How old is too old to bring your son into the women's bathroom?

I have a son, aged four and I still take him into the women's bathroom when out and either he or I have to pee.  My SIL brings her 10 year old into the women's bathroom or he has to go with a friend or his dad to the restroom.  I don't see a problem with that at all, there are just too many weirdos out there.  I realize some women wouldn't appreciate sharing the ladies room with an older male child so I am curious, what age is too old?

I think it depends on the maturity of the child. Also, did you all ever hear about what happened in Peter Piper in Texas a few years ago? The bathroom can be a dangerous place.

Original Post by sreeves8:

I think that whatever the parent is comfortable with.

It is not a matter of being able to go to the bathroom on their own, rather that in public there are ALOT of weirdos.

I am a single mom and I bring my 8 year old in the bathroom with me when we are in public. My son is very capable of going on his own, I just do not trust strangers. I know that is may sound paranoid, but I rather be on the safe side when dealing with my sons well being. If something were to happen to him in a public restroom I would never forgive myself. Just my opinion.

 We deal with this too. My boyfriend is a single father to an 8 year old girl. He is okay with letting her go alone to the ladies room, if he can see it and watch her enter/exit etc. He will stay seated at a table in a restaurant, for example, and watch her come and go -- rather than taking her and waiting outside the ladies room. I am not okay with that though. I worry so much about crazies out there, and a lot can happen in the blink of an eye. I wish that he wouldn't let her go alone when the two of them are out without me, but she is his child, not mine to make that call. (Of course when we're all out together I take her to the ladies room myself.)

I think 8 is too old for her to be going in the men's room with him though. Maybe it's somewhat sexist of me, but I'd be fine with a mother taking an 8 year old son into the women's room. Taking an 8 year old girl into a men's room though, that creeps me out -- wondering about the men who may be lurking in there.

Sunfighter-13??!??!?!? Boys look at porn at 13!!! Don't deny it. 10 even seems too old. 13 is a freshman in highschool!!!

Double post

Like I said...the bathroom can be a scary a place.

Sorry for the morbid post.

I don't allow my 9 year old daughter to go to the bathroom by herself. And my 5 year old son still needs to accompany me also. My 12 year old son is permitted to go (if my pops isnt there to take him) but I wait outside for him. And I watch every person entering and exiting the bathroom. He was also instructed that he has to use a stall and scream like hell if something scares him. You go in.....you get out. Even though he is 12 he only looks about 10.  I know it appears that I am over protective, but alot of stuff has gone down over here. Especially with our current sitution with Juarez....you just can't trust anybody and the rules no longer apply. But I will say, even though my 5 year old goes with me.....he is very respectful. No peeking.

i think my 4 year old (almost 5) would totally freak if my husband tried to take her in the men's room. she pretty mature and know about boy parts and girls parts ect. one day my 18month old son opened the bathroom door while my husband was peeing and my daughter walked by and freaked because she was afraid she would see her daddy's peepee lol

and yeah 13??? at 13 most kids are allowed to go out with friend without have an adult present anywhere...much less holding there hand in the bathroom! i understand if they are special needs children but otherwise....i think 10 is too old. i don't know...maybe it's because i live in a very small town.

I do think ten is a little old but since it's my nephew... I don't know, of course I am more approving of his mom's choice because he is my relation and I care for him deeply and know he looks, thinks, and acts younger than ten. 

 On the father/daughter issue, I have a male friend, a single father/widower, and he still takes his four y/o daughter in the men's room if he ABSOLUTELY HAS TO and can't find a private or handicap room for her to go in.  He peeks in there first though to make sure it's empty and makes her cover her eyes just in case someone is in there and he doesn't let any men come in the room until they're finished up and none of the guys give him grief for having to wait.  Personally, if I had a daughter aged four and I was the opposite sex, there is no way I would send her in alone either with strangers.  Who says women can't be pedophiles too?  And who says there isn't a creeper guy hiding in the ladies room? It happens!  I know not everyone is a bad person but the truth is, is that this world is still a dangerous place and full of wackos like sully's post illustrated and seemingly more so than it was when I was a child... Maybe because I am a mom now?... who knows. 

As an aside: It's funny the way people in North America sexualize nudity so much.  I am biracial so I have a lot of family in Finland and some who've immigrated to Canada and the US who I am in touch with.  Nudity isn't viewed the same there.  Entire families and their friends take saunas and go swimming in the buff and there is nothing dirty or sexualized about it.  But here a lot of people think it heinous for a little boy to be in the washroom so his mom can ensure he is safe...  I admit, being Canadian I am not 100% immune to this inhibited view towards the naked body... Changing in front of my son stopped along time ago although he has yet to develop that same modesty!

Thank god my son is only four and I don't yet have to send him alone.

i Think 10 is too old!my gosh my daughteris 3 and she goes by herself,she even knows how to cover the sit with TP.whe  she was potty trained at  the age of two i started to  show her how to  do it,she goes to a lot of places with her dad ,i new  the day was going to come. and she does it  very well, and of course  he waits outside the door for her..i think  5 is pushing..it doesn't  take that long to go in and  do your business,stay outside the door waiting.now if the mom have to go,than yes take your kid with you.

I think 13 was referencing post #13, not indicating the age of 13.

I actually recently had this experience with my nephews.  I sent them in together to take their showers, but I the youngest has autistic tendencies so sometimes this means that the older one can't help him or he won't let him help, or there's this brotherly feuding thing going on. 

So the eldest was being a pill and so was the younger.  Fortunately it was at a facility that was very friendly or I could not have gone into the locker room to move things along.  The eldest is highly body conscious so I had to wait until he was dressed as there wasn't an emergency, just a wet boy with shampoo in his hair, checked to make sure there weren't any men or boys in the facility that I would offend and then went in to get the shower done.  It worked, but if the facility hadn't been one where I could do this I wouldn't have had them shower there.  In fact any facility where I couldn't go charging in to save the day wouldn't work for me.

one time i was at macys and i went into the womans restroom to breastfeed my baby... macys has that really nice front area with couches.. anyways i went in and there was a lady in there with her 3 boys... one was at least 10 and one was around 7 and another about 4... they were like taking turns using the bathroom... well..... i sat there for a few mins and my son was crying really bad cuz he was soo hungry and im like im gonna bf my baby... so i made sure that none of my boob was showing and started feeding him.... she got soo mad and gave me this reallly dirty look!!!! i couldnt believe it!!  i was in the WOMANS restroom !!!!!!!!

Anoxa;  that's terribe.  You're a woman breastfeeding in a WOMAN'S restroom; and IMO, boys over 10 can use the men's room.

Not sure how people feel about this....but I have issues with Boys in Women's Dressing rooms, not so much restrooms since it's closed stalls.  I've had 10-13 year olds peek in the curtain; look under walls; spy through the slats.....

Women can be so testy! Of all people, women should understand things like these. We are okay with women bringing their boys into the restroom but if we breastfeed in front of them, we are the bad guys.

Last weekend, I was at a St. Patrick's Day parade during one of my son's feeding times. I walked to the only restaurant on the block and they had single bathrooms. I reluctently went in and started feeding my son. Sure enough, a line formed and the drunk women were banging on the door and saying things like "I think she's dead," and "Did I hear a baby?!" I repeatedly yelled through the door that I was feeding a baby and apologized for the wait. The knocking and comments continued until I cut the feeding short, stormed out of the restroom with a screaming baby and apologized like crazy. All of a sudden, I got "No problem!" and "Don't worry about it!" I mumbled a "yeah, right" and walked off.

Anyway, that was a little off-topic. The age thing is certainly situational. Taking a boy into the women's restroom is more acceptable at an older age because there are only stalls. Taking an older girl into a men's restroom is a different story since urinals are so exposed. I have no problem with a boy using the women's restroom as long as there is no dawdling. However, there is an age where children need to learn the responsibility of using public restrooms themselves. I know horrible things happen but we can't protect our children their entire lives (even though we wish we could!). Kids need to be aware of the situations around them and it's our responsibility to make sure they know how to do that.

It comes down to not worrying about what other people think but what the parents and children are comfortable with.

I have a six year old son and still bring him the bathroom with me.  With all the creeps out there I am not sending my six year old son into a bathroon with grown men to go to the bathroom.  It only takes a second for something horrible to happen.  I do think 10 is too old, but it depends on the childs maturity and it depends on where they are at.  I have been a few places that I would not let my 9 year old daughter go with out me.  I am very cautious about this kind of thing, we had a man about 6 or 7 years ago, where I use to live a murdered a boy in a beach bathroom while the grandmother was waiting outside for him to come out.  I do not remember exactly how old he was but he was young (under 10).  So for me you can't be too safe, but at the same time you have to teach them to deal with the world on their own too.  I think it is a fine line and for each child it may be different.  I figure in the next 2 years or so I will let him go alone.  My daughter was about 8 when I let her go alone (mostly)!  Just my 2 cents.

 i have notice that mother of boys are a lot more overprotective, i have  friends that have boys and they freak out over everything,i wonder why

You sould see what happens when I take my 14 yr old son into the bathroom and then have to stand and wait for the wheelchair one to come available.

Thats my pet peeve.  Cant you just wait and use the abled body stall.  As if he wants to hang out even longer while we stand and wait!!!

Heh, I quess Im not right kind of a person to answer this because Im a 15-year old girl. But anyway, I followed my dad to men's showers and dressing rooms at the local pool even when I was 9 years old. 9-year olds dont really think about these kind of things. But about bathrooms... I quess I stopped following my dad there when I was 6. You can always wait outside the bathroom. I dont think anything bad can happen.