Going to the bathroom with/without your kids

[whoisjohngalt]

When you are out somewhere, do you take your kids of an opposite sex to the bathroom with you and if you do, until what age do you think it's appropriate??

Some of you know I have all boys and as I was shopping last night, I realized that I wouldn't be too thrilled to have my 4 yr old in the bathroom with me, but I also wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him by himself in the store.

Am I over thinking this a bit or...?

[Deleted]

In the stall with you or in the bathroom with you?

[swamp]

ds is 6, dd is 5. they still have to come in the bathroom with me in public.

i will send them in to go without me, but i stay outside the door

[thyme4change]

My son self-identified as a boy very early, and all things girl horrified him. When he was that age, there were a few times I took him into the bathroom with me. He stood in the corner and faced the wall, terrified he would get cooties if he opened his eyes. LOL. He is a funny kid.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I don't think you're overthinking it. My DD is 4.5 and she gets her own stall when we're in the women's room. DS at 3 comes in with me. But I'm grateful my Target and grocery store have family bathrooms where I take all 3 of us in.

[Deleted]

I make my 6 year old DS go into the ladies room, but he gets his own stall and I wait for him. If we're at a place that has a 1 stall bathroom I'll let him go in the men's by himself.

[whoisjohngalt]

Hmmm, I guess they could hang out in the bathroom, not the stall, but I don't trust them not to get into some disgusting crap while they are waiting for me....

[Deleted]

I rarely go to the bathroom when we're out. I have everyone go before we leave the house, and I will hold it until we get back.

[Deleted]

Nov 20, 2012 13:23:57 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

Nov 20, 2012 13:18:38 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

When you are out somewhere, do you take your kids of an opposite sex to the bathroom with you and if you do, until what age do you think it's appropriate??

Some of you know I have all boys and as I was shopping last night, I realized that I wouldn't be too thrilled to have my 4 yr old in the bathroom with me, but I also wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him by himself in the store.

Am I over thinking this a bit or...?

I don't think you are over thinking this at all.
I have this problem all the time. Do you leave them standing in the women's restroom while you're in the stall? Take them into the tiny stall with you? What? OMG!!! The thought of coming out of the stall and finding them gone!!!!

What about if you brought them in the stall with you and the fell in the toilet right when you flushed and the vortex held them, face first, in the toilet with so much force that you could not budge them and they drowned right in front of you??

[Tennesseer]

If the stall next to the one 'you' are using is available, have them wait in the stall for you to do your business.

[swamp]

mine don't stop talking long enough for me to not know they've wandered off

[Colleenz]

I don't usually go when out. If I have to, DS stands outside the stall and I have him sing to me. If he needs to go I let him go in the guys bathroom, but wait right outside the door. dS is 6 almost 7.

[Colleenz]

OMG Archie! That exact same thing happened to my cousins hairdressers dog walkers sisters daughter!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Take them into the tiny stall with you?

Psst - Lone - you use the Handicapped stall. It's got more room and often has the diaper changer thing in it anyway.

[swamp]

yes, i've spent plenty of quality time with my 2 kids in the handicapped stall when they were too little to be left unsupervised.

[formerroomate99]

I have a rather immature 5 year old who still goes in with me. The problem is, he looks like he's 7, and a suprising number of people don't have enough sense to think that a 5'10" mom isn't going to produce normal sized children.

[michelyn8]

Nov 20, 2012 13:18:38 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

When you are out somewhere, do you take your kids of an opposite sex to the bathroom with you and if you do, until what age do you think it's appropriate??

Some of you know I have all boys and as I was shopping last night, I realized that I wouldn't be too thrilled to have my 4 yr old in the bathroom with me, but I also wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him by himself in the store.

Am I over thinking this a bit or...?

It is has been a very long time since I've toted a boy around (DS will be 28 next month) but I'm pretty sure if we were out and about and a restroom stop was needed, he went in the ladies room with me unless my ex, dad or brother was around to take him into the men's room. No way in hell would I have let him out of earshot just because I needed the facilities.

I love that most places now have family bathrooms. They make things so much easier for parents of both sexes. I think its always been ok for women to take boys in with them but not so much for men to take their daughters into the men's room.

[swamp]

Nov 20, 2012 13:35:09 GMT -5 formerroomate99 said:

I have a rather immature 5 year old who still goes in with me. The problem is, he looks like he's 7, and a suprising number of people don't have enough sense to think that a 5'10" mom isn't going to produce normal sized children.

You don't have to be tall to make abnormally large children. I'm 5'4" and DH is 5'6". We have a 4' tall 5 year old who weighs 80 pounds and looks 8 or 9.

[michelyn8]

How is letting them go in the stall with you any different than when they follow you to the bathroom at home? It was always so much easier to just let them in the room than to answer all those questions/listen to the fussing outside the door.

DD2 is finding out what that is like. Even if she closes the door and I'm playing with DGD, DGD will still go sit outside the bathroom door "talking" and trying to see under the door until her mom comes out.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Nov 20, 2012 13:38:55 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

Nov 20, 2012 13:31:17 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Psst - Lone - you use the Handicapped stall. It's got more room and often has the diaper changer thing in it anyway.

You know, I've thought of that, but for some reason I'd always thought that it wasn't allowed unless you were handicapped. You know, like a parking space.

I don't think I can be ticketed for using the handicapped stall in the ladies room. At least, it hasn't happened yet.

[Angel!]

Nov 20, 2012 13:38:55 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

Nov 20, 2012 13:31:17 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Psst - Lone - you use the Handicapped stall. It's got more room and often has the diaper changer thing in it anyway.

You know, I've thought of that, but for some reason I'd always thought that it wasn't allowed unless you were handicapped. You know, like a parking space.

HaHa! When DS was first born I remember having a conversation with H about using the bathroom. I was worried because I didn't know what I was supposed to do with DS & his carrier if I had to use the bathroom. He wouldn't fit in a tiny stall. H had to remind me that the handicap stalls exist & would be plenty large to bring in the carrier. I felt like an idiot

[giramomma]

Nov 20, 2012 13:18:38 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

When you are out somewhere, do you take your kids of an opposite sex to the bathroom with you and if you do, until what age do you think it's appropriate??

Some of you know I have all boys and as I was shopping last night, I realized that I wouldn't be too thrilled to have my 4 yr old in the bathroom with me, but I also wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him by himself in the store.

Am I over thinking this a bit or...?

When DS turned 8, I started letting him wait outside the bathroom. That seemed to be the age we both were ready. I've also taught him to scream "FIRE" at the top of his lungs if someone tries to harm him.

[Sam_2.0]

I take DD into the restroom with me, but she's only 1.5. I will take my niece in with me (3), but make my nephew stand right outside the door or just inside the bathroom door (he's 6).

I use the handicapped stall unless someone comes in that needs it more than I do. TBH, in all the years of using public restrooms, I've only seen 2 or 3 people that actually needed the handicapped stall. If its a single-person bathroom I've also been known to use the mens room if there's a line for the ladies room.

[CarolinaKat]

Nov 20, 2012 13:30:32 GMT -5 Colleenz said:

OMG Archie! That exact same thing happened to my cousins hairdressers dog walkers sisters daughter!

I miss TT. She should come back

[Deleted]

I took my son into the bathroom with me until he was maybe 5. After that if he needed to go he went into the men's room by himself and I waited outside. If I remember right, this was something he insisted on about that time. "I'm not using the GIRLS bathroom!"

[Sum Dum Gai]

Wow. I'm a horrible parent I guess. We started leaving the kids home alone for brief periods, like running to the grocery store for a couple things or whatnot, when they were 8 and 9. I stopped escorting them to the bathroom or taking them in with me when they were like 3 or 4. If we were somewhere especially crowded I'd wait outside the door while they went in, but that's it.

[Deleted]

Young children need to be with the parent they are with at all times. When my boys were little i took them into the Ladies room. I would not allow them to go into a men's restroom alone until i felt they were old enough. And, there was a news story several years back of a grandma who let her young grandson go into a mens' bathroom while she stood outside, and some young male was in there and he grabbed the kid, slashed his throat and killed him.
And, yes, we can all say these things are rare , etc. But, i would not go in and leave my kid outside of the restroom either if i had to go, they had to walk in. And, i could see their feet under the stall.

[Deleted]

Get ready for my Sexist ShoobyLike Comment........here it ....comes......

I didn't have an issue with taking my sons to the ladies restroom. I think most women are understanding of that being daughters, moms, wives, etc themselves. So, no biggie. However , i DO have an issue when my DD was little with DH taking her out and I did not want her going into the men's restroom because of men using urinals and stuff like that. So for us, dad taking out DD was a trickier situation than vice versa.

[swamp]

shooby, what age do you consider "young children?"

[Sum Dum Gai]

And, yes, we can all say these things are rare , etc. But, i would not go in and leave my kid outside of the restroom either if i had to go, they had to walk in. And, i could see their feet under the stall.

Because as long as you can see their feet it'll keep a total psycho from slashing their throat???