At what age did you let your son go to the mens room alone?

[crystal1313]

My husband just let me know that when my son goes into the men's room to use the urinal, he pulls his pants all the way down to his ankles. Apparently this is totally common for kids at this age.. who knew?! Forget the question of when should he be using the bathroom alone. My main concern is, how do I get my son NOT to pull his pants down to his ankles in public?? Geez.

My son is also 6 and does the same thing! We've been working on teaching him not to do that, especially since he uses the bathrooms at school with the bigger kids now.

 

[elamarca]

My son is also 6 and does the same thing! We've been working on teaching him not to do that, especially since he uses the bathrooms at school with the bigger kids now.

I know, we're in the same boat. My son is in first grade and just started using the "big kid" bathroom too. AH! I did notice, though, that not all shorts or pants have an opening in the front. Weird!

 

[nannyz]

If I had young sons who had to use the restroom by themselves, I would tell them to use the stall rather than the urinal.

 

[whitneylauren]

Last year my 3 year old went into the mens room with his 8 year old brother and 6 year old cousin. This was the mens room by Pirates. The older boys came out after a long time and said some man took our younger into a stall. We(my mother and myself), of course, freaked out and told a cm. Within SECONDS the whole area was crowded with security. They brought him out of the restroom- he was quite bewildered. Turns out an older man showed our younger which stall he could go into and he took forever because he needed to make a BM. Disney is on top of things like this- they would never want anything bad to happen in their park.

 

[SweetAlex]

SweetAlex, I totally agree with you.
You sound like a lovely person. But I see you are from Canada, so that explains it. Very nice people.

Thank you nannyz

 

[Mugglemama]

I would say that parents who bring their child into the opposite sex bathroom and then leave them unattended while the parent goes into the stall alone are shifting responsibility for their kid onto others. I shouldn't have to ask a child to stop peeking between the cracks or to stop sticking their head under the divider, their parent should be monitoring them.

I agree with you - you *shouldn't* have to do that.

My kids don't stand outside stalls peeking at people. And in our family, my boys - when young at Disneyland - have always gone into the men's restroom with their dad, or another male relative old enough to monitor their behavior and ensure they're not up to anything inappropriate.

The only time I took my young sons into women's restrooms (and I've never had to do this at Disneyland because I've never been there with kids without my husband present the entire time) was to stand outside THEIR stall while THEY went potty. It wasn't me using the bathroom while THEY stood outside my stall unattended.

But my sons don't have the (lack of?) character for doing things like staring at other people on the toilet, anyway. We tend to be an "I-like-my-privacy" sort of bunch.

Hopefully the OP and her son have an awesome time at DLR free of any restroom-related drama.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

If kids can use the restroom at home and school without help, I don't see why they can't do the same at Disneyland. My son and daughter are 7 and 6 and manage just fine. The risks are astronomically low, making your kids wear helmets and nomex racing suits in the car would be a better risk mitigation strategy. There comes a point when the inconvenience to others and the detriment done to the child's maturity outway the almost infinitely low chances of an abduction or assault in a Disney restroom.

For those who have concerns with kids 7-10, look at it this way; it's a skill your child needs to learn at some point, why not let them get some experience at the extremely safe and pretty clean public restrooms at Disney Parks. If that's too much for you, please be courteous to the rest of the guests and use a family restroom rather than dragging your pre-teen into one not intended for their use.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

This thread inspired this week's DIS Unplugged: Disneyland Edition ladies show.

Give it a listen.

http://www.disunplugged.com/2014/09/25/dis-unplugged-podcast-092514-disneyland-show/

 

[Malcon10t]

This past week, a saw a woman bring her 8-9yo son in the women's bathroom. She put him in a stall and told him to stay there til she was done. I actually thought that was a good solution, if you HAD to bring an older child in the wrong bathroom. Yes, it kept one stall busy longer, but I think it worked.

Other than this, in 4 days at the park, it was the only over 5/6yo I saw in the women's restroom.

 

[mummabear]

Oh my goodness. I have a 10-year-old son and the idea of bringing him into the women's restroom is absolutely ridiculous to me. I think I would literally have to knock him unconscious and drag him in.

My three boys started using the appropriate public restroom for their gender when they were about five or five and a half - i.e. old enough to handle the necessary activities by themselves, and old enough to understand how to yell "I don't know you!" really loudly if necessary.

I usually don't think anything about boys in the restroom until they get to be about seven. By seven or eight, I notice them and I wonder why they are there.

A voice of reason!
Really if they are old enough to go to school, they are old enough to go to the bathroom alone (what do you think happens at school)
The lines in the bathrooms are long enough without anyone who should be elsewhere.

 

[mummabear]

If kids can use the restroom at home and school without help, I don't see why they can't do the same at Disneyland. My son and daughter are 7 and 6 and manage just fine. The risks are astronomically low, making your kids wear helmets and nomex racing suits in the car would be a better risk mitigation strategy. There comes a point when the inconvenience to others and the detriment done to the child's maturity outway the almost infinitely low chances of an abduction or assault in a Disney restroom.

For those who have concerns with kids 7-10, look at it this way; it's a skill your child needs to learn at some point, why not let them get some experience at the extremely safe and pretty clean public restrooms at Disney Parks. If that's too much for you, please be courteous to the rest of the guests and use a family restroom rather than dragging your pre-teen into one not intended for their use.

 

[SMD]

I agree with you - you *shouldn't* have to do that.

My kids don't stand outside stalls peeking at people. And in our family, my boys - when young at Disneyland - have always gone into the men's restroom with their dad, or another male relative old enough to monitor their behavior and ensure they're not up to anything inappropriate.

The only time I took my young sons into women's restrooms (and I've never had to do this at Disneyland because I've never been there with kids without my husband present the entire time) was to stand outside THEIR stall while THEY went potty. It wasn't me using the bathroom while THEY stood outside my stall unattended.

But my sons don't have the (lack of?) character for doing things like staring at other people on the toilet, anyway. We tend to be an "I-like-my-privacy" sort of bunch.

Hopefully the OP and her son have an awesome time at DLR free of any restroom-related drama.

I'm sure the mothers of the children who peek in the stalls will claim that their kids only stood outside their own stalls and never peek too.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We actually used this thread this past Thursday on our Ladies' Podcast.

If you would like to listen to our discussion, go to the Ladies' Show- Independence: http://www.disunplugged.com/2014/09/25/dis-unplugged-podcast-092514-disneyland-show/