/2 years later, he's a different man. His younger dd has come with us to hot springs and he is so much more comfortable and mellow- in every way. He says he feel 'freed'.

[Maisie]

...um, my parents never 'covered up' so to speak until I left home in my late teens!..It was no big deal to me - infact I thought it was the same in every household!..Both myself and partner are often naked in front of dd...infact dh and dd take a bath together every saturday when I'm at work...as for dd she's in a perminant state of undress...she hates clothes!..

[coonmom]

DS is 25 mo and has started wanting to "See Mama" or "See Dada" when one of us is in the bathroom showering or otherwise in a state of undress. DH has a totally wrong attitude about it and implies that there's something stimulating for him in it. I think it's a great sign of curiosity and trying to figure things out. He's already made the connection between him and dad because everytime he pees in the tub now he grabs himself and says "Dada!" and shakes it! (hope that's not some of those forbidden graphic details). He also is very curious about mommy's pubic hair and walked in one day and pointed to it and said "toe pay". ????? I haven't figured that one out, unless it was an attempt at telling me to put on my 'pan-ties' so I'd hurry up and be dressed and come play.
Anyway, I'm much more comfortable with nudity than dh. He's got the sex hang up thing. I hope to prevent ds from adopting his attitudes.

Ginger

[mom at home]

We don't worry about nudity in our family. I'm often in a state of undress or partial dress as I'm trying to shower and get myself and everyone else ready in the morning. My dh doesn't flaunt but doesn't hid, the girls see him naked when he's getting in or out of the shower or getting dressed. My girls are very often naked and I don't worry about whether they are dressed or not except undies are required at mealtime. My youngest is really noticing penis's lately and discusses how "daddy's is really big compared to Luke's" (our friend's baby) and if boys have penises why don't girls, and what do girls have then, etc.

My parents always slept naked and they never hid it and I often saw them naked when they got up or were getting dressed. It seems like my dad became uncomfortable with it about the time I reached adolesence, which seems appropriate. I think whatever people are comfortable with is the best approach.

[sahmom]

I have not read through all the posts but this is something that I have a little bit of an issue with. I have 2 sons (one is 5 and one is 20 months). My husband and the 5 year old run around naked all the time and I never had a problem with the older seeing me naked until he turned about 4. At that point I tried to be more discreet simply because it started to make me uncomfortable (doesn't bother him). Even now he will ask me why Caleb (20 month old) can be in the bathroom when I am and he can't. I honestly do not know how to respond to that. i jsut tell hime that Caleb is still little.???

[coonmom]

Celestial - YOU'RE RIGHT!!
That IS how he says toilet paper! Ha!
He'll try to get it for me and "help" when I'm using the potty and he wants to hurry me up. Maybe he thought I needed it to dry off after the shower!