How old does your child have to be to lock the bathroom door?

Question

My daughter is 6 and yes i know absolutely nothing has happened to her but when she takes her showers in the morning she locks the door. Which I guess would be fine but she is the sort of kid that still needs help rinsing out ALL the soap and she also has to be pushed along a bit as she will take an hour long shower if let her. I asked her why she locks the door and she says because her little 2 yr old brother will come in if not which I understand it is cold here if the door gets opened but I told her knock it off and explained it too her that I still need it to help and I am not sure if she is just grumpy cause it is morning or what but now I am mean????

Ok first of all I would NEVER yell at her about this it just does not warrant a yelling.
Second: No my daughter cannot rinse her hair all the way out yet if your child can more power to you but I make sure my daughters hair is fully rinsed still.
Third she takes showers in the morning because it wakes her up she is a bit of a grump butt in the morning which I understand I used to be like that.
For people that have answered respectfully thankyou.
Also I am making lunch and what not but yes I try to keep the 2 yr old out of there but if any of you have 2 yr olds you know they are sneeky lil bugers lol
I like the idea of the knob covers thanks for that! =P

Answer 1

Hi! Its me again! And I have a 5yr old daughter that locks the door when she goes number 2 lol! She is very modest. She is also very precocious in that she does NOT want help with her shower but I always win that battle. She cannot wash and condition her hair well enough. But I will go ahead and shut and lock the bathroom door when I am sure she is clean enough and I've done her hair to let her enjoy her shower for another minute. I often have to unlock the door though because she loves to just stand there and soak up all the hot water so as long as you have one of those "bathroom" doorknobs on there that only take a hair pin to unlock then what is the problem? Boy, our kids sound a lot alike lol!

Answer 2

At first this seemed like an odd question to me, but then I thought about the 3 little ones I have who are 5, 3 and 1. Althought they have never asked to lock the door. I think that age 5 is a perfectly acceptable age. My 5 year old understands what locking a door means and that it isnt a toy to play around with and lock people out. My 3 year old on the other hand might get him self locked in. So I think 5 is a good age, maybe even 4 if your 4 year old has the comptence to understand. Everyone deserves privacy and there comes a time where children start to get embarressed to go to the bathroom with the door open/unlocked.

Answer 3

I'd say she could start locking the door when she is old enough to be able to do everything on her own, including rinsing out ALL the soap and ending the shower at a reasonable time.

Maybe do a better job of making sure the two-year-old doesn't go open the door while she's in the shower. If you promsie to try to keep him from interrupting her, maybe you can get her to leave the door unlocked for the purpose of you being able to enter and help her.

Or change out the doorknob to a key lock. She can lock the door, but you can still use the key to get in to help her finish the shower.

Answer 4

My initial answer was when they can unlock it. My son had the terrible habit of locking himself in the bathroom and then screaming because he couldn't get out. We finally changed the knob so it doesnt' have a lock. That might be an option for you to consider, too. Then there is no issue. I still rinse my daughter's hair and she's 7... but it's down to her waist and there is no way she can get all the soap out of it. And if yours is as short as mine, she's not quite tall enough for the shower spray to hit her hard enough to rinse it right - by the time it hits her head it's spread out enough that it's lost a lot of it's power. On to the 2 year old... is there something you can occupy him with in the mornings that will keep him out of the bathroom? A special coloring/activity book or his favorite television program? Can he eat while she's in the shower? Just some things off the top of my head to distract him from pestering her. Good luck!

Answer 5

I think 6 is too young to be locking the door, especially in the shower by herself, she could fall. As for the little brother I would suggest putting up a baby gate somewhere in your house so that he cannot get into the bathroom or open the door, or you could find something to put over the outside door knob that you can easily get on and off but he can't, like a big sock with a rubberband on the end so he can't get it off but it prevents him from turning the handle. Explain to her that it isn't safe to lock the door and that you will find a way to keep him out. Good Luck

Answer 6

it's what 30-60 mins. Make sure you know where her bro is and impress on him that it is not cool to go in the bathroom (or any closed door) without knocking. Maybe sit with her and help her out at the end to rinse every thing out. Although I have a 12 year old I allow her to lock the door because I feel it's ok, she is old enough but the whole door locking can be bad at any age ( I slipped in the shower one time and dislocated my shoulder, I am greatful that I just closed the door because any movement hurt like heck, so for my husband to be able to come in easily helped me.)

Answer 7

What time is she getting up in the morning? I know that when I was little I would get up and lock the bathroom door, start the shower and lay down on the floor and go back to sleep because I am not a morning person. Perhaps a night shower would be better and less hectic.

Answer 8

I think that 6 is a bit too young to lock the door. What happens if she slips and falls in the shower or the bath, it only takes a second for this to happen but the consequences could be very serious!
I would explain to her the reasons why she should not lock the door. Maybe try reasoning and say she can SHUT it but not LOCK it.
when i was a child I never locked the door untill I was maybe 12, I would sometimes shut it but just not lock it.

Answer 9

My family consists of myself and hubby; three kids, ages 11, 16, and 18. We never lock the doors. Shut, yes, but not locked. I've always taught my kids that if a door is shut, that they must knock before entering, as the person inside needs their privacy. At two years of age, your son might not quite grasp the concept, but it's not to early to start talking to him about respecting privacy, both his own and others. Use terms he can understand. No, you're not mean for expecting her to leave the door unlocked so you can help her. I don't know of many six-year-olds that don't need some sort of help, particularly girls with their hair. And as for the length of time she's in the shower - it doesn't get any better - my 16 y.o. daughter is also in the shower FOREVER!

Answer 10

At 6 she should not be locking the door for safety reasons. Having her younger brother in the bathroom might not be comfortable, but truthfully, with my own two siblings(I admit, of course this happened a long time ago, but it might be happening still for some kids) my mother forced us to shower together until some of us started to mature..it's enough to have the privacy she has now.

Mostly for safety reasons though, you ought to either keep an eye on her(even if she does not need you to help) or have a sibling with her. You are definitely not grumpy!