Your naturally occurring nudity is not a problem -- as long as you, your husband and child are comfortable with it. In fact, it may easily convey an attitude that reduces shame and increases comfort in your son's perception of his own body. A healthy relationship to our bodies begins with liking ourselves and acquiring knowledge about how our bodies work. A natural acceptance, conveyed to our children, can promote their own positive self-image and contributes to self-esteem and the development of healthy adult sexuality.

The time for modesty evolves with the needs and comfort levels of all family members. Certainly, by puberty, and usually pre-puberty, a child's desire for privacy grows. They may even comment on being uncomfortable with nudity in the parent of the opposite sex.

Sometimes, parents begin to feel uncomfortable with nudity as their opposite sex child grows older. Individuals within families must be accommodated with respect to each other‚s privacy needs as these feelings emerge. But certainly discussions about these issues are wonderful opportunities to develop your own beliefs and philosophy about nudity and how you decide to address it in your family.

Talk with your partner about the beliefs and attitudes prevalent in your childhood families around nudity. Explore how your respective parents handled this issue and the effects of this on your own development. Talk with other parents to explore their attitudes and beliefs. You might also read the information available at ParentsPlace.com about sex education for young children. Then, continue to develop your own approach to nudity in your family. You are already doing a great job, but your questions indicate that it is time to further develop a shared philosophy for child rearing with your partner.

From reading your letter, all family members appear comfortable with the nudity involved in bathing together and dressing. No inappropriate sexual boundaries are being crossed, and body education is evolving naturally.