I don't have kids so

[Cool-Beans]

Yes, every fitness center I have been in, you do have to go through the locker room to get to the pool. Now this one did have a door off a hallway.

About every six months or so I post griping about men being in the dressing rooms at retails stores with their wives, girlfriends. And most people feel like that is okay. Most dressing rooms I have been in, you dont have a lot of privacy, so what is the difference between that and boys in womens locker rooms?

I have never seen a man in a dressing room. If I did, I'd turn the clothes over to the attendent and explain why I couldn't try them on. If one came in while I was changing, I'd shreik and get him outta there.

But men don't come into the dressing rooms where I shop!

Like I said before, I would be far more uncomfortable with a child seeing me naked than a man. It is hard to explain, but it would just be so disgusting.

If a man saw me, I'd slap him for being a fiend, but a child? That makes ME feel like the bad one. It is just upsetting and WRONG. That's how I feel, anyway.

 

[lbgraves]

I get that you fear that if your son goes into the men's locker room he will meet a fate worse than death.

So, maybe you could wait until you feel he is old enough to go in alone. That's all I'm saying.

I'm not sure that I am understanding this correctly. Are you saying that she could wait to have her DS take swim lessons until he is 10 or 11 or whatever the age is that she feels safe leaving him unattended around men he doesn't know?

 

[lbgraves]

Thanks Lisa, I swear I thought a boy would be easier then a girl but the way the world is now-nope!!
If there was a family dressing room that is certainly where we would be going!
This public pool is old old old!

Unfortunantly, it isn't easier. There have just been too many boys assaulted in public restrooms & locker rooms to take any chances. I could be waiting right outside the door & have something happen. That is not a chance I am willing to take with my child. Honestly, in 4 years of swim lessons I have never had anyone say anything negative to me. Yes the sign says 4 or 5, depending on the club location, however, most women are mothers and completely understand. Like I said, I cover my son's eyes before he enters the room so that he doesn't see anything.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I'm not sure that I am understanding this correctly. Are you saying that she could wait to have her DS take swim lessons until he is 10 or 11 or whatever the age is that she feels safe leaving him unattended around men he doesn't know?

Yes and no. Maybe she could go into the men's locker room with him. Maybe she could change the kid in the hall. Maybe she could walk him through the ladies' room blindfolded.

In any event, I don't want to be naked in front of young boys and would prefer their mothers keep them out of the locker room. If that means little Johnny can't take swimming lessons, that is what it means. Whatever it takes to not make me feel disgusting having a kid walk in on me naked.

I also don't want to have to wait on other people's kids. I really think my time is as important as anyone else's and I don't see why I should have to wait to change clothes because there are boys in the WOMEN's locker room.

I also think it is a bad idea to take young boys into the women's locker room. Age 3 was my cutoff. I wouldn't want them seeing naked girls/women and I wouldn't do that to other people. I raised 3 boys, so I know it can be done. But, if it weren't for the fact that it impacts others, I'd say, "Go for it!" I don't care that other people risk having their children see naked women, that's their business. I just don't think the rest of us should be dragged into it.

 

[Planogirl]

I think boys coming into dressing rooms where women are changing is rather creepy. I also feel for any young girls that might be in there changing because I imagine that most of them would be extremely embarassed. Sorry but I don't think it's appropriate.

DS was always dressed to swim before we hit a pool and didn't need to change. Restrooms were a concern but we handled it. I would have NEVER taken him into a room of partially or totally unclad women.

 

[lbgraves]

DS is always in his suit before we leave for the pool. You can't get to the pool without going thru a locker room.

 

[crazee4mickey]

To the op--those mothers should not have brought their sons in where you were changing, what could they possibly have been thinking?!
That is just so wrong on so many levels!
I've heard some 8 y.o. boys talk before and believe me they know way more than some mothers think! It would have really made me uneasy having them stand there watching me change!

I have 4 kids (3 boys and 1 girl) and had to take my youngest DS, when he had just turned 8, into the change room with me once before, only because his 2 older brothers were not there to go to the mens change room.

I felt so bad as he was more embarrassed than the women but I kept a towel around his head so he couldn't see a thing from and led him through the open change areas to the individual change rooms with the door--that way he could change without feeling uncomfortable or making others feel uncomfortable.

 

[jenm2878]

Ok you guys can hate me but I take my 5 yr old son thru the women's dressing room at the pool. I haven't seen any naked women there it is usually just to go to swimming lessons so all the kids are young. How do I know what kind of crazy man could be waiting for him on the men's side?

I was only irritated that at my gym there are FAMILY facilities with locking changing rooms, and the women still brought their boys in the women's room. If there were no family facilities, I probably still would have been irritated that the kids were allowed to stare. It's more of a respect issue then a gender issue.