parents of boys: how many years of cuddles do I have left?

[drwitch]

DS is eight

[BoysAreLikeDogs]

hmmmm

oldest stopped cuddles at about 8ish

youngest still cuddling at age 11

oldest though non-cuddly DRAPES over us IYSWIM, all gangly teen arms and legs

No kisses though ''you can kiss me when I'm sleeping, Mama'' Bah!

[lljkk]

My teenager was victim of a failed mugging last weekend and didn't reject cuddles when he told me about it.

Agree it depends on personality.

[Beamur]

My colleague (male) has a humungous son now at Uni who will still sit on his lap for cuddles! (when no-one is looking)

[Seeline]

My Ds is 11 and still comes for cuddles at home
BUT barely speaks to me if at school things or out and about

[Ragwort]

Totally varies, my DS was always very 'non cuddly' even as a baby however now he is 12 he does tend to like a cuddle occasionally (obviously when no one else is around as Seeline says ).

[sydlexic]

DS 12 climbs in my bed for a cuddle every morning and I climb in his every night. Apparently as this is what we have always done it is what we will always do, even when he is 30.

[Iamcountingto3]

DS is still very cuddly at 9 - I've been waiting for it to stop since he stopped school. Both prompted and unprompted. I wouldn't push it in front of his mates, but suspect he'll happily blow me a kiss at drop off time in the morning, for example. him and his mates give each other big bear and cheery arm pats too - they're a physical bunch.

As lljkk says, suspect it's personality.

[MRSJWRTWR]

DS1 at nearly 14 is still very cuddly. As he is now bigger than me, I am in danger of getting squashed when he cuddles up on the sofa to watch TV. Still have good night / good bye kisses and hugs and 'I love you's'. However, when I drop him off at school and he is wandering in with his mates, I get an almost 'secret wave' as he looks back!

DS2, 7 in June, just snuggles at every opportunity. Sitting on my knee is getting to be a bit more of a challenge though!

[AnisotropicWeetabixFTW]

I genuinely don't understand the question. Is there a universal limit? Is it an age thing or a saturation point. Cuddle less now and they cuddle for longer?

DH is 31 and still cuddles his parents. And kisses them. And says I love you to them. And needs them. And respects them. And enjoys their company.

DS is 18mo. I don't even want to imagine a world where cuddles are capped at a certain age.

[LauraShigihara]

It depends on the boy. Mine are really cuddly - even though the odest is in his twenties, he is still very huggy. Youngest is nine, and hugs and kisses me before and after school, with no embarrassmentat all. And holds hands when we walk up the road.

Lots of his little friends never touch their parents, which seems really sad.

[drwitch]

i think you may understand the question when your ds gets a bit older Anisotropic, last summer ds would regularly sit on my knee while he was at the skate park and eat his snack just before leaping off to do a trick, now he just picks up his snack and eats it far away from me, last year he would always give me a cuddle when i dropped him off at school, now i am lucky if he even looks back. Its not me pushing him away its just them becoming more independent and worried about what other people think.

[Beamur]

DSD has never done cuddles. He used to lean on DP occasionally which was his way of enjoying contact. DP is not a cuddler either.
Us girls in the house, me, DD and DSD have to make do with each other

[TheNebulousBoojum]

Mine still cuddles at 18, DB still cuddles at 48.
DS doesn't like an audience.

[clam]

Depends on personality- theirs and yours. My ds is nearly 17 and cuddles me and tells me he loves me all the time. DNs are 23 and are the same with DSis.
But my friend's ds has never cuddled her at all. It breaks her heart.

[AnisotropicWeetabixFTW]

I understand independence. I have an older child too. But she is a girl. Does that make a difference? Or is it only boys that we put this cap on?

It sounds like I'm being disingenuous but really as others are pointing out to you, it's nothing to do with the sex of the child or the age. It's a personality thing. My dh, as I said, is 31 and endlessly affectionate with his parents. He says that neither he nor his brothers or sister ever started refusing to kiss/cuddle goodbye at school.

I just don't agree with the inevitability of it. And even if your child is one of those who moves away from physical affection or at least public demonstrations of affection, they share themselves with you in different ways as they get older.

It's like that crap people spout about a son is only yours until he gets a wife, as if a boy is on loan to you. Don't be disheartened. Embrace the changes. Find new ways.

[starfishmummy]

DS is 14 and still wants cuddles. Its me who is usually about king off when he launches himself at me!!

[starfishmummy]

Backing off. Obviously!!!! Oops

[matana]

Isn't this less of an age/ gender thing and more a personality thing? Eldest sister isn't a cuddler and never has been. Middle sis cuddles at appropriate occasions. I cuddle/ kiss my parents (proper bear hugs) whenever i/ they feel like it, though peculiarly am not particularly tactile with friends, just close family.

DN isn't really a cuddler (she's 4 in July). DS is 2.4 and loves cuddles (providing he's not too busy for them) and will often approach close family members for cuddles. He just thrives on closeness and has done since he was tiny, though he isn't clingy and has bags of confidence. DH and I have never scrimped on kisses and cuddles with each other and with DS and DH says he will kiss/ cuddle DS for as long as DS is comfortable with it. DH's dad is a bear hugger and always says "That's the way we do it up north!" which makes me laugh.

[JuneChurch]

DH is, erm, 52.

[PacificDogwood]

I agree, it's a personality issue more than anything else although I also concede that there is more pressure on boys to be 'manly' .

FWIW, DS1 aged 10 gives fierce hugs still. Long may it continue.
I am not a hugger much to my mother's chagrin .

[MoreBeta]

Eight?

You are finished by their ninth birthday if you are a Dad and at age 10 they will only cuddle Mum if it is a dire emergency and no one is actually looking.

I think DSs would actually prefer me to be wearing an invisibility cloak when I go to meet them at school gate now.

[matana]

I hear you Pacific. However, as role models go my DH can be quite, ahem, camp sometimes and isn't particularly macho - hence he was the one who suggested we buy my DS a hoover for Christmas

[Almostfifty]

One of mine stopped for a few years, but is fine now. The other three have never stopped and they're all adults now.

[OhChristHasRisenFENTON]

My PFB is eight and I'm making the most of the cuddles, - he still happily cuddles me at home but doesn't even like a quick shoulder hug when I'm seeing him off to school.

My Mum often tells the story of how my brother suddenly decided on his 8th birthday that he was too old for lap sitting and cuddles.

[PacificDogwood]

My DH is much more tactile than I am - maybe that has helped to 'allow' DS1 to still by quite demonstrative (even in public sometimes)?

Naw - DS2(9) will have me, or his dad, nowhere near him, DS3(5) has recently decided he 'does not like kisses'. DS4 otoh (3) is still a limped

I love boy-cuddles; they are not lovey-dovey, they are fierce .
Disclaimer: I know nothing about girl-cuddles as I have none .