Immodesty abounds in girls' clothing

I think that this issue is being exagerated. 25 years ago toddlers also wore bikinis and no one made anything of it. The bikini on the photo with your post is fine. Who sees sex in a bikini on a toddler anyway? I just see a sweet child in a cute outfit.

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What about lacy bottoms to cover the diapers on little baby girls crawling in dresses? They certainly draw attention to girl's bums.

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Over-reacting!

I don't see anything wrong with a 5 year old wearing the bikini in that photo. And here is a photo of the Baby Gap Bikini in question: http://cache.consumerist.com/assets/resources/2007/06/bikini.jpg I also don't have an issue with it.

I really think people are over reacting. When I was a child I ran around nude for the most part.

Now a toddler in a bikini "thong" would be overboard in my opinion... but a bikini - if all the private parts are adequately covered, I don't have an issue.

Our preschooler always wears a bikini - it is so much easier for her to pull up and down the bottoms only to use the toliet - compared a wet full piece that sticks to your skin. Here she is in all her bikini glory - http://www.abstrakt.org/albums/almost3/DSC_3780.jpg

Feel free to call me an unfit parent - I can take it :)

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Roger - can you email me please!

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i dont think there is a problem with 12 month olds or toddlers wearing bikinis...i have 11 month old and she has a 2 piece bathing suit ...once the children are old enough to know better such as 8 maybe 9 yrs old and start to develop into young women i feel that they should not wear 2 pieces if a parent lets their children wear such things then its on the parent if something happens to their little girls.....i on the other hand being a parent to 3 girls dont allow them to wear things that will be revealing...now that they are turning to young women. my girls also know that it is wrong to walk around wearing next to nothing so they know not to do it..and if that makes me a bad parent then so be it but i have morals and my girls have morals as well.

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I think it's a problem not just of over-sexualizing children, but that as a society in general we have pushed adult concepts and mores down to ever increasing younger ages. Clothing is more risque, entertainment is more explicit, etc. There are benefits to living in a time when it's OK to discuss sex, etc., but I do believe adult materials should be reserved for adults. Give children a chance to be children; their innocence lasts for all too short a while.

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Tash--your daughter is adorable in her bikini. And I think it's an age appropriate bikini. It's not the number of pieces: it's what they cover and whether they look like children's clothing or miniaturized adult clothing. Everything I found even close to fitting my 7 year old was way too suggestive.

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Maybe it's not so much the clothes, but the way that some people look at little children these days. Is it safe to put your child in revealing clothes? As parents (normal parents) we think it's adorable and we want our children to be dressed fashionably. There are some messed up people that find it a turn on to see our little girls in bikini's, and as parents we just think it's cute. That is my concern with the clothing, and I think that there are too many messed up people that might not see our children the way we see them. So when we're picking out those cute mini-skirts, we might be suggesting the wrong thing.

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Come on, are they serious? I am more afraid of a group of people who think babies/children in bikinis are sexy. I think little girls in "little girl" bikinis are so cute. We live in Florida and we do a lot of bathing suit wearing. My 5 y.o. dd has a few. I buy them so she can go pee easily without having to strip. We went to a water park just yesterday and I was admiring all the cute bathing suits the kids were wearing and I even noticed that the majority (90%) of the little girls were wearing bikinis. (My dd had a one-peice on tho). I think they are cute and practical. If you think they are sexy, YOU have the problem.

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Tash, I totally agree! I have a 3 year old and an 11 month old (both girls) who where two pieces because it is so much easier. Sorry if that means I am oversexualizing them, but it works for us.

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The girls wore the tiny two piece suits when they were that age. They were easier to get off in a hurry.

Eventually though, we switched over to one piece. Now they're back in two piece again but no bikinis.

And yes, of course I think kids are oversexualized these days but I don't think a bathing suit is the culprit here.

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I think Stephanie had a good point...it's not the issue of the two-piece, it's the issues of designers making children clothes that were meant for adults.

There is nothing wrong with a baby or toddler wearing a two-piece (Tash your childs adorable, by the way). I, personally, do believe that there is something wrong with letting a just developing girl wear some of the two pieces that are out now. I believe it b/c a.)they are still children and play like children and b.)They don't pay attention to things moving or popping out, etc. And at that age it can be embrassing to the child. BUt that's just the way I feel about it.

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My daughter is 9 months old and has 2 two piece suits, the bottoms are "swim diapers" that match the top and little skirt-tie that go with it. I agree with the commenters about it just being easier to deal with. It's hard enough to get a diaper on the child sometimes let alone trying to strip her down completely before I can put one back on.

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I think there is a time and a place for everything. To put a toddler in a two peice is fine when you are swimming in your back yard, but when goingout in public we should start teachign our girls to COVER UP. Maybe a toddler is cute in her little half shirt, but where does it stop? At what risk are we putting our girls. I guess it is good that I only have boys, but I have 5 nieces. They are all tiny little adorable girls. My brothers girls wear their little riskier outfits around the house, and go in public covered. On the other hand, My Sister-in law lets her kids run around half naked. Though fashion was different when I was growing up, I think children are learning it is okay to reveal their bodies to the world, nothing is private. And that and many other things are contributing to our little girls becoming a more promiscuous generation. I am glad it is not an issue I have to deal with first hand, but I teach my boys that a proper woman covers herself up.

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I agree with you. My baby girl does not need to mimic slutty grown-up outfits. But not all two-pieces are immodest. And in fact my baby wears a swim bottom and a matching hat, no top at all. This outfit does not bring to mind anything you would see in Sports Illustrated so I think it's fine.

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The Gap bikini is disgusting, in my opinion. I don't agree with putting my toddler in a bikini. There is no reason for her to wear a bikini. To each his own.

I would like to address Tammy's comment though. Tammy, if a child is injured by an adult, it is NEVER the fault of any but the abuser. To imply that a parent would intentionally bring an incident of abuse on their child disgusts me.

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Tammy: implying that if something happens to a girl that wears a bikini/revealing clothes, it is the fault of the parents is so wrong! It is the fault of the criminal, please do not forget that!!

I also think it is strange to compare wearing a bikini to wearing skimpy clothes. A bikini you wear to the beach/swimmming pool, skimpy clothing is a different matter completely. My children do wear bikinis but don't wear skimpy clothes. Don't put the two on the same level.

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there isn't anything wrong with this.. bikinis were worn by me and all my friends and I'm 19 so that was at least 15 years ago.. and no one had a heart attack. I myself prefer what ever looks cute.

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The problem is with the way people think.

Imagine for a moment that there's a wading pool full of babies wearing trunks and bikinis. The normal thought process would to think, "How sweet, how cute, how darling." The SICK thought process would be to think, "How se_y". It makes me feel sick at my stomach even to type the phrase.

We can't control another person's thoughts no matter how sick. There's nothing else that we can do but to be there and watch and protect our babies and when they are old enough teach them how to protect themselves.

That's one reason why I object so strongly to skimpy clothes on pre-teens, it's much more difficult for parents to always be between them and the sickos. Abuse is always the fault of the abuser and not the child.

We have to be watchful no matter how modestly clothed our kids might be, but I can't help but believe that provocative dress might be tempting fate.


Jan from www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com

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For me, it totally depends on what the suit looks like. I tend to think of string bikinis as more risqué than tankinis, but again, it depends on the suit. Besides, all kids look cute when they’re in the water, no matter what they have on!

This is a tough one, tho’, b/c I don’t want to be an over-reactor and believe that there’s nothing wrong with the human body, especially a child’s body. Yet when I recently saw a five year-old at the public pool without her top on my first reaction was “OMG, that kid needs to cover up!” But did she really need to? I’ve got pictures of me and my friends with just shorts on when we were little, no problem. Have things changed so much?

The good news is that there's lot of conversation happening around this whole topic. I'm also the moderator on a new site http://www.webelieveingirls.com that's a place for concerned adults to talk about body image and other issues that face young girls, like media impact, clothing and make-up, values, etc. It’s sponsored by Mattel under the Barbie brand (yep--THAT Barbie), and they’re truly interested in hearing all the different points of view, for better or worse. I would absolutely love to see this conversation continued and hope you'll come check it out and say what you think.

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