restroom question

[Michelle and crew]

Why would I need to contact Disney?? NO where in my response did I say they were exclusively for those with disabilities but I did say that there are more people with disAbilities who need them and to be considerate should you choose to use them. I am a single parent and by 7 my son was using the bathroom by himself as he would in no way be happy going in the ladies bathroom. I trusted my son and he is now a happy and healthy 17 year old. No harm done by trusting him to use the bathroom on his own. Just curious but do these people who won't let their 7 year olds go to the men's bathroom by themselves send their kids to school?? You do realize that they can be molested at school as well?? At what age do you find it okay for you to stop bringing them into the women's bathroom?? And yes, they can see through the doors as there is a crack between the door and the frame in many (if not all) of the bathrooms in Disney. And yes, my daughter may say something as she did when she saw the boy that was as tall as my 12 year old daughter in the lady's restroom at the rest stop in Georgia. I do try to explain but they are taught at school and such that boys do not belong in the girls' bathrooms. She knows why younger kids are there but imagine how embarassing it would be to see your male classmate in the girls' bathroom. Maybe I am just from an area where people can trust their children more and realize that girls deserve their privacy as well when using the bathroom. So many have stated they would not take a girl in a men's bathroom but would happily take the boy in the women's bathroom. That seems quite sexist. And don't use the urinals as an excuse as you can cover their eyes and walk them to a stall and bring them back out the same way.

People want to believe the boogeyman is somewhere out there...in a men's room that they can save them from. Rather than believe the reality.

 

[hereyago]

Some people bring their 4th and 5th graders in with them. Another mom on this thread said that her 5th grade son was just starting to use the bathroom alone sometimes.

These Moms need to cut the cord!!!!!!!!! Back in the day, Jim Carrey was on a show where he had a character named Umbilical Barry, they may want to Youtube it to see how things will be in few years if they don't let their kid have some independance.

 

[Nancyg56]

Here is something to consider when deciding how old is "too old" for going into a bathroom designed for of a different gender. If a boy is too old to be in the stall with his mom (or, girl with her dad) while each does their business they are more than likely to be too old to be in that bathroom in the first place. Your fear for your son's safety may indeed trump my 6th grade DD's loss of privacy and feelings of awkwardness seeing a grade school boy in the ladies room but YOUR privacy and comfort does not. If you are taking an older child into a different gendered bathroom YOU are creating the situation and YOU need to suck it up and deal with your son/daughter in the stall with you ... all safe and sound. If you are too embarrassed to potty and wipe in front of your older son then you can be sure that there are other women and girls who are feeling the same way when they see him waiting outside your stall.

ITA. I have no problems with little boys coming into the restroom but I really have issues with the bigger boys. My DGD is 9 and she is uncomfortable. I don't blame her. I feel the same way.

I think that somewhere along the line some folks have forgotten that the world is not there for their own comfort and convenience. Common sense and common courtesy is lost in order to satisfy some deep seated need to "protect" your child. Now I am not ridiculing that urge to keep your children safe, I would never let my DGD wander off alone any more than I let my own when they were young. I do think that once that need becomes more about the parents "feelings" that the reality of the situation then it becomes important to consider the others around you. I understand that there can be predators everywhere but at what age are you going to teach your children to use restrooms without you standing there to oversee their security? What age are they allowed out of your sight?

Teach your children how to stay safe. At 8 years old they really should know how to stay where they are told to stay, how to use a restroom and be safe, how to spot people who are working at any place so that they have help if needed.

I have had to use a restroom with older boys standing and waiting for their Mom and honestly, at 8 or 9 or 10 there are more appropriate options available. What on Earth are they doing when they are at school? Does anyone really think that teacher is accompanying them every time? I read teh "I do nto want anyone in school with my kid becasue who know if they are freaks?" threads so it boggles my mind that kids are wandering through hallways and entering empty bathrooms but cannot stand outside an entrance to a women's BR in Disney. Or cannot enter the mens room in a Disney Park becasue a creep may be there. Just saying.

 

[Leajess99]

You don't give the men(dads) much credit do you. Do you really think a room full of men would not stop something from happening to a boy in the mens room at Disney. This is really a bit of gender bias isn't it. Teach your children to yell, kick, scream whatever it takes to get attention and they will likely be safer for it. Again pedophiles come in all genders so if you think only men will attack kids you are wrong. If you think only women can be trusted to look after somebodyelse's kid you are wrong.

This is so TRUE. I had a classmate from junior high that was later convicted as an adult (and was even a mother herself) of sexual crimes against children. These were the same children she was babysitting for. Her son is who told his bus driver of what was going on and that is how she and her husband were caught. Her kids were placed into state custody and later adopted. She is a lifetime registry on the Sex Offender Registry for the state she lives in.

The truth is that most child molestation cases are done by people the victims know. As for people claiming the stuff with the news, have you seen how many of these missing kids are being found to have been injured or killed or missing because of a family member or a friend??

 

[GoofyKidd]

My boys are 7 & 8 years old and if there is no family washroom they come into the women's with me. I don't care what anyone else thinks, and I don't care if the boys don't like it. There safety is my # 1 priority and if that makes me an overprotective parent then so be it!

I agree wholeheartedly. My son is 7 and comes into any ladies room with me when my DH is not with us. Better safe than sorry. There are doors on the stalls, so it's not like he's seeing anything. I really don't see what the big deal is.

 

[Millermom0606]

So heres another question for you... am I going to get shot b/c I take all three of my kids in the handicapped stall in the regular bathroom.... b/c we won't fit in a normal stall....

 

[LaurenT]

So heres another question for you... am I going to get shot b/c I take all three of my kids in the handicapped stall in the regular bathroom.... b/c we won't fit in a normal stall....

I was on the thruway once with my toddler daughter - the ladies room was completely empty....so we went into the handicap stall because it's much easier to maneuver. Well, the next thing I hear is a woman outside the stall using foul language and yelling at us, saying we had no business being in there..how dare we take her stall! I hurried Becky up and we exited the stall..the woman (using a walker) still using bad language with my toddler standing there, I ignored the woman and said to Becky "just ignore her Becky, she's not a nice lady".
When we left the restroom I saw a policeman standing there, so I went up and asked him if the handicapped stalls were exclusively for handicapped people, or if anyone was allowed to use them...he said they were for everyone, they just put them in there so that people who need a larger stall will be able to use the restroom. I told him to please let the woman coming out of the restroom with the walker know that and to please not curse in front of small children. He smiled and rolled his eyes!

 

[hereyago]

So heres another question for you... am I going to get shot b/c I take all three of my kids in the handicapped stall in the regular bathroom.... b/c we won't fit in a normal stall....

No. Because they are handicap "accessable", not reserved.

 

[KellyNY]

I just got an interesting idea. I see many say 7yo boy is too old and can go to the bathroom on his own. I wonder how many moms send their 7 yo girls to the bathroom on their own. I mean mom is outside talking on a phone and child enters bathroom, does her business and joins mom outside.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I agree wholeheartedly. My son is 7 and comes into any ladies room with me when my DH is not with us. Better safe than sorry. There are doors on the stalls, so it's not like he's seeing anything. I really don't see what the big deal is.

But you are living with a FALSE sense of security! Unless your son is in your stall how is he ANY safer from being snatched?

Sorry that is just too much paranoia.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I just got an interesting idea. I see many say 7yo boy is too old and can go to the bathroom on his own. I wonder how many moms send their 7 yo girls to the bathroom on their own. I mean mom is outside talking on a phone and child enters bathroom, does her business and joins mom outside.

Happens all the time - restaurant, library, bookstore?
What is your point?

 

[mjkacmom]

I just got an interesting idea. I see many say 7yo boy is too old and can go to the bathroom on his own. I wonder how many moms send their 7 yo girls to the bathroom on their own. I mean mom is outside talking on a phone and child enters bathroom, does her business and joins mom outside.

I'm fine with dd7, as well as ds7, going into restrooms on their own.

 

[Michelle and crew]

no dd's. ds's were on their own by 6 or 7. My son started pre k at 4, and went to the restrooms there on his own.

No dd's but we were flying across country when I was 7 and my sister was 5. Aside from assistance while transferring we were on our own. Kids live up to the expectations most times.

 

[hereyago]

I just got an interesting idea. I see many say 7yo boy is too old and can go to the bathroom on his own. I wonder how many moms send their 7 yo girls to the bathroom on their own. I mean mom is outside talking on a phone and child enters bathroom, does her business and joins mom outside.

my DD12 now at age 7 could get a pass to go to the bathroom at her elementary school by herself-and the restroom was near the front door where anyone could walk in, then yes at 7 she was going to bathrooms by herself.

I don't believe the boogeyman is out to get my kid. In fact the reason why they don't teach stranger danger now is because the majority of kids abused, molested, etc are by people they now. Have I taught her what to do if a stranger or someone she knows tries to harm her,etc? Yes, I have given her the tools that she needs to know what to do.

Her friend is also 12, has recently just been allowed to go to the elementary school which is within walking distance by herself. And this is far from a bad neighborhood.

 

[wtccheermom]

I have taken my son to Disney 3 times while in diapers and each time I would walk up to the baby center because they regular women’s restrooms were just crazy crowded with lines for the changing tables and each time I did that I was instructed by the attending CM’s in the center that I could use the companion bathrooms. So on this last trip since there is such issues from a few who on here who apparently wrote the rule books for WDW I asked a lead who happened to be in the MGM baby care center there dealing with a guest with an issue and she said absolutely that they may not all have changing tables but were free for the using she also said that they are also good to use when traveling with an opposite sex child who may be too old to enter into restroom of the opposite sex but not old enough to stand outside alone. So we did when we had too and really not once did I walk out to someone waiting but we were in out of there in less than 5 minutes because hanging out in a public restroom is not in my favorites list.

 

[KellyNY]

Happens all the time - restaurant, library, bookstore?
What is your point?

The point is that when I go to Disney bathroom I rarely see little girls without mom waiting inside and sometimes for some reason getting into same stall.

 

[liriel]

My son is 9 and you better believe it he won't go into a bathroom alone. Call me paranoid, but if my DH is not around he comes with me, and I don't care if people stare. When a kid gets molested in my local public library with their parent only a few rows away, what's to stop it while you wait outside the bathroom for them. I'd rather be overprotective then have a kid who's been molested. (as I duck and wait for the flaming to begin).

 

[crzy4my2]

my DD12 now at age 7 could get a pass to go to the bathroom at her elementary school by herself-and the restroom was near the front door where anyone could walk in, then yes at 7 she was going to bathrooms by herself.
.

I think school is different. I would HOPE your DD's school doesn't just let anyone walk into it and hang out. The doors in the schools here(all the way to high school) lock automatically from the inside. Anyone cannot just walk into the kids school. They get buzzed in and they must go right into the office. I sub at the school and I am not allowed to just walk in anytime unless I am working...and their bathrooms are near the front door too.

 

[Michelle and crew]

I think school is different. I would HOPE your DD's school doesn't just let anyone walk into it and hang out. The doors in the schools here(all the way to high school) lock automatically from the inside. Anyone cannot just walk into the kids school. They get buzzed in and they must go right into the office. I sub at the school and I am not allowed to just walk in anytime unless I am working...and their bathrooms are near the front door too.

That just means they lock the perps in the school with your kids. They are far more likely (95%) to be assaulted by a known person than a stranger. As a teacher I would have thought they would have taught you that in some sort of training.

 

[crzy4my2]

So heres another question for you... am I going to get shot b/c I take all three of my kids in the handicapped stall in the regular bathroom.... b/c we won't fit in a normal stall....

Not by me . ..you might just be passing me and my kids ;