Nakedness

[cjt110]

Our son is 2. My husband and I both sleep naked. This means there are times I may go into my son's room in the night when he is crying with nothing on. We also have an ensuite so if he is in our room when one of us is getting out of the shower, he sees us naked.

I was thinking the other day that there is likely to come a time we need to stop being naked around him. Has anyone found them in a similar situation and when did you stop being naked around your children?

Nothing wrong with nudity as such but you do need to be prepared for the school to bring you in if DC mentions it. I absolutely hate changing/showering around my neices/nephews when I'm baby sitting but they refuse to leave to give me even a minute alone. I even have to use the toilet with them there. Neice made one comment comparing my and her mums 'boobies' with her teachers and I was dragged in (am her legal guardian)& had a social services referral which was thankfully cancelled but I was terrified.

But presumably there was more to that, Fleur ? I mean if you were brought into the school as your niece's guardian, rather than her mother, there's more going on than a child talking about breasts...?

My DD is 3 and loves playing with nipples when she comes in our room in the mornings and I'm half asleep. I find it mildly irritating, but cant be bothered to care too much about it.

Nudity at home is fine, more healthy than the opposite IMO, especially in a world of photoshop and internet porn.

crystal I get that too with the friendly welcome to good old boobs....

I can't imagine sleeping naked. You must all have lovely toasty houses. I have two duvets and a sweater on at night.

My older boys are 7 and I am still occasionally naked around them. When they're bothered I'll cover up but I'm not arsed esp in the middle of the night if they just need reassurance because of a bad dream or something. I don't turn the light on so they can't see me anyway!

heron I have 2 duvets but love cold air.

How do you know they are bothered?

DS became uncomfortable with nudity when he turned 7, and asked for a dressing gown. It came out of the blue, so we all got jamas and dressing gowns.
This was the kid that used to streak, regularly.
He's relaxed about nudity again now he's older.

Our children are 8 and have no issues with family nudity. We don't sit around the house naked but certainly the kids see us changing, in the bath, showering etc without any issue.

Why would there be?

If the school called in every parent whose kids had seen them naked they'd never get anything else done!

It's good to know we're slowly getting away from that 'bodies are dirty and must be hidden away' crap.

I don't think any age is too old. Nudity is nothing to be ashamed of.

A child at my DDs nursery mentioned that her dads peepee was bigger than her brothers and she got brought in for a chat, no SS referral as far as I'm aware and no other issues but it definitely happened as mum told me about it, she was mortified.

DH sleeps naked, we have an ensuite and DD's 12 and 7 regularly just walk in our bedroom without knocking whilst we are getting dressed or showering. DD12 is comfortable being naked in front of me but not DH. DD7 isn't bothered about nudity yet.

Jessica if that was directed to me - I'll know they're bothered when they start saying 'ugh mum put some clothes on!' or acting embarrassed, or if they ask.

It wasn't directed at anybody really Felicia

I just wonder because I know I felt uncomfortable with nakedness (my own and that of my family) but couldn't articulate what it was so just felt uncomfortable. So I tend to err on assuming they feel uncomfortable until they voice they don't rather than vice versa, if you follow me.

I see.

I get what you mean, nakedness embarrassed me but not my parents as a kid, I was also too embarrassed to tell them. I think I'll be better at picking up the non-vocal cues from my kids though.

At 12 DS is definitely more modest about his own nudity, and studiously looks away if we wander past in the nip. However we are only talking the short distance from bedroom to bathroom and back in our own small home, not prancing naked round the house while serving his dinner so I can't really see a point where we will stop.

Well my 13 year old son still sees me naked occasionally. It's no big deal.

My 17 year old son is no longer comfortable with it so I make sure I'm always covered up when he is around now.

My two girls aged 9 and 7 come in and talk to me when I'm in the bath often or they come into my room where I'm naked in the mornings.

I stop when they are no longer comfortable with it. It's just a body.

My children are 23, 20 and 14 and none of us either wonder around naked or cover up.
It's just naked bodies. It's not anything bad.
If anyone wants privacy they shut their bedroom door and lock the bathroom but mostly we are not fussed.

My mum and dad still get naked in front of me, I'm 32 (in appropriate settings, including their own homes- dad leaves the door open to pee ).

I don't get naked in front of them though

My mam has always wandered around in the nud around me and my brother. And we are both a lot older than 6

My kids are 10 and 8 and still totally relaxed about seeing me/dh in the nude, or us seeing them. I assume this will change when puberty hits at which point they will have to stop getting into bed with us as I can't bear clothes on in bed. And start knocking on the bathroom door before coming in.

DC are 12 and 5. Everybody is still completely relaxed about nudity, leave doors open when changing, wee with the door open etc. They are just bodies. So long as the children are comfortable it would be weird to make a fuss about it, I think.

Our DDs are 12 and 13 and still aren't phased by seeing me naked. It's not an issue.

DH has been much more modest in front of them since they were 5/6 ish.

I do the same, we aren't prudish.Good for them to see what a real body looks like and not to grow up ashamed of what nature has given them.