Bathing w/ your child. Opinion?

[slo]

I never take baths with or without my children. But......if someone I know said that they took a bath with their 2 year old child, I wouldn't find that weird.

If they need a bath, and you need a bath, and you want to spend time with the child, then why not What's the difference if the child sees you naked while your changing clothes vs. them seeing you naked while you are in the tub. At 2 years old the child is more interested in spending time with their parents and not if the parents have on clothes or not.

Just my opinion.

 

[2sweetangels]

I have 2 girl's 5 onths old and 2 years old and with my 2 year old I took bath's with her since she was 1 month old and now that she is 2 I let her shower with me and we pretend that the shower is rain and we play. I never seen any problems with this, now if I had a boy, I would bathe with him up to a certain age (mainly when he was old enough to realize girl's and boys are not the same)

 

[katerkat]

I shower with the baby every time I shower - I have no other option. He won't sit in his Jumperoo anymore, he can't be trusted in the bathroom "alone", and nap time...well, nap time isn't working that well. Since DH is deployed, the only way I get to shower is to strip him down and let him play with his bath toys on the floor of the shower with me. I'm hoping it's just a phase - I dream of a private shower!

 

[FreshTressa]

I dunno...I guess I never thought about it, but my daughter at 7 crawls in the big tub with me sometimes when it is cold. We make bubbles and play. No big deal.

I shower my eight year old son and help him bathe. Never occured to me this was weird until I told someone about it. They were astounded. I have taken him into the shower with me when we were camping too.

Heck, my mom and sister and I all showered together last summer when we were camping.

I guess I don't have any hangups about nudity...but I never really associate it with sex. Maybe cuz I worked in the medical field.

I think it is wrong if you are the type of person that views nudity as sexual. If you are the least bit uncomfortable, then you should NOT be doing it.

 

[MrsKreamer]

I still don't see a problem with mothers taking baths with either gender children. Many have said bathing is OK as long as it is same sex. I can see why some may not want Daddy bathing with little girls, but my son was inside of me for 9 months...can't get any more personaly close than that. The only body part he has ever grabbed of mine are my toes(they stick out of the water). Plus we don't use bath time for bonding, it is just easier to get two things done at once.

 

[U2_rocks]

We don't bathe together cause I'm a shower person, but my kids have definitely joined me in the shower from time to time when it made sense to(from a time or water wastage point of view). DH and I walk around our bedroom in the nude while we are getting dressed, and we don't care if the kids see us. Our oldest is 6. I'm sure we will know when it's time to stop - right now the kids just don't care about seeing us, it's a non-issue.

 

[TerryKitten]

DS (2) and I shower 2 times a week together after swimming at the city pool for our class. I have to take a shower after being in the pool or I get really itchy and I take advantage of the moment and scrub down my son too. So we just both do it in the Women's locker room shower's and get dress and go. Obiously I can't send him to the mens locker room and the family rooms don't have showers in them (the shower is out by the pool so getting naked there is out of the question). Hes in that "whats that?" phase so if he asks what things are on my body or his I just answer.

 

[FreshTressa]

We don't bathe together cause I'm a shower person, but my kids have definitely joined me in the shower from time to time when it made sense to(from a time or water wastage point of view). DH and I walk around our bedroom in the nude while we are getting dressed, and we don't care if the kids see us. Our oldest is 6. I'm sure we will know when it's time to stop - right now the kids just don't care about seeing us, it's a non-issue.

Exactly...my eight year old is just now starting to shut the door when he uses the restroom and he is starting to knock on my bedroom/bathroom door before he comes in .

This is one of those issues where you know if it is wrong or not for your family. A child knows when they start to feel uncomfortable sharing nudity.

(this is of course assuming there are no sexual predators in the home)

 

[chobie]

I think there is no reason for it on a daily or weekly basis, and find it strange. You can bond with you kids in many other ways instead of bathing together. The only time my DD showered with me and my DS showered with my DH was when we were down the shore and came off the beach. The kids were filled with sand so we used the shower outside to bath them. They were 2 - 3 years old. Other than something like that, I just don't see any reason for it. JMO

Who said anything about bonding?

I think its more strange that people can be so uptight about this.

 

[chobie]

OK just a little clarification..

I never meant my post to be "light bashing". I was simply stating an observation that I made.. people in other countries seem to be much more open to nudity than we (as a whole) as americans do.

It is our culture..right or wrong..and I didn't say it was either.

I don't think it came across as bashing.

 

[FreshTressa]

Who said anything about bonding?

I think its more strange that people can be so uptight about this.

I think it is strange too that ppl are uptight about this also...BUT...if they are uncomfortable, it is best they don't do it!!!

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I think that at that age it is ok . I cant remember when I stopped letting my DD stop bathing with me but I think she was around 3 .

I have my nephew with me about 75 % of the time and he is 5 I have to watch where he is when I change clothes. He will sneak up and I wont see him standing there . I know he is not "looking" at me but he asked my Dh a question about 5 months ago that made us see that he doesnt need to see me dressing LOL .

 

[dizagain]

Guys! I take back the "light bashing" statement already! BUT...what's with all the "uptight", "what's the problem?", "strange" comments? Just wondering because I don't remember calling you guys strange because you bathe with your kids. I have been modest from day one - never liked changing in front of people...sure I did it in school, college, etc. Hey - want me to shock you? I really like to get dressed ALONE without DH with the exception of bedroom "fun" - which I do enjoy, thank you very much. I even close the bathroom door! I live a pretty normal life and am not considered uptight most of the time by my friends/family. My girls know the proper name for body parts, have had the appropriate "talks", etc., and we have open discussions when they have questions. I just think naked time is personal, that's all and it would bother me to bathe with my kids. So?

 

[FreshTressa]

Nope...I pass no judgements. Sorry if any phrasing I used was offensive.

My husband is modest. The kids have never seen him nekkid.

Seems weird to me, but I still love him

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Guys! I take back the "light bashing" statement already! BUT...what's with all the "uptight", "what's the problem?", "strange" comments? ................. I just think naked time is personal, that's all and it would bother me to bathe with my kids. So?

So what's the problem??? (sorry, couldn't resist ) There's nothing wrong about not wanting your kids to see you without clothes on - and the same goes the other way around.

 

[DVC Jen]

Seems weird to me, but I still love him

I like different, strange, weird people (check out my tag)

I think it all keeps life interesting.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Don't get me wrong--I don't think there's anything wrong with not showering or dressing in front of your young child. But I also don't think there's anything wrong with people who do shower with their young children. It's whatever a family is comfortable with. There are people who prey on children sexually and this is not who we're talking about. That's a whole 'nother discussion.

 

[chobie]

Guys! I take back the "light bashing" statement already! BUT...what's with all the "uptight", "what's the problem?", "strange" comments? Just wondering because I don't remember calling you guys strange because you bathe with your kids. I have been modest from day one - never liked changing in front of people...sure I did it in school, college, etc. Hey - want me to shock you? I really like to get dressed ALONE without DH with the exception of bedroom "fun" - which I do enjoy, thank you very much. I even close the bathroom door! I live a pretty normal life and am not considered uptight most of the time by my friends/family. My girls know the proper name for body parts, have had the appropriate "talks", etc., and we have open discussions when they have questions. I just think naked time is personal, that's all and it would bother me to bathe with my kids. So?

No you didn't say it was strange to bathe with you kids, but a couple of other people did and you did not seem to think they were "light bashing".

 

[JoyG]

At 2.5, I don't think it's a big deal.

I have all boys. The twins are 5 and my youngest is 2.5 DH is the one who bathes them...I lucked out of that chore! He's been doing it since they were toddlers. Anyway, the twins are beginning to notice that I'm different than them and Daddy. They don't see me naked. Sometimes when we're getting dressed they'll catch a glimpse of me in my undies, but I try to avoid that.

But, when I take them to the mall with me, we have to all go into the same stall in the ladies restroom. I usually make them turn around to give me some privacy. Recently as I was using the bathroom, one of my boys got a glimpse of me when he shouldn't have been looking. All of a sudden he exclaims loudly, "Mom, you have a BIG butt!" (as opposed to his small one!)

It was so loud I'm sure everyone in the restroom heard him and I was MORTIFIED!! Now, I make the boys stand just outside the stall door so I can see their feet while I'm using the restroom!

 

[MrsKreamer]

Guys! I take back the "light bashing" statement already! BUT...what's with all the "uptight", "what's the problem?", "strange" comments? Just wondering because I don't remember calling you guys strange because you bathe with your kids. I have been modest from day one - never liked changing in front of people...sure I did it in school, college, etc. Hey - want me to shock you? I really like to get dressed ALONE without DH with the exception of bedroom "fun" - which I do enjoy, thank you very much. I even close the bathroom door! I live a pretty normal life and am not considered uptight most of the time by my friends/family. My girls know the proper name for body parts, have had the appropriate "talks", etc., and we have open discussions when they have questions. I just think naked time is personal, that's all and it would bother me to bathe with my kids. So?

Many people mentioned it was strange...

It kind of skeeves me out. I have taken 1 bath with DS - he was about 2 months old. Never again.

I never showered or bathed with my sons. I don't recommend it, either.

yup, i consider it a no no

I think at this age and with the same sex it's ok. If we're talking different sexes, then line is drawn somewhere around that age.

The "experts" say cross-gender parental nudity should end at age 3. *snip*I see nothing wrong with Mom & daughter having a bath together, or Dad & son having a shower as long as the parent AND the child feel comfortable.

just to point out a few...
I am just curious, why people feel that way. If it is a personal boundries thing, then yeah I kinda think that is odd...considering that YOUR child has been inside of your womb....JMHO though.