For not covering up?

[Nelly1727]

Genuine question? At what age would you stop walking around naked in front of the children? We have a naked house, I'm not saying I sit and watch TV naked but my husband and I will happily Walk from the bedroom to the bathroom with no clothes on and think nothing of it. If I need to nip downstairs (and curtains are closed) I would think nothing of quickly running downstairs before putting clothes on. Kids will jump in bed with us in the morning etc. I have 3 boys 6,7 & 8. My friend was astonished we do this and think the boys are too old now and I should start covering up. What are your views? My eldest has started getting more private closing the door when in the bath etc, only changing in his room which we respect and make sure the younger ones also understand he wants privacy. Am I scarring my kids for life as my friend suggested by letting them see my husband and I in our birthday suits at this age?

DD is only 4 but both DH and I bath and shower with her, and walk around naked in the house. She's just started to make comments about DH's bits, but I'll leave it up to him when/if he feels the need to cover up.

But we live in a country where attitudes to nudity are very different. You have to be nude in a sauna or at a spa, for eg. There are specific days for people who want to wear a swimsuit, and you have to pay extra. For this reason, I've never been to a spa here!!!!

Still can't get over @HappylandToysEverywhere thinking that sex is the only possible reason to be naked in bed

I don't get this attitude that OP should cover up when her DCs feel uncomfortable.

Surely she should do what she's comfortable with and her DCs learn to enter a room if they are comfortable.

I've just come back from Spain and I've noticed how there's been a big decline in woman who go topless.

When I went away as a kid it was pretty normal.

What o don't agree with and have never got over the discomfort from it is parents who insist on deciding the level of cover their own children have. I was quite a free and easy child who happily stripped and went topless. However the year I turned 11 and was due to start secondary my parents wouldn't allow me a bikini top or swimsuit (I was still completely undeveloped). I felt so uncomfortable the whole holiday.

I'm glad you're reassured. Your friend has issues, don't let her influence your decisions.

I grew up in a family where going between the bedroom & bathroom naked was normal, where my parents didn't often shut their bedroom door if they were getting dressed etc. We learnt to knock and wait for an answer from being quite young if the door was shut. My Dad would still walk from their bedroom to the bathroom naked until the day he died. My mum still does, she's not one bit body conscious around us kids, but weirdly the grandkids never see her naked as she thinks 'it's not nice for them'.

I used to bath with my Aunty & shower with my Nana and all us cousins would strip off to put costumes on to go in the pool etc

I think it's good for children to see adults comfortable in their imperfect skin, instead of only airbrushed models (almost naked in adverts etc).

In my experience kids go through stages of covering up & not covering up, what they want for themselves is always respected and not made fun of. Well, almost always not - sometimes ribbed a little for stripping naked on a public beach then whinging if they need to get dressed in the same room as their same sex sibling. Weird little critters 😬

My eldest ds who is 8 has just started wearing pants in the garden if him and his brothers strip off, esp if cousins are over who are girls and 8/10. Shout them all for bath and he will happily strip completely have a poo and then jump in the bath with them, and yes they are present whilst hes on the loo.....🤔. He still comes in and chats to me if im in the shower or getting dressed and he still likes to show me all the weird and wrong shapes he can make with his willy, so 😂

To be fair to HappylandToysEverywhere

Me and my OH hate sleeping naked. He's a boxers guy and I'm a pyjama girl!

So if we're naked in bed we're either about to have sex or just had it lol

Oh I think it's fine, you will know instinctively when to start to cover up. People make to much of a thing about nakedness.

We are a fairly naked household. DH sleeps naked, I sleep in pants, as does DS and the girls when it is warm. When cooler, DS loves old man brushed cotton pyjamas, and the girls have a mix of nighties, pj's and onsies.
DD2 (6) his tends to run around in pants, having been naked until a year or so ago.

DS (13) has started developing and now tends to keep his pants on, whereas previous he would have stripped off.

I was a very prudish child, refusing to remove my vest in front of my dad, aged 3. My kids all dance, and whilst DD1 (10) will wear a white or flesh coloured leotard for multiple changes, they are all happy to change in front of their dancing friends. Also, collecting them from school in uniform and being required to arrive at professional shows in dancing uniforms, mean they will all change in the car or car park with no embarrassment

I don't agree with bluntness , what is 'look at me' about being naked in your own home? I grew up in a house like op's and I never felt like 'that kid', I liked having a down to earth family who didn't make me feel like the human body was something inappropriate and dirty.

Erm...just how difficult would it be to grab a light wrap instead of exposing others to the sight?

It's got to be embarrassing for older children. Good grief.

I think children getting to see normal naked bodies is actually incredibly healthy, in an era when they are going to be seeing a horrifying number of images of porn/porn-inspired nudity on phones.

My DC are 8 and 6 and DH and I still walk around the house naked - not habitually, but say from the bathroom to the bedroom. It's just not remotely an issue for us or them. So they get to see (shock horror!) pubic hair, post-bf-ing boobs, etc. Normal adult bodies.

I'm sure they'll get to an age where they develop a sense of privacy and that's fine, but with any luck the fact they spent their younger childhood with no sense of bodies needing to be hidden NOR perfect will stand them in good stead for all the social-media/media pressures they - like all our children - are going to be subjected to.

Nina - why has it "Got to be embarrassing for older children?" Are you forcing assumptions on to them? The girls have never been embarrassed by bodies - sit on loo with door wide open until we suggest we don't want to see them crapping and we're proud of their first pubic hair. They are happy for us to see them bald still but tend to be covered up in n front of us a bit more now because of their partners sensibilities. The boys went through about a year when they preferred privacy but now have to be told to cover up as cleaners have arrived or because supper guests are due shortly. They have a tendency to sit in minuscule underwear on the sofas.

DH and I both go from bedroom to bathroom naked and sleep naked. Neither mt DS18 DSD17 or DSS13 seem to care.

I always knock on their door to ask if they are decent before entering as I want to respect their privacy, DSD would say yes even if naked with me but with DH she will have bra and knickers on. DS and DSS says yeah if in boxers.

All will come and hunt me down if in shower or bath and all will come in my room if I am getting changed to chat or ask for stuff so I don't really feel the need to cover up for a 20 second walk from one room to next as seeing me naked clearly doesn't bother them.

I don't feel uncomfortable and I don't believe they do. If they once asked us to cover up then I would.

nina2b. I'm not sure why you think you know better than those of us who grew up in a house where nakedness wasn't as issue. I can assure you that as an older child it wasn't embarassing, it was just family with no clothes on, not a thought given to it.

My boys will never think that all woman should be free off stretch marks and have perky bosoms! .. my work here is done!

they pretend to be mortified if I'm naked, but choose to come and sit and chat to me about their day while I'm in the bath!

Well done Fab!

AnnieAnoniMouse
It is hardly the norm, is it? Most people cover up. How do you imagine your children's peers would react to information about your family habits?!

Judging by the response to this post I don't think most people do cover up. As it is just so natural in our house I can't imagine them ever feeling the need to discuss it with their peers and if they do so what. It would appear from he majority of comments that their peers would probably have similar 'family habits' and if they don't they get to understand different view points and ways of life.

How do you imagine your children's peers would react to information about your family habits?!

I think that all family's do things differently though in probably most aspects of life, I can't imagine that any of our kids would actually go an say that they have seen us naked because that would be like saying oh my mom had a wee today, it is just normal for them.

I know they think that some of their friends houses have weird (to them) habits but surely if people were more tolerant to other peoples ways then the world would be a much better place.

Why would my DC's peers know?

I grew up in a fairly naked household, DM didn't see the point in 'covering up' for the sake of it. I also used to go and chat to her while she was on the loo and I'm not scarred by any of it.

We now have a fairly nude household as adults too. DH and I will pop to the loo or the bathroom with no clothes on, and we're certainly not funny about the children covering up - in fact as it stands my children are currently wearing enough clothes to make one person decent (DD1 is wearing a tshirt and knickers, DSS is wearing a pair of joggers). DSS has started becoming a bit more private about getting changed so we're respecting that, and I'm being more circumspect about my nudity around him as he gets older. However, he's happy to call one of us to have a chat with him while he's in the shower, so he's clearly not THAT fussed! We're just letting him take the lead on it.

I have 3 boys of a very similar age and no way would I wander round naked in front of them at all. I think all of them would find that quite embarrassing!

Urgh, i still live at home and my dad has always sat about/walked round in just his boxers and it REALLY bothers me. Even now no amount of telling him stops him from coming wandering down in just those to go in the kitchen and make food etc. how hard is it really to shove a pair of pj bottoms on when he's not alone in his own room when he knows it makes me really uncomfortable? He's done it since i was a kid, never naked thank goodness, but once hes at home unless its winter and cold (no heating) hes straight down to just boxers. Honestly, ask your kids how they feel about it, and actually listen!

Im 30 and would happily chat to my mum while she's in the shower

My DCs are 2 & 4. I only plan to cover up if they ever start to feel uncomfortable. As they are both girls I imagine they won't have a problem. it's interesting to see how many of you suggest covering up when a thread last week about a woman sunbathing topless with her teenage DSs around was met with 'mind your own business' and 'it's only a pair of boobs'....