Knowing When Opposite Sex Siblings Should Stop Sleeping Together

When very small children play together it is highly unlikely that they are even aware of the gender differences among them, never mind care.

They just go on through the day as pals, as brother and sister, drinking Kool-Aid and looking forward to Christmas. Even at the end of a long day of playing, gender differences between a brother and sister don't suddenly become noticeable, and these opposite sex siblings may find it perfectly acceptable to sleep together. They are simply innocent friends and don't want to be separated through the night.

Parents, of course, may regard this as a positive thing at first and don't immediately want to discourage opposite sex siblings from sleeping together.

But, do certain factors present themselves which allow parents to know when opposite sex siblings should stop sleeping together?

Knowing When Opposite Sex Siblings Should Stop Sleeping Together: Socially-Imposed Morality

Unfortunately, even though parents like the idea that their opposite sex children like each other enough to want to sleep together, these parents are still obliged to acknowledge was is considered appropriate by the social standards regarding incest or other negatives.

I say that this is unfortunate because parents want their children to stay young forever. It is difficult to imagine their innocent children being subjected to the suspiciousness which too often characterizes the world.

Knowing when opposite sex siblings should stop sleeping together, therefore, becomes apparent as a result of socially-imposed morality.

Knowing When Opposite Sex Siblings Should Stop Sleeping Together: Precocious Puberty

In addition to social reasons, it becomes possible to know when opposite sex siblings should stop sleeping together through physical symptoms and the emotional changes these bring.

Precocious Puberty, for example, is "the onset of signs of puberty before age 7 or 8 in girls and age 9 in boys." Precocious Puberty is thought to be 10 times for likely to occur in girls than in boys.

Even if opposite sex siblings are about the same age, the closeness they feel in sleeping together would obviously be affected by the sudden appearance of breasts in a 7 year old girl. She is suddenly thrust into a new need to question what her identity is and what womanhood means.

Under these circumstances, the young girl might become aware of the inappropriateness of sleeping with her brother without having to be told.

In sum, brothers and sisters can still be lifetime friends even as they come to recognize the real differences between them. This closeness can be demonstrated in many ways other than just sleeping together. They can still share a glass of Kool-Aid.

Source: Precocious Puberty

www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/sexual/precocious.html