Sorry if the title of this thread is a bit naff - it's late, if you have boys and girls at what age did they stop bathing together? DD is 5 and DS is 3 - they still bath together, we have a large spa-bath so they get in together as well as with DS2 - 11 months. Just curious as to what other families do...
I don't have any little boys but I have a big boy DH! He showers most nights with our DDs after dinner while I'm cleaning up - they will be 4 and 5 in three months. We're not considering stopping that practice any time soon. As a family we're pretty open with nudity, but also teaching the girls that other people's bodies need to be respected and you don't just go touching dangly bits - both DH's and the ever increasing dangle to my boobs!! We're also starting to tell them that they shouldn't be naked around other people - no longer just dropping their bathers at the public pool etc. I guess what I'm trying to say in a very long winded way is that we want them to think their bodies are natural and there is nothing wrong with nudity, but that its not acceptable everywhere.
When they start getting uncomfortable with being naked around us, or us around them then I guess that's our cue to change things.
My 4.5 and 2yo girls share a bath with ds 18mth we talk about the differences in their bodies and they happily play. I think it will more be a case of running out of room that will mean us stopping.
I don't have both sex's but I have 2 brothers and we bathed together till probably age of 7 or 8, nudity was never seen as a bad thing growing up and I don't want my kids to think it is either (of course within reason and private, not public). I shower with boys regularly but most nights it is DH in shower with them.
My kids are almost exactly the same ages as yours and they all bathe together. They have no issues with it, and neither do I or DH. Until they want to be alone, they will bathe together! Similar to what a pp said, I also shower/bath with the kids, as does DH, and I have no issues with that either. DD and DS1 also bathe with their older cousin (a girl if it makes any difference!) who is 8 without issues too.
I think when they want to stop. My dd is 9and an only child. We have her friends over and they want to jump in the spa bath but in their bathers whereas a few years ago they would have been naked. Some undress in front of each other but some insist on going into another room.
thanks everyone. yeah, I guess DD will tell me when she doesn't want her brothers in the bath with her, but I guess she will move onto having showers too. x
my brother and I bathed together until we were around 8 and 4 and we only stopped because my brother thought it was funny to pretend he was a water fountain and wee in my mouth. I refused to enter the bathroom if he was in it for years!
I only have 1 child (almost 5) and she now asks for "private space" for going to the toilet, bathing, getting dressed etc. We have no issue with this and give her the space she requests. She closes her door to get changed. Now if I could just get her to stop barging in on me when I'm in the loo! Although we don't prohibit her from entering the bathroom/bedroom if we are showering/changing - we do insist that she knock first though.
DD1 is 8, DS is 5.5 and DD2 is 2.5 - they all still regularly shower and bathe together. They take in turns and swap eg tonight DD1 and DS had a shower while DD2 had a bath. It's not an issue in our house, I suppose when DD1 expresses that she is uncomfortable then we will stop it but why fix what aint broken?
DD1 is 10 soon & DS is 4 next month, they still shower together. DD3 often gets in too.
Or 6yo DD & DS.
I mix them up, but there's always an older one in with a little in the shower, so they can watch them. DD1 is the only one I leave alone in the bath with DD3.
5.5yo boy and 2yo girl, not just bathing together, but regularly stripping to nothing to play. I didn't care when we lived in a built up area and I certainly don't care now that we're on a farm!
I love how my BiL's family are with nudity - 16yo still showers with the little kids present in the bathroom, 14yo sister bathes with the little ones, who are 3 and 5 and boy and girl. They've always been so normal and unrepentant about nudity
My DS1(7yo) & DD (5yo) have only just stopped bathing together & it was only because they found there wasn't enough room in the tub for both of them comfortably.
Nudity wasn't an issue in my household growing up, nudity isn't an issue in my household now. I've gotten into the shower with my siblings even now, but then again we grew up around nudist beaches, so nudity isn't something that is hidden.
The younger ones went through stages when puberty first hit & their bodies started to change that they were a little bit shy with their bodies, but that was only a stage and we soon got back to it being as it was.
It is whatever you feel comfortable with and your household feels comfortable with.
With mine, it will depend on how comfortable everybody is. I've learnt over the years that sometimes it is just easier to be naked when you bath them because of the amount of water that gets splashed around.
I have boys 8 & 5 and a girl 2. They all bath together. It's easier and saves time. No issue with who has what. The kids are fine with it for now. Will re-visit when one of them decides they are too grown up to bath with their brother's and sister.
Mixed Gender Bathing
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