Comments on: Little Boy in the Men’s Room. This Mom’s Dilemma.

By: Moms of Boys: The Public Restroom Dilemma

Moms of Boys: The Public Restroom Dilemma — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 22:01:37 +0000

[…] One mom’s solution to the restroom dilemma is to buy a packet of cheap whistles to keep in her bag. Every time her son needs to use a public restroom she places one around his neck and tell him to blow away if anyone messes with him or he is scared. […]

By: Sarah Hosford

Sarah Hosford — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 17:05:35 +0000

I do the same thing with my sons. I wait outside the door and make them go in together and come out together (safety in numbers and all). But where I get stuck is now I have to use the restroom and the boys are out of the men’s room and insistent that they are not going in the ladies room, so what is a mom to do? Leave the kids unattended outside the ladies room. Not! Their bladders are empty and mine is still screaming!!! I’ve ended up speeding home on more than one occassion just so I can use the restroom while knowing my kids are safe inside the house.

By: Anna Black

Anna Black — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 23:01:31 +0000

I absolutely agree…better safe than sorry. I think many moms are naive to the evil that exists in this world. After having a few incidents myself with perverted men (at ages 11, 13, 24 & 30), I’m no longer naive. On a side note, I kind of think it’s not wise to post pictures of children with their pants down while sitting on the toilet. Some things are meant to be private.

By: Toulouse

Toulouse — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 18:13:03 +0000

You know, he’s 8 now and something has changed in him and in my confidence in him. I do let him go in restrooms (not all but most) by himself now but he knows to make a huge fuss if someone even tries to talk to him. But when my younger one gets to that stage, I’ll give him the whistles – and I’ll drag him into the bathroom with me whether he wants to go or not until he’s about 7 and then I’ll probably let him wait by the door with the whistle (depending on where we are).

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 18:05:51 +0000

Great idea to use the whistle, thank you for sharing! Question: what do you do when you are alone with him and you have to use the restroom and he doesn’t want to go in with you? Does he wait outside of the restroom with the whistle?

By: Toulouse

Toulouse — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 14:50:13 +0000

Smart move, Steve. Nice looking out!

By: steve

steve — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 16:19:33 +0000

I don’t have your perspective and I certainly don’t know what is right or wrong. Mathematically, the risks are very low. On the other hand they’re not zero. You have to balance the need to trust your child to know what’s right/wrong with respect to the actions of others, you have to let your child grow up (no more women’s restrooms, if you can help it) and you have to use your judgement in every particular case.

As a grandfather-aged man I have been asked by moms if I’d keep an eye on their kid in the mens’ room. Let me tell you that I do it, but it makes me very uncomfortable. What if the kid comes out and says I did something wrong, looked or stared at him, or just plain decided to cause trouble. Again, risk is low but not zero.

Let me tell you a story. a year ago I was at an airport and had just cleared security. There’s a bookstore just across the hall and I went in to look at the best-sellers. I noticed a mom and her 2 kids (8-10 year old girl, and a toddler). She was putting shoes back on the little one when her daughter ran into the bookstore and was standing behind a table, out of her sight. She was seconds from panic mode. My first instinct was to pick up the girl and bring her back to mom, but if the child started screaming, I might still be in jail. Isn’t it sad that I had to first worry about my own risk and put it ahead of the child.

I wish I knew how to solve this. (what I did was ask another shopper — a woman — to go tell the mom where her daughter was).

By: Karington

Karington — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 23:27:46 +0000

I remember being about that age and going to a Major League Baseball game with just my dad and brothers, and my dad made me go to the men’s restroom with them. No way was he even letting me go to the WOMEN’s restroom alone in that environment! So I’m with you…it only takes one. Helicopter away.

By: Toulouse

Toulouse — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 16:19:08 +0000

Exactly. Goody bag items finally put to good use!

By: Toulouse

Toulouse — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 16:18:54 +0000

I feel very validated by hearing your cop husband say not to let them go into the bathroom alone until they’re 18. I mean, I know he’s kidding about waiting until 18, but it tells me that I’m not silly for worrying about him going in alone when he’s 7. I’m like you – if I let him go in alone, I’m standing right outside the door glaring at every man that goes in!