# So how old is too old for children of the opposite sex of a parent to see each other nude? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950 "2010-04-13T15:05:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/1 "2010-04-13T15:05:58Z")
What are the opinions of dopers regarding this? At what age (of the child) should fathers stop letting their daughters (or mothers stop letting their sons) see them nude? Does it differ for sons or daughters? My daughter just turned 3. She regularly comes into the bathroom while I am on the throne, taking a shower or changing clothes. She will occasionally take a shower with me, primarily because my wife has already taken a shower, and we are short on time and it’s easier than giving her a separate bath. I currently don’t see a problem with it, but I have a feeling that it will become more awkward…at least for me. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/2 "2010-04-13T15:13:29Z")
Nudists: Never too old Polar nudist opposites: Never at all Most everyone else: Probably a range of all ages before puberty And some families aren’t nudists, but walk around nude in the house. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/3 "2010-04-13T15:14:23Z")
no age, (wanted to say 80, but I bathed my grandmother when her nurse was sick) not growing up with bodyshame is a great thing, IMHO just make sure they understand about that there are rules and conventions about clothing in the outside world ---
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/4 "2010-04-13T15:17:55Z")
I think a grown man showering with a 3 y.o. is a bit excessive, just because you’re in cramped quarters and their eye-level is equal to an adult’s genital-level. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/5 "2010-04-13T15:18:22Z")
I took showers with my dad up until I was about eight, I recall. I think by then our shower stall was running out of space for both of us, rather than the nudity being an issue! ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@Electric\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/6 "2010-04-13T15:20:31Z")
Well, my mom’s a sometime nudist, and I was taken to my share of painfully wholesome clothing-optional family events as a kid. Nevertheless, if I ever spawn/adopt/foster kids, they won’t be seeing me nude after they’re old enough to remember it, just because _I’d_ be feeling uncomfortable about it (I just don’t like kids–or anyone except my partner, really–staring at my hairy ass, thanks). That discomfort would probably be more awkward than the nudity itself. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/7 "2010-04-13T16:07:27Z")
When they can remember it. You don’t want your adult kids going “Remember that time we took a shower together?” You don’t even want them thinking it. Gross. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/8 "2010-04-13T16:14:38Z")
> [@Rafe\_Hollister](#): > > I think a grown man showering with a 3 y.o. is a bit excessive, just because you’re in cramped quarters and their eye-level is equal to an adult’s genital-level. Our master bath shower is a walk-in shower approximately 7 feet x 5 feet. Crampedness is not an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/9 "2010-04-13T16:23:15Z")
I think it’s whenever the parent and/or the child becomes uncomfortable with it. Note that there’s a difference between happening to catch a glimpse of naked, and hanging out together naked. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/10 "2010-04-13T16:27:52Z")
Father with two (now grown) daughters chiming in here. I’d say “until either the parent or the child starts becoming embarrassed about it”. In the case of me seeing them it was them that started getting embarrassed; in the case of them seeing me it was me that was bothered by it. There were certainly no problems with my giving my kids a bath when they were little, and I do remember that when they were in the process of being potty trained I peed sitting down so as not to confuse the situation when the inevitable charge-into-the-bathroom-without-knocking-to-ask-dad-a-question occurred (“but daddy does it standing up!”). …and when my twenty-four-year-old daughter dropped by the house aways back and caught me painting the hallway in my underwear (hey, I was backing into a freshly-painted wall all too often) it was definitely me that was embarrassed. Curses! Beaten to the punch by **Thudlow**! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/11 "2010-04-13T16:46:27Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > My daughter just turned 3. She regularly comes into the bathroom while I am on the throne, taking a shower or changing clothes. My daughter makes 7 next month, and she still does this stuff :eek: I keep covered up, though (with a magazine/newspaper on the throne, if necessary). I shoo her out if I need to be indisposed for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/12 "2010-04-13T16:50:35Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > My daughter makes 7 next month, and she still does this stuff :eek: > > I keep covered up, though (with a magazine/newspaper on the throne, if necessary). I shoo her out if I need to be indisposed for a bit. You could always lock your bathroom door, no? That’s what we did in my house, growing up. ---
**Author:** ![kevlaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kevlaw/32/2281_2.png) [@kevlaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevlaw)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/13 "2010-04-13T17:28:25Z")
Both of my kids (one boy, one girl) started getting embarrassed by nudity at about 8 or 9. Both their own and mine. Any older and I expect I would have been the one to get embarrassed. I think this is one of those cases where mother nature knows what she is doing and already has a plan. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/14 "2010-04-13T18:00:22Z")
My daughters are 8 and 6, and my wife and I are generally open-door people for everything except a number 2. My kids are frequently in our room when I’m changing after work, or we’re getting dressed in the morning. I’ve recently started wondering if I should be shutting the door when I change, but I don’t want them to learn that nudity is bad. Not that they would, but I just imagine the day when they’re 14 and think “oooh, gross- I know what my daddy looks like naked! Brain bleach!!” My kids actually giggle and get embarrassed when they see me in my underwear (“Daddy! Your underwear is showing!!”), but then I take them off and they’re back to normal. My kids are weird. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/15 "2010-04-13T18:12:33Z")
My 7 y.o. daughter has decided it is time to keep her nudity to herself- but it is equally true for her mother and me so she declared that nudity is done. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/16 "2010-04-13T19:11:29Z")
I’m not sure what age it becomes “oops!”, but I think it’s OK if it happens occasionally by accident in a family of several people living together in one home. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/17 "2010-04-13T19:52:24Z")
I’m thinking when they start remembering it is when they should not see you naked. So, around 4 or 5 ish. On the other hand, I think it’s still okay for a parent to bathe/dress a sick child. When I was 7, I was really sick and weak. My mom was at a conference for the weekend and I was miserable. My dad helped dress me, bathe me, etc. So yes, he saw me naked, but there weren’t a lot of other options. Have my brothers dress me? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/18 "2010-04-13T20:09:16Z")
Gee, people. I lock the bathroom door even when I’m alone in the house, haha. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/19 "2010-04-14T12:53:33Z")
Nudity shouldn’t be an issue but in real life it is. The simple explination is, if it bothers the OP then she’s too old. Obviously this bothers the OP or he wouldn’t have asked. In this particular case, which may or may not apply to anyone else, it’s time to stop it. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950/20 "2010-04-14T13:41:19Z")
My daughter is 19, and got shy about he own body many years ago. However, she isn’t so shy that she won’t walk into our room whenever she feels like it, and I don’t wear pajamas in my own room. She doesn’t run out of the room screaming for a therapist, and I have no inclination to change my behaviour - it won’t be long and my wife and I will have the whole house to ourselves. Si [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-old-is-too-old-for-children-of-the-opposite-sex-of-a-parent-to-see-each-other-nude/535950.md?page=2)