# 8 y/o girl bathing with 1 y/o brother. Inappropriate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 16, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580 "2004-06-16T00:47:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/1 "2004-06-16T00:47:38Z")
I’m not sure, but it just doesn’t seem right. Do you think it’s fine for a 8 year old girl to bath with her 1 y/o brother? If so, where is the cut-off? 9 and 2? 10 and 3? 11 and 4? 12 and 5? 15 and 8? Is there not cut-off? Is the gap in age so great that it will never be a big deal? It’s got to get strange eventually, right? 20 and 13?? What are your thoughts?? ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/2 "2004-06-16T00:50:08Z")
I think that it is fine. Is it any wierder for a mom to bathe with her 1 year old baby? So long as the younger of the bathers doesn’t have an awarness of the possible sexuality in a bath, and the older bather is behaving approriately then I don’t see any problem with it, at whatever age combo. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/3 "2004-06-16T00:53:33Z")
I don’t think it’s inapropiate. As long as they haven’t hit puberty yet. Although I will say for the girls sake why? Now if it’s a money issue; I’d understand but for any other reason? Why? I hope for the girls sake she’s able to put a mental block on this… ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/4 "2004-06-16T00:55:37Z")
As long as the elder doesn’t see anythign odd about it, the younger one has no bad attitudes to absorb. Sure, if she gets weird about it at all, then ok, change the situation. Other than that, there’s no reason at all to change things. ---
**Author:** ![stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stately_plump_buck_mulligan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/5 "2004-06-16T00:56:47Z")
I’d say the idea would get a little odd when one of the bathing participants has reached puberty age. Now, the term ‘puberty age’ does cover a rather wide span of time - from, say, 8 to 13 - so that’s just a general guideline for me. I don’t think an 8 year old and a 1 year old sibling bathing together would be automatically wrong, especially if it were an isolated occasion, but a child who is already in fifth grade should be used to bathing by themselves anyways. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/6 "2004-06-16T00:57:03Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > I hope for the girls sake she’s able to put a mental block on this… Why? Taking a one-year-old into the bath is no different to bathing a one-year-old without getting in yourself. Surely you wouldn’t regard _that_ as potentially traumatic for her? ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/7 "2004-06-16T01:00:41Z")
My brother is 11 years younger than me and I remember I took baths with him when he was a year or two old. I don’t think either one of us were traumatized. I get the feeling I was like a second-rate parent to him. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/8 "2004-06-16T04:28:15Z")
The only thing that can go wrong is if society or family members tell the kids there is something wrong with it and they feel bad about it. There is nothing wrong with any family member bathing with a one-year-old family member. The only thing I’d worry about is making sure the one-year-old doesn’t drown. Generally, no matter what the ages, as long as both are comfortable with it, it’s fine. They’ll naturally reach an age when they won’t want to. I have no idea why nudity is such a big deal to some people. Maybe because it wasn’t a big deal in my family is why it’s no big deal to me. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/9 "2004-06-16T12:43:19Z")
My two daughters are 8 and 10 years older than my son. When he was a baby, and they’d jump in the shower or bath, I’d stip him and stick him in with one or the other. It was so much easier (and faster), and I really appreciated the help with bathtime. It didn’t continue much past his first birthday though, simply because schedules differed. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/10 "2004-06-16T12:47:52Z")
10 and 3 would probably be where I draw the line. I’m sure the 10 year old is probably ready to bail at this point anyway. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/11 "2004-06-16T13:38:33Z")
What I find inappropriate is that anyone could possibly think this was creepy. A one-year-old is a _baby_, for god’s sakes! What possible harm could come of a (presumably sane and responsible) big sister helping out with her baby brother? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/12 "2004-06-16T14:03:07Z")
Don’t babies pee and poop in their bathwater? I can see the older sibling objecting to _that_. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/13 "2004-06-16T14:05:14Z")
I don’t think it’s a problem as long as the 8 year old doesn’t have a problem with it. IIRC, my parents bathed my brother and I together until I objected, and then immediately agreed to letting us have privacy. I would have been 9, and he was 6. Before that, it never occurred to me that there was anything wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/14 "2004-06-16T14:30:37Z")
I don’t see a problem with it as long as neither of them minds. By the time it’s 20 and 13 I’m sure one of them will have jumped ship. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/15 "2004-06-16T15:11:09Z")
OK, how about this one: I went camping a couple of weeks back and the only practical way to get my (5YO) son properly clean was to go into the shower together (the cubicles had dry and wet areas, so we both stripped off; I helped him wash, dry and dress, then he stood in the dry area while I took my shower. How does that sound? ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/16 "2004-06-16T15:33:24Z")
You _MONSTER_! ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/17 "2004-06-16T15:36:34Z")
Imagine there was a smiley in my previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/18 "2004-06-16T16:27:03Z")
I see no problem. At 8 years old is a good time for a young girl to play mommy, and a 1 year old is still a baby. I know of at least one mother that let her teenage daughter bathe her baby siblings. How is taking a bath any different than letting the daughter learn to change his diaper? Is seeing a brothers penis such a terrible thing? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/19 "2004-06-16T16:45:55Z")
I’m actually confused as to whom you think this would be a potential problem for. Surely not the 1 year old, who is a baby. I’m confident that the 8 year old isn’t going to be traumatized by seeing a naked baby, so not her. I’m guessing that as long as baby doesn’t poop or pee in the water there shouldn’t really be a problem for anyone involved. ---
**Author:** ![fatmac98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ec8ea/32.png) [@fatmac98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fatmac98)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580/20 "2004-06-16T20:24:08Z")
No big deal, eventually the 8 year old will put an end to it when she’s ready. [slight hijack] when my week old baby loses her cord and starts taking baths, I plan to just go ahead and get in the tub with her. are my swim trunks on or off? [/end hijack] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-y-o-girl-bathing-with-1-y-o-brother-inappropriate/250580.md?page=2)