OP here! The situation is mostly worked out; my son will wear the robe and change in bathroom stalls. The only thing he's worried about at this point is the shower curtain gap. It's not to the point that it will stop him from going, but he's still a bit anxious about it. Quite honestly by now it may be more of a matter of him realizing that it's not the end of the world if someone does happen to walk past and catch a very brief glimpse of him. Does anyone have ideas for how to help him get to that point? Thank you all so much for your helpful ideas!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He can wear swim trunks in the shower.

He can but this is how boys get fungus/ jock itch.

+1

A kid on my son's baseball team didn't go to Cooperstown - the pinnacle of the little league experience with all his best friends - because he was not comfortable pooping in a public bathroom for the week. Please work through these anxieties with your children- learning resilience- that they can do what they perceive as hard things- is a valuable skill. Buying your kid robes and special shorts so they are never nude is a crutch and doesn't help them in the long run.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have him find out what the showers are like directly from the camp. He can email someone, right? He can shower in swim trunks regardless.

Good lord. We’re raising a generation of never-nudes. This level of crippling body discomfort is not healthy.

+1 a little Tobias Funke

Many boys go through some version of this. My kid was worried about it going off to college, to be quite honest. He figured it out. Agree on giving ideas about wearing swimsuit in shower or bathrobe/clothes into shower if he can hang stuff. May also be able to shower at off peak times with less chance to run into others (before bed rather than morning). Would make sure he doesn't do camp only because of this...

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I talked to DS about the robe idea, and he definitely seemed interested in that, so I got one. However, he's still worried about changing. He's decided to change from shower clothes to sleep clothes in the shower stall, but isn't sure where to change from sleep clothes to day clothes or in/out of swimsuits. Does anyone have any suggestions for that? Also, he's worried that the shower curtain will be too small and leave a gap; does anyone have thoughts/advice on this?

There’s always modest kids. They change under their bed sheets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have him find out what the showers are like directly from the camp. He can email someone, right? He can shower in swim trunks regardless.

Good lord. We’re raising a generation of never-nudes. This level of crippling body discomfort is not healthy.

+1 a little Tobias Funke

Anonymous wrote:He can wear swim trunks in the shower.

He can but this is how boys get fungus/ jock itch.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I talked to DS about the robe idea, and he definitely seemed interested in that, so I got one. However, he's still worried about changing. He's decided to change from shower clothes to sleep clothes in the shower stall, but isn't sure where to change from sleep clothes to day clothes or in/out of swimsuits. Does anyone have any suggestions for that? Also, he's worried that the shower curtain will be too small and leave a gap; does anyone have thoughts/advice on this?

He is 14. He can figure this out or not go. You telling him exactly how to change his underwear is ridiculous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a sleepaway camp veteran and a mom who sends my kids to sleepaway camp, I suggest having him talk to the camp director - especially if it is a family-owned camp. they have likely dealt with this before and are generally good at addressing kids' concerns with various aspects of camp.

My camp had a giant room with group showers and it was three kids to a shower head - so it could be worse!!!!

I would have never showered.

This was my then very young son's solution when he was uncomfortable with the shower set up at camp. He just changed his underwear. He reluctantly admitted it to me when I wondered about his laundry.

Luckily it was well before he hit puberty but still. Glad I didn't have to smell him

He was fine with the next camp's set up

Anonymous wrote:As a sleepaway camp veteran and a mom who sends my kids to sleepaway camp, I suggest having him talk to the camp director - especially if it is a family-owned camp. they have likely dealt with this before and are generally good at addressing kids' concerns with various aspects of camp.

My camp had a giant room with group showers and it was three kids to a shower head - so it could be worse!!!!

I would have never showered.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I talked to DS about the robe idea, and he definitely seemed interested in that, so I got one. However, he's still worried about changing. He's decided to change from shower clothes to sleep clothes in the shower stall, but isn't sure where to change from sleep clothes to day clothes or in/out of swimsuits. Does anyone have any suggestions for that? Also, he's worried that the shower curtain will be too small and leave a gap; does anyone have thoughts/advice on this?

Your child is not ready for camp.

Anonymous wrote:Have him find out what the showers are like directly from the camp. He can email someone, right? He can shower in swim trunks regardless.

Good lord. We’re raising a generation of never-nudes. This level of crippling body discomfort is not healthy.

I don't understand why he can't just wear his swim suit into the shower like most of the other kids will do. Does he also refuse to wear swim suits?

https://www.reddit.com/r/GenX/comments/15iw8a3/who_else_had_to_wear_one_of_these_monstrosities/?rdt=63582

Gym suit 60s. Bring in Monday, keep in locker, take home Friday to wash. I was obese so we had to buy 2 and piece inserts in it to make the biggest one big enough. Showers and undressing, most embarrassing thing was my bra. Had to get adult size to fit band and cut down cups. They showed hanging on hook.