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?

My ds are 18 and 14 and still happily wander into the bathroom while I am in the bath (yes, they do the sitting on the loo thing too).

They don't bat and eyelid if we go into the main bathroom if either of them is in the shower - they will strike up a chat!

We're a very relaxed about nudity family, I guess.

My parents have always carried on conversations with us while in the bath, wandering around their bedroom getting dressed, getting out of bed naked etc. There probably came a point when I was more modest around them, but I was never bothered but their nudity, and reverted to being fairly unfazed by my own once puberty was out of the way. I remember getting into a bath while heavily pregnant with DS, mid-chat with my mum and toddler DD. My mum briefly said 'sorry, would you like some privacy', but I said 'Well you gave birth to me and I gave birth to her so it doesn't feel particularly necessary.'' DC are still very small, but I can't really imagine I'll feel the need to not get changed in front of them at any point really - that would seem oddly squeamish.

DS is 11 and sometimes gets a bit embarrassed if he sees me getting dressed, but sometimes doesn't even notice. He's the same with him being naked, too.

I haven't cuddled him in bed without both of us having clothes on for a while now. He's starting to mature physically, and it has started to feel inappropriate.

My parents were very comfortable with nudity and thought it was funny how prudish we all were as teenagers - my father used to walk into all our bedrooms to wake us up on his way back from the shower and there was a daily chorus of 'ugh, hide that thing, I so did not need to see that at this time in the morning' from us all.

My mother did insist on him wearing a towel if we had friends staying thank goodness!

I'm pretty comfortable with it - DD (7) and I still have baths together - but my DH never has been. He never saw his parents naked so that may have something to do with it.

My two werent bothered until about age 13 when they started knocking before coming in our room/bathroom or turning their backs when I was getting changed. They don't walk around naked at all now.

I don't remember seeing any family member naked ever. I'm not a fan of being naked anyway (I wear pyjamas and if I've been in the bath or shower I put a dressing gown on, I just don't like the feeling of being naked... Makes me feel, well, naked) so no nakedness in my house. But i think this is something that depends on the individual family. If it works for you and everyone is comfortable, I don't think nakedness is an issue. Just not something that is for me personally.

Mine are early teens and often walk in to chat to me while I'm naked in my bathroom. I'll wander out naked to get clothes off the laundry rack sometimes. They're not bothered, maybe a bit startled if they bump into me naked on the landing as I'm usually dressed outside my room.

My DS is 9, and still quite unbothered by nudity. I am quite happy to cover up, if it bothers him, but we aren't there yet. He is sometimes happy to be seen naked, and other times, wants some privacy, which is fine. I think it very much depends on the child, and there is only ever a problem if someone feels uncomfortable.

I sleep in a nightdress but walk around naked after the shower, I have 2 teenage DD. They have covered up since puberty and we have not shared a bathroom since they were old enough to pee or bath alone.

DH always wears underpants, I am sure is we had DS it would be the other way around.

Family nakedness is a matter for your family- there are no rights and wrongs. Your child will tell you if they are uncomfortable with it and if they do then put some clothes on and don't ridicule them for feeling uncomfortable. You cannot however wander naked if there are other people's children in your home so once sleepovers start you will need to make sure you have a dressing gown or similar to slip into.

We have a family bathroom and an ensuite so there's no real need for anyone to see anyone else naked. It doesn't bother me if kids walk in when I'm getting changed but it rarely happens. My and DH both sleep in pjs as do all the kids so there is only a limited amount of naked.

DS6 would be naked randomly by choice but it makes our eldest uncomfortable so we ask him to keep his nudity to his bedroom. It's just about respect more than anything. She is uncomfortable and has told us so we ask him to do it away from her.