3 yr old naked in the garden

[Millionprammiles]

Do your kids runs around naked in the garden if your garden is overlooked and you don't know your neighbours?

I'm probably being stupidly paranoid but neighbours on one side are a group of sharers who frequently have lots of random guests. I know nothing about them but they can now see my naked daughter running around.

I don't want to make dd feel self conscious and we do encourage her to wear pants 'because you might get cold' but its tricky as clearly she's not cold and wants to run round starkers.

Yes, the prudishness around the naked body in this country is depressing. Still, at least it's not America.

Naked in the garden is not a problem.

Too bloody hot! Naked in the house :)

Is that you or your dc though whyhasmy?

My two year old has just been legging it around the garden in the nuddy for the last hour, leaping in and out of the paddling pool. We have neighbours left and right and behind, but I know them all and nobody is in and even if they were as long as there wasn't some party going on I would be happy to let him enjoy himself.

I think if feel differently if I didn't know my neighbours or felt one of them was a bit peculiar.

My nearly 4yo goes in the local paddling pool naked if we've forgotten her swimsuit and it's hot. I see no problem with that. She's a kid. I'm keeping an eye on her. She's having fun and feeling free and long may it last.

Thank goodness for the majority of sensible views. Dd is almost 3 and goes in the garden as she pleases!!

LittleLionMansMummy that's made me smile, If I get my wobbly bits out my DS likes to poke my tummy and say 'wobble wobble' so I don't tend to do that to much now he can talk. ....

My two are 4 and 2 and loooovvve being naked around the house and in the back garden. I couldn't keep clothes in them if I tried.

I wouldn't let them play out the front or in a public pool / fountain naked because we live the US and people do seem to be more prudish and paranoid. But our enclosed, shady, not-overlooked back yard is like a junior nudist colony.

My daugh is almost 7 and is always naked in our garden .... most is fenced here ... she loves being naked... so why stop her .... we have nothing to hide here ... i try to be naked as much as possible too at home ... we have nothing to be ashamed of ... so why should you 3yo daugh being stopped for being naked in your garden ??
Let her ... its only natural of being naked

I don't let my 3 yr old DD out naked, only because we have SEVERAL flats that over look my garden and I can't possibly know who is looking out of their window at any one time.
No, I don't see a pervert around every corner, but at the same time, it's not worth the risk to me.
She does run around in a swimsuit, or vest and knickers though.

I do understand Lexy's point about worrying about perverts but we have to have a more realistic understanding of the potential dangers. We do not have paedo's lurking round every tree waiting to pounce. Children should be allowed to run around nude - especially in their own gardens but also in parks and beaches. They should have freedom in this way in their childhood. Does it make them more likely to fall prey to a pervert - I would sincerely doubt it. Bad things do happen but we have to be proportionate in our reactions and how we protect our children. We cannot raise them imagining there is a bogeyman around every corner.

Both my 14 month old and I have been naked today in the paddling pool but in all honesty I wouldn't let her if the garden was overlooked. I just wouldn't feel comfortable.

If anyone knows how I can get my 4yo DD to keep her clothes on this week, I'd be grateful

"No, I don't see a pervert around every corner"

Well, yes you do, actually. Or you would let your children go naked in their own garden.

My dts were naked in the garden/paddling pool on Monday and we're overlooked by a main road. They both have those uv suit things but they didn't want to get them wet So starkers and a load of suncream it was!

"Perverts" or abusers are most definitely NOT around every corner - and in any event, are more likely to be a friend or relative than a stranger .

Much better to teach children to be comfortable with their bodies - which includes playing naked in a private back or even front garden and to know that if OTHER people make them uncomfortable, to tell someone they trust.

I never worried about what other people might think when watching ds if he was naked in his own back garden. I was more concerned that he was happy and comfortable in his own skin.

I have a fabulous picture of him somewhere of him, aged 2, pushing his toy mower, stark naked, while copying his dad who was mowing the lawn not naked

Little children are (or should be) completely innocent, and there is nothing to be uncomfortable about seeing them naked. Certainly in your own back garden and probably at the beach/park etc too, for me.

There are not paedophiles around every corner you know. Sheesh. If there is a paedophile near their attraction to kids may not be dependent on them being naked.

I wouldn't worry. She's 3! Let her enjoy the freedom.

My two (3 and 7) run round the garden in their pants frequently and the 3 yo is often naked. However, it tends to be in cooler weather than this as I worry about sunburn. Cooler than this though, go for it. Even if I stopped them they'd sneak out!

Interesting to hear opposing views....its a tricky one.

Ironically since posting this dd has shown zero interest in going in the garden as she's complained its too hot out there! The bath has become the new paddling pool.

Let them enjoy their nudey childhood! It's wonderful to see little naked bots running about having fun. So innocent and sweet. We started putting knickers on our almost five year old in public but the three year old runs free. She loves being nudey rudey!
I don't buy into the paedo on every corner stuff. It's bizarre and a bit Daily Mail.

When I was young my dad used to live near a popular beach. In the holidays I'd go and stay with him and I'd spend much of my time on the beach with my step brother and sister and half sister.

The summer I was thirteen I'd began to be more aware of both my body and other people on the beach, and I started to notice that there were a few men who'd be on the beach a lot, mostly by themselves, and they'd stare at the children, many of whom were naked as this was the 80s, sometimes using binoculars.

I couldn't really articulate why at the time, but these men made me really uncomfortable, even though I'd never spoken to or been approached by any of them. There was one occasion when I was trying to get changed into my swimming costume under a towel and I got totally tangled up. Somehow I'd got my head through the leg hole, I stood up to try to sort myself and managed to drop my towel, my privates breifly exposed. As I made a grab for my towel again one of the men caught my eye and gave my a horrible, leering look and a smirk, which made me feel sick.

I'd let DD go naked in the garden (if we had one) but never in a public place. I don't believe that pedophiles lurk around every corner, but it stands to reason that they are likely to turn up in places like beaches and parks with paddling pools where they know there are likely to be naked children.