At what age is it no longer appropriate for a child to hang around the house naked?

This is a tough question.

In a perfect world – never. There’s no shame in the human body.

But – in the real world…I’d probably go with school age. As a proxy.

But for me, that would only be when guests were around.

I’d say school age also. But not while they’re still in diapers.
I hang around my house naked, but I live alone. :-)

I made my children wear clothes around the house in general. Especially if company was over. Bath time, was the exception, and when they were over 4 or so. It is really up to the individual, but they have to learn appropriate social behavior at sometime.

I am also thinking school age. I knew a family when I was young who thought nothing of the girls walking around in just their panties (they had to be around 8 or 9 as I was around 8.) I found it a little… strange.

When I was growing up it was no biggie, we just started covering up all the time when we reached the age of being little junior high drama queens. It was a while ago, however, before letters were written to Dear Abby suggesting foster care for children whose parents allowed them to see their underwear. No big woop.

Old enough to be house trained, no upper limit

My experience is children will self-regulate themselves and start to become more modest in their own time. As long as there is just family about, I really wouldn’t care if they were happy to wander about naked. I would be surprised if they were though. My kids started closing the bathroom and bedroom door and wearing clothes without me ever having to say a word and I always respected their privacy.

Never. It skeeves me out when kids walk around bare-assed and sit on furniture. At what age do kids master the skill of wiping their butts? Not the ages when they’re crawling over everything naked.

@hobbitsubculture

I consider that part of being house trained

When it makes a family member uncomfortable.

It has been my experience that kids like being naked until they are about 6 or 7. At this point they naturally develop some modesty and start covering up. My daughter spent her whole 3rd and 4th years naked. We couldn’t keep clothes on her (at home) to save our lives.

I never wanted to make my kids feel embarrassed about their bodies.

Letting them decide worked for us.

I consider it never appropriate for them to hang out around the house naked. The only time my son is naked is when he’s bathing or when I’m changing his diaper and he gets away and runs around until I catch him. I will never allow him to just hang out on the couch naked.

It’s a hygiene issue. So unless they are potty training, never. And when they are potty training, there are still things they can wear on their bottom.

Ok i dont have kids so im guessing thats why im way off i was thinking 3 at the latest

My daughter used to like being naked around the house after she had a bath and when she was potty training twas easier to let her have a naked bum sometimes she started to want to cover up about 5 or 6 when she started school. But I walk around the house with no clothes.on sometimes to grab something off the radiator or to answer the phone she doesnt freak out she usually says Mother put some clothes on will you! Flipping heck and laughs She is 12! I am not saying full blown nudity is my thing but bits getting flashed every so often isnt a major catastrophe!

I’m for something covering the bum from the beginning simply as a hygiene issue. A child still in diapers might lay naked on a towel for a while if they have diaper rash or need to let their bottom air out for other reasons. Otherwise, I just don’t get it.

Supacase im with you on this one

Ooh – can I clarify that a child in diapers should always be in diapers? I mean, letting kids be free is great…but one’s carpet shouldn’t suffer for it.

As far as I have been able to determine, I’ve never gone around nekkid. Varying degrees of undress, to be sure, but that’s it. I expect to do the same with my own kids.

I am one of those who never thought it was “cute” at any age. I was always leary of sitting where a naked kid had just been. Unless you spray their bottoms with lysol after every toilet trip, it’s just not sanitary!

I always wear clothes and so did my kids even if it was just a light night dress after a bath.

I imagine the age is when you have to ask this question of yourself. In other words, until you actually think about – it was fine. That is the age.

it gets complicated when erections become a key factor. That is the cut off point.

@mammal: did you really want to say “cut off” and “erections” in the same answer?

On the one hand, we never make a big deal out of being naked. After a shower, getting changed, getting ready in the morning. Our doors are always open and we’re often in various states of undress.

My daughter (8), has always gone along with this naturally.

That being said, we’ve always demonstrated that nudity is a transitional stage (as it were). We never just hang around naked or choose not to wear clothes. Again, my daughter has always seemed to get this.

Well, except for the few times she’s ripped off her clothes (in anticipation of a bath) and yelled, “I’m naked!” – but hey, we all gotta cut loose sometime.

@cprevite little Freudian slip there, one has to emasculate the mail child so that he doesn’t threaten the patriarchal monopolisation of the woman. it’s a question of cutting out the competition.

What’s the big deal? I don’t get the whole problem people have with nudity. All my daughters have seen me naked and vice versa. Two of them are grown and one is eleven. I don’t see the need to hide my body from them. Same goes with my parents. There is nothing sexual about it. It’s not as if I’m walking around with a hard on. And by making it a taboo you just reinforce this society’s hang-up with the naked body. It’s my penis. Same goes for their body parts. Big fucking deal. Nudity has never been an issue in my house, whether it’s my kids or myself or my parents. I just dont get the public’s obsession with nudity. Personally, I blame the Bible.

@AstroChuck I agree! I wish I could give you multiple GAs for that :-)

weird question? why are you asking something like this?