Parents : How do you actually include nudity in daily life?

My baby will be 8 weeks old on Sunday and my wife surprisingly suggested giving him naked time to help air out some nappy rash. From there we each started looking up naked time, the pros and cons and how and when to do it. Obviously until he's toilet trained it's fraught but I want to ask parents for advice. I want him to enjoy being naked as much as I do and for it to be a normal part of his life.

 

I think this is a great idea. My wife and I deeply conflicted about nudity in the household during the same stage in which you now find yourself. I lost and now we are dealing with the consequences of body shame introduced early in life.

 

My best friend is a nudist and has raised his daughter with home nudity. His mother, who lives with them, is also a nudist. When I stop by to visit, I often see him and his family naked. It's how the like dressing at home. I have never seen any inappropriate behavior. His daughter, who is now a teenager, loves clothes and will dress up in the latest styles when going out with her friends. At home, she prefers going nude. They do wear clothing when they have "textile" company. When I visit them, I often am also naked. My point is, every nudist and nudist family set their comfort level regarding nudity and who they share their nudity with. There is no set rule.

 

Don't overthink it.

Kids often have a natural proclivity for nudity; so it can as simple as letting him hang out nude after bathing. That's the most common initial approach: post-washing nudity.
From there, it really depends on how "structured" you want it to be. My first wife had the great idea of having "nude dinners." Basically we would wash up, and then stay naked to have dinner. It wasn't every night; we started out by doing it once in a while and gradually increased.
"Nude dinners" were a success; so we eventually decided to extend into the evening by doing activities after eating. My daughter was about 2 at that point; and it was the "Wii era" so we'd play tennis or bowling into the evening.
Eventually that became so common that we realized there wasn't much reason left to wear clothes at home at all; especially since our daughter enjoyed "naked family time" so much. So we simply "transitioned" to just getting naked after coming home. It quickly became our normal routine.

So there's not really a "wrong" way; it's really about trying different ideas until you find what works best for the entire family.

 

As others have said, it's super natural for kids, and they often reach a point where they get really confused about why we DO wear clothes. And after baths is a perfect time to start with it.

My daughter started it for us when she was 11, basically by air drying on her bed after a shower, taking a long time to get dressed after waking up, trying on clothes in the living room when a package came, etc, then eventually I told her how I did the same things when I was her age but I didn't let my parents see me and I am happy she wasn't being raised to be so secretive and she should feel comfortable and safe doing whatever she wants.

Fast forward to a few years later, and we are all naked whenever for whatever reason. There is no set time or scenario. Just naked whenever. We don't necessarily take clothes off when we get home, but if we aren't going anywhere for the day, we may never get dressed. Or if we take a shower mid-day for some reason, we may never get dressed afterwards. There have been times when we haven't worn a stitch of clothing for an entire day, but that is pretty rare. My daughter does find more "excuses" to be naked than the rest of us, though.

We do often get dressed when others visit, though, but it depends. My wife's mother has seen us all naked and seems to want to participate but hasn't done it yet. We do get dressed when my wife's sister comes over because she saw me naked once and freaked out for six months about it. One time my friend was over and my daughter took a shower and just stayed in her towel, although eventually when sitting on the couch it came undone and she didn't even flinch. We haven't had anyone join us yet, sadly. I do have a friend who was going to hang out and watch a movie with us nude with her trans daughter, but the virus hit before we could arrange it. I am not sure they would have joined us anyway, to be honest. We don't have many people visit anyway because all our friends are academics who have spread out all over the country, so nude when visitors are around actually hasn't come up much in half a decade.

My son does similar things as my daughter, but he is much less outgoing about it.

My wife is confusing. Some days she will be naked for an hour or two in front of everyone, then the next day she gets upset if they see her in a bra. One time her friend and husband were over and my wife was braless under a thin tank top, but then another day as her same friend arrived without the husband, she freaked out and put a bra on before answering the door.

So, ya, no rules, no set scenarios or times, just purely organic, I guess?

 

so... the OP (I know... I'm a little late here) is asking how parents integrate nudity into the lives of their children... That's my interpretation.

I can't think of anything more inappropriate than introducing nudity or of a greater violation of child-privacy than that!

There's my take.

I'm not opposed to the nude beach, but I think that it's a really personal decision to leave clothes behind, perhaps in search of some inner peace with the world, or to share in some communal spirit. I think that's beyond pediatric comprehension.

 

I get that. I guess I'm starting from a nudist perspective which prejudges that social and familial nudity has significant benefits particularly around body image. Of course non-nudists are perfectly able to raise children with healthy body image too but nudity is something I love and want my children to enjoy as much as I do. I wish my parents had been accepting of nudity so there's that angle too. I started dabbling in nudism when I was 14 so there's almost a decade I could have enjoyed being naked in complete innocence. At 14 I was already running the risk of being seen as a pervert or possibly a predator which is definitely the case now (I'm 36)

 

We just do, it's only some bits. We have 3 boys and they aren't ashamed of what's down there.

 

Noone should be! That's the beauty of nudism.

 

Nothing better for a boy especially in nappies than naked time, those bits need to be free.

 

Free as the wind blows!

 

Its good they arent afraid to be nude..... Being nude is beautiful!

I would love being nude @ home but my parents (Mother especially) would have a fit seeing me nude....

 

We didn't raise our children to be nude in the home. We made it a choice for them to consider. I was and still am nude as much as possible in the home and whenever I won't be met with resistance over my unclothed body elsewhere. I am a beautiful human being with no shame but yet have respect for others. My children experienced my nudity in the home and since have grown. They choose to live as they do. Being raised in a nude family setting versus not has no effect on a childs stability in society. There are plenty of other poor examples for children to follow. If parents wish to show an example of family nudity then by all means do so. Do it in a non threatening and encouraging way. Then let the child decide what is best for themselves.

 

My daughters and I go to Haulover Beach and are active in a family nudist group consisting of neighbors and friends.

 

There isn't a specific procedure. Just be as naked as you want and let your child be as naked as they want.

 

[/QUOTE My wife is confusing. Some days she will be naked for an hour or two in front of everyone, then the next day she gets upset if they see her in a bra. One time her friend and husband were over and my wife was braless under a thin tank top, but then another day as her same friend arrived without the husband, she freaked out and put a bra on before answering the door.
[/QUOTE]
I think women can be confusing many times. My wife and I are nudists. I always push her to go braless and no panties. She many times pushes back and is concerned of her nipples showing or worried about others seeing that she is not wearing panties through a white sundress that is semi sheer. But, then, other times when around extended family/friends (non-nudist) she will wear swimsuit bottoms that clearly show her shape of her vulva/labia. All of which I am completely comfortable with as we would be just fine being naked. I just have learned that it doesn’t always make “sense” and that it may not even make sense to her. She just is more comfortable knowing the situation is amongst friends family that love her and likely are less judgmental of her. Who knows though really…?

 

Years ago, a friend of mine, who knew I was a nudist, became interested in trying family nudism at home. And she basically asked me for an "action plan." I told her that being spontaneous and going with the flow would work better, but she insisted she needed a process. So we discussed it and settled on casual nudity by leaving the bathroom door open while she showered. Because she was overthinking the "process", she ended up chickening out every single time and closing the bathroom door. Ironically, one day she simply forgot the door was open, showered; and her son walked in. It worked out because she forgot all about the "process."

Our beginning was a lot more spontaneous and organic. One particular evening, my daughter was bathing when my wife came back from work. She went to change clothes, when she got a phone call. So she ran out naked to grab the phone. She'd expected it to be a short phone call; but it ended up lasting much longer. By the time her call ended, my daughter had finished her bath and was running around the living room naked. I was also naked after showering. So by the time my wife got off the phone, all 3 of us were naked in the living-room at the same time; for the first time. She realized the "situation", shrugged her shoulders, and asked if we all just wanted to stay naked for dinner. We all enthusiastically replied YES! That was the beginning of our first naked time together as a family.
Nothing had been planned or discussed. It was all just spontaneous. Once you have the attitude that nudity is natural, it will all flow naturally.

 

This is the way.

It sounds like your friend was forcing herself to be a nudist. It doesn't work that way.

I'm glad that your family accepted the reality.

 

Ours was simple. Our kids knew we were that way and we wouldn’t go out of our way to totally cover up when they would enter our bedroom when we were in bed. My wife and I agreed to expand the nudity to the house, so the next day we were both naked cooking breakfast when the kids woke up. Our daughter just shrugged her shoulders and said, ok.., and carried on. Our younger son joined in with us. We were deliberate and unashamed and it was no big deal.

 

To add a little more context to her situation, her son (then about 4) had started to develop a strong interest/curiosity around nudity. He would run around the house naked after bathing, and try to get his Mom to join him by pulling on her clothes. And she would freak out about it. But after talking with me and hearing my stories about family nudity, she decided she should just be naked with him to demonstrate nudity being natural.
The problem was that nudity was not natural to her at all. So her approach, as laudable as it was, was filled with anxiety. She was indeed trying to force herself to be naked in front of her son. Hence all the "chickening out."

What I would recommend in such situations is to get used to being naked alone FIRST. Even if it's just sleeping nude, staying naked to do the dishes or enjoy a glass of wine after hours right before going to bed, getting up a little earlier to do naked yoga, etc... Until nudity feels natural; maybe even "forgetting" you're nude. So by the time your kid(s) invariably end up seeing you in the buff, you're ready for it.