what age would you let your little boy use the public mens room alone?

Question

My Son is four and every time we go out and he has to use the restroom i take him in the womans room with me, recently he has started being embarressd. We sat in the restroom for almost two hours one day waiting for it to clear of girls before he would come out. I am not married I have no trusted male to take him in there for me so I still don't think I will let him go in by himself any time soon but, it brought the question into mind when is old enough?

Answer 1

good question here's what I did.

When my son was about 5 - I allowed him to go in the men's room and stood by the door. Right beside it. I told him I would call in at about 1 min and all he had to call back was "I'm ok".
I explained to him that if he ran into trouble, that I would announce clearly "my son is in this bathroom and I am coming in to help him" before I walked in.
Most men are very complient when it comes to helping out mom's with boys. I never had a problem of course, but I would also not have been adverse to ask the 1st man I saw who was with a woman and child, or with kids himself to come into the bathroom to help. If this had been the case at any time, I would also call in to my son "this man (find out his name) is coming in to help you and I'll be right behind him".

Answer 2

I don't really know how old is old enough. My son is 7, and if we are together without a trusted male, then he goes to the restroom with me, even if he does not have to go and I do. He doesn't like it, but he has no choice. He has been talked to about bad people, and he understands that you cannot tell who is bad by the way they look or act. He knows that most people are good, kind people, but he is well aware there are hurtful people also.
You need to point out when you see other little boys with their Moms in the restrooms, and you need to talk to him on his level about safety and why he can't go to the men's washroom alone. Don't overdo it, as that could really scare him, but he needs to know about being careful, and he needs to know that all 4 year old boys go to the washroom with Mom.

Answer 3

I would say he is definitely not old enough right now,anything can happen in that restroom. Try to make him go before u go out and make sure he has light drinks when your out..public restrooms are unsanitary anyways. But I would take my son in with me probably until he was 9 and even then I would probably look for one of those restrooms that are private,if that means I have to go to the gas station. Too many incidents and crazy people out there.

Answer 4

I remember seeing a mother once dragging her kid kicking and screaming literally into the ladies room. He was WAY too old IMO for that, but I'll never forget it. If it's a slower place, tell him to walk in and come right back out if anyone is inside. If it's a fast moving bathroom, that's probably actually safer because a person can't realistically hurt someone with a lot of people coming and going. But life isn't perfect, and I don't think it's right to traumatize an older kid taking him into the ladies room.

Answer 5

I would say around 10, and stay outside to listen for something and get a good look at EVERYman who goes in there.

I used to babysit a 5 and 8 year old, both boys. I refused to let the 5 year old go into men bathrooms, and always stood right outside the door for the 8 year old. Once a man went in after him, and had been standing and watching us for about 10 minutes. So I went right in after him and stood INSIDE the bathroom until my boy was done. The man tried to start a fuss, but the employees understood my reasons.

Always be careful. At about 10, it's inappropriate for them to be in the womans restroom. Not only will they be uncomfortable, but girls and women will be. 10 is old enough for them to have sexual thoughts, so they need to use their own genders room.

Answer 6

AT LEAST 10 YEARS OLD and this is only if he is a very mature 10 year old. I live in a small community and even do not allow my son to go into the restroom by him self. I however will not embarrass him by making him go into the restroom once he reaches puberty and can learn some protection skills and I will stand by the bathroom door with him. My nephew who is 6 has recently expressed wanting to go by himself by his mother and I have explained the dangers in a nonthreatening manner and although he does not like it he understands. GOOD LUCK

Answer 7

i think 4 is a little young to let them attend the washroom alone in a public place -(sadly, there are lots of weirdos in this world who can't be trusted) A lot of the malls around my area have Family Restrooms which are perfect! Maybe you could sit him down and just explain the stranger thing to him without scaring him, and then he may understand why you do waht you do. Kids are pretty smart i am sure he will understand! Good luck!!

Answer 8

12

Answer 9

I'm only just starting to allow my eight year old to go into restrooms alone, and then only in places that I am very familar with and with me waiting by the door. He also knows that he has to be back out within minutes or I'm coming in after him....(we once had an episode where he was playing with the hot air hand dryer for just a little tooooo long...).

As for anywhere else, I just drag him in the 'ladies' with me where I know that he is safe.

Heaven_T x

Answer 10

How mature is he? Does he know not to leave with anyone but you or not to let anyone touch him? Will he flush and wash his hands on his own? If you have even a glimmer of doubt that way, I wouldn't. If you think he can do it, I would let him try in a small public mens' room with you waiting right outside the door for him. (like a small restaurant or something, a place where you can see people going in and out.)