I don’t like bikinis on little girls.

There, I said it.

Well, I take it back. I don’t like bikinis on my little girls. They have worn them in the past, and I was never comfortable with it. At the end of last summer I made the decision that bikinis are no longer allowed in our household. That being said, I honestly think the decision you make for you and for your own children is up to you and your comfort level, unless your 14-year-old girl is wearing a padded bikini top, because that is not okay on any child, mine or yours.

Do you know why the two-piece bathing suit is called a bikini? Well, way back in the 1940s, a French engineer named Louis Réard unveiled a swimsuit that was a mere two small pieces of cloth, which, when worn by a woman, would reveal her back and her belly button to the public for the first time. Its name paid homage to Bikini Atoll, a series of small South Pacific islands where atomic bomb testing had taken place. Réard believed that the scant nature of his new design would create big reactions; atomic bomb big. Granted, this story is somewhat folklore-esque in nature and no one now knows if this is exactly the truth. But, at the end of the day, the bikini was designed as more of a shock-value tool than anything else.

Now, I realize that times have changed and bikinis are not all that shocking in the 21st century. Knowing that women have backs and navels is hardly a novel concept anymore; bikinis are everywhere. But if you take a minute to think about what a bikini actually is, it very closely resembles a bra and a pair of underpants. Society has decided that the bikini is a socially acceptable garment to wear in public, no matter how itsy bitsy or teeny weeny it is.

When my 5-year-old daughter comes to me and tells me that she needs to wear a “vikini” because everyone else wears one, I cringe. Why on earth would I want my little girl prancing around on the beach or at the pool or a at a water park in little more than a bra and underpants? Putting aside the fact that the more we can cover up their sensitive, not-yet-over-exposed skin, the better it is for their skin, there’s something about seeing a kindergartner in a bikini makes me feel uneasy.

When my 10-year-old daughter comes to me and tells me that she needs to wear a bikini, I do way more than cringe. I simple deny her the ability to buy one or wear one. The idea of my daughter—whose body is growing and changing by the millisecond—attending no-adults-allowed pool parties in little more than a bra and underpants is just absolutely unacceptable for me.

These days we compromise in our household with the wonderfully best-of-both-worlds tankini. These suits are two separate pieces (“See sweetheart, it is a vikini!”) which not only makes visiting public bathrooms a much easier endeavor for everyone involved, but makes both mom and daughters happy. There is enough coverage on them so I don’t feel ill at ease when my children are swimming and playing and running around, but the girls take some sort of pride in their two-piece, as if they are more grown-up than they actually are. And yet I can keep them little for just a wee bit longer.

What’s the policy on bikinis in your house? Do your kids wear them, or is it a one-piece all the way?

–Ali, Senior Associate Editor of CF.ca