Nudity/privacy Between Older Brother & Younger Sister

Sorry but I think the more "normal" nudity and the human body is, the less "forbidden" or "exciting" it seems. My friend whose parents were practically nudists never was fascinated by men and was a healthy relationship virgin type well into her 20s. And likewise her brother was never a horndog teenager but always very respectful of women. My 7 year old is starting to want some privacy around undressing in front of daddy but not me or her younger sister.

My kids are, daughter older (9), son youngest (6).
We just change/bathe/use the bathroom normally.
My kids see us and they see each other. And this has been the case since they were born.
It is no biggie to them or us.
If a child wants privacy, they SAY so. Fine.
My son knows boys have penises and girls don't and each gender has their own parts.
No biggie.

I have found when the kids hit the age where they need privacy they do a very good job of making sure they get privacy. With my girls that was around 10 and my boys 12, not sure why there is a difference but there you go.

There is a huge difference between a dad being modest and a child. An adult is aware a child is not. When they hit that age of awareness, as listed above, they become modest around everyone. Until then they are innocent, let them be innocent. They will have to majority of their life to be aware, ya know?

Love Gamma's scare stats. If you have kids that are having sex with each other don't you think more came into play than just seeing their sibs nude?

i was the only girl in a houseful of boys. we were very casual about clothing, and my parents tended to answer questions very simply. maybe too simply (i didn't know how sex worked until i learned it in school around the age of 10) but there wasn't any shame or silliness. modesty just happened organically a little before the onset of puberty.
your kids are very, very young. for me it wouldn't be an issue at all. but i have to add that i'm a clothing-optional mom so my pov is probably not the norm.
ETA there are actually college psych classes where the 'normal person' learns that nudity and sexuality are not the same thing, and the children who grow up familiar with the human body are not all perverts. really.
:) khairete
S.

Nudity in our home is not a big deal. If anyone is uncomfortable or wants to change or have privacy with anything,they have that option. But for the most part everyone gets dressed,showers etc around everyone else.

My kids of both sexes all bathed together until my oldest was like 9 or 10. Then the oldest didn't want to do it anymore and it just stopped. They stopped seeing each other naked when they didn't want to be seen.

IMO there is no problem with 1 and 3 year old siblings seeing each other naked, and nothing should be said or done about it. There is nothing wrong with a nude body (well, some bodies are better off clothed), and the situation will take care of itself when required.

Gotta COMPLETELY disagree with Gamma on that point. A normal kid will not lust after his/her sibling, regardless of seeing him/her naked. In cases of incest, something else was the cause. I don't think much of your psych. teachers, Gamma.

It really should be a natural evolution. When the brother or sister are feeling uncomfortable, You'll notice.

I have an older bro and we actually shared a room for a long time until .. .. he was not comfortable with sissy around:) He told my mom outright why he wanted/needed his own room.

If someone asks for privacy we give it.
Nudity in our house is just one more thing that happens in the course of the day. We don't parade around the house nude. We don't make a big deal of it. We teach that it's not polite to point or tease.
I've got 2 boys and 1 girl as well as my husband and I. They all know what parts the others have and we move on.
As for what age, there was no particular age, it just evolved out of every day life.

Nudity is not a big deal to me. I never had to teach my girls about the nudity/privacy thing, it came naturally. Around the ages of 8-10, most girls start going through the covering themselves up/ not wanting anyone to see them naked phase. That was when they started changeing in privacy. My boys never went through this. But to make the girls feel more comfortable, we started changeing in privacy.

I don't have both but I watch a pair of twin boys and keep 4-5 year old girls. You should see them swarm around when I change diapers! Lol. It's totally innocent and I'm not worried about it at all. We look different and that's ok. They'll want/need their privacy in time, but they're still too young to realize it's anything but couriosity.

Nothing wrong with nudity. Its how you view it that is the problem. If its not treated sexually, its not viewed as such.
I have 5 year old, when she was 4 she was allowed to change fully in front and with, all the boys at the pre-school. When my husband had a little bit of a problem with this, she told him " dont worry daddy, their peanuts are thiers and my privates are mine we respect each other"

We dont parade around naked in front of our kids, but if they bust in on us changing, we dont get angry or shy. They just say things like, HEY what are THOSE? LOL.
My 2 year old son still bathes with his 3 and 5 year old sisters. He often asks where is their peanuts. Totally natural and I dont think they have to worry about any of that till they are embarrassed or shy to get dressed in the presence of others.

I think that once one or more parties are uncomfortable (it will happen) then it is time to enforce it, but overall I think that general space is important.

When son was around 6.5 and daughter was around 3.5 we discontinued joint baths. But that was pretty much a "space in the tub" issue.

Generally, when they begin desiring privacy (while toileting, for example) then we all respect their desire for privacy. We are a bit more conservative than some of the families on this site, and tend to keep nudity to the privacy of our own rooms/bathrooms. That is just us, it may be more in line with what you are comfortable with, it may not. But your kids will let you know when they desire more privacy.
Eventually (it's still REALLY early) your son will not want you to "help" at potty time. Ever. At some point he will begin asking to bathe on his own. etc... just take it as it comes and it will be fine.

The general rule of thumb for us is that everyone needs to be comfortable. If a child running around the house in front of guests/grandparents makes them uncomfortable, then the child should either be in the privacy of their room, or put on something so that the guests aren't uncomfortable. It is courtesy. And if the child is uncomfortable being naked in front of anyone, they are entitled to cover up or close the door, etc.

As I said, in our household, that trends more to privacy. My husband has never been one to go shirtless even. He just prefers to have on a T-shirt instead of nothing unless he is going to bed. I don't know why, I've never asked. My father never went around the house without a shirt of some sort either. Our son follows Dad's footsteps and wears a shirt of some sort, too, when he is up and about. btw, our son is 14.

I, for one, think modesty is not a bad thing. It doesn't mean you aren't comfortable with your body or that you have any issues with sexuality.

As the children get older, they will want their own privacy. My friend's son is 5 and has practically grown up with DD (we hang out and babysit a lot). In the last year, he's shut the bathroom door, wanted his privacy, etc. We have also been teaching DD to knock and WAIT and not go in when she's not wanted. DH has also not made a huge deal of it, but has been more private about his own habits and changing in the last year. I think the more DD started to notice, the less he wanted to be noticed, you know? So I'd just go with what everyone needs, as they need it. It was never much of a problem with SS and SD. They just grabbed a towel to walk to/from the shower and bedroom and everyone had a bathrobe if they wanted to use it.

my boy girl are 5 and 6 and they are nude daily.. they dont notice and it is not a big deal.

they will get modesty some day.. dont rush it.

When a person goes to college and studies psychology it opens a whole world up of stuff a normal person would never even consider.

In a human sexuality class we learned that of 60% of all REPORTED incest is between siblings and that those families were lax when it came to teaching privacy and didn't keep the kids of different genders in different bedrooms and all this other stuff.

So I don't think this can be started too young.

I know that these statistics are old but the theme is always going to be there.

Siblings who are familiar with their siblings in that kind of way have more issues with temptation and as they get older, fantasies. I think that you are doing okay, he needs to not see you or dad or sister in the nude or partially nude. Those are images he will have come to mind later in life, like around 11 or 12 or 13 when he is starting to be aroused.

You may not think anything of it now but he is "making a photo album of memories" right now. Are those the images of you or other family members that you really want him to have?