Wow! I cannot believe that the woman had the nerve to say that to that mother. It would never even occur to me to be upset (and especially enough to say something) about a mother bringing her young child into the bathroom. As long as the child is reasonably aged (I think 6 still qualifies), I have no issue with it at all! I am often alone with my 3 year old and obviously have no choice but to take him with me into the women's bathroom. I know many parents are in this situation. In this day and age, I understand any parent's aprehension at letting their young child go to a bathroom unattended. Obviously, there comes a time when it's no longer appropriate but a six year old??? I don't think that's any reason for someone to get upset.
That said, if there is a family restroom available, I will gladly use it! Besides sidestepping any issues with other patrons, they afford you more room and privacy. I love them!

If the choice is between sending my 6 year old son into a public restroom alone or annoying people in the ladies room, I choose to annoy people.

I can't believe that woman expected a six year old to go to a public restroom by himself! That's ludicrous. And what exactly would be so inappropriate if he were in the womens bathroom. Does she intend to leave the door to her stall open???

I cannot believe she said that. I don't think six is too old and what is she worried about anyways? Is not like there are naked women hanging out in the ladies restroom.

I'm fine with children of almost any age in my bathroom. The bathroom is a top draw for child predators. At the mall where I can stand outside the door, I'm ok with sending in my 8-year-old alone. At something like an Angel game, he goes in with me. His safety is far more important than the comfort level of other pee-ers.

My sister and I went to a store that had a family restroom. It was being occupied, so my sister's son (who was five and didn't like to use the woman's or the mens restroom by himself) had to wait. 10 minutes went by, she tried to convince him to use the woman's or the mens restroom meanwhile I looked for someone to check on this person. She finally came out, she said she was doing her hair! How ridiculous!

I am fine with a respectful 6 year-old boy in a public restroom. If I had a 6 year-old son I would be a bit nervous about him using large public restrooms on his own if he wasn't prepared on how to best deal with strangers. I don't know to what level parents help their kids be aware of using public restrooms, so as a safety issue I would rather them be in the ladies room with their mother just in case.

i can't BELIEVE a woman on line was so completely RUDE like that... i'd have let them ahead of me! for someone to comment like that... and i'm SURE the kid didnt want to be going to the ladies room either... but in a mall, i wouldnt be comfortable sending my son in by himself... a smaller establishment... i might not be so concerned. but a mall...

i can't understand that womans problem.
i commend that mom for letting it go... i dont know that i would have had that much grace in the situation.

That was really rude! Most shopping malls I go to have little boy urinals in the female and male bathrooms, it's there for a reason, and it will be used. I honestly would never allow my nephew to go alone in the male bathroom alone, and I can't just tell him to hold it in if it was my sister and myself who were with him. If I ever encounter such a woman like that I'd give her a good telling off.

Apparently this woman did not have kids, if I have a little boy this time it will going into the woman's restroom with me until I feel it is safe for them to use the other bathroom by themselves, which is not at 6 years of age maybe 7 or 8 but it might take a while when in public. My fear is that predators do hang out in public restrooms and I will be taking my child with me. Some people need to get a grip!

the woman that said that was lucky she said it to a calm person, i would have let her have it!

ever since i was pregnant i have noticed that people (especially older ones) think it is okay to tell you how to be pregnant/how to parent. the other day i was in line at the grocery store with my 11 month old daughter in the cart. i was paying and thus at the far end of my cart leaving my daughter face to face with the next person in line...she said to my daughter "where are your shoes?" playfully, (it was 85 degrees out and my daughter does not walk), again the lady says "where are your shoes?", then she turns to me and says where are her shoes? I lost it, i looked at the woman and said "where are your manners?"

What is the problem with KIDS being in an opposite sex restroom? Honestly, at a young age, kids barely can make a connection between people, and could care less about their sex. It's not like a little girl is going to go look at naked men, or little boys are looking at naked women. People pee privately, so what's the big deal? If I had a kid of my own, you can bet that they will be with me in a bathroom until we are BOTH ready for it to be any different.

I would have said "yes he is a boy, but I'm a girl." Can't believe how rude this woman was.

I've been pretty lucky in not getting many comments about having one of my boys go into the ladies' room with me. Dirty looks from time to time, but nothing major. I'm surprised there was a long line for the bathroom at Target, though.

HAH meantheo... very good response!

Obviously, this woman never had children of her own. I have a couple of elderly aunts that never had children, and I can just picture them saying something like this.

I was at a huge movie theater recently, and after I was out of the stall and washing my hands, a woman came in with a huge herd of children, anywhere from two to seven or eight years old, girls AND boys. And I didn't even have a passing thought about it. Why would you? They're just kids.

no it's not a big deal at all,, and as all of the previous posters mentioned, the mom in the post had a lot more tact and grace then I would have had. I think I would have spent the night in the county jail if someone had the nerve to say that to me. I have 3 boys and the only way I let my younger ones go into the mens bathroom is if they go with their older (and MUCH bigger brother). Sorry but I would rather drag them into the women's restroom and deal with someone's insecurities, then have them go into a mens public restroom by themselves. too many horror stories. and seriously, what are the people who complain about such things scared of? what on earth could it be that they would be intimidated by a 6 year old kid of the opposite sex? scary to think about.

wow..how ridiculous!!!!!!

OMG i would have embarrassed that lady in front of everyone in line. i get rude comments all the time..i guess it comes with the territory (young looking and skinny mom) but never anything like that. that's taking it too far!

what pedophile sh*t is that i mean if you cannot comprehend a child using the restroom of the opposite sex, there is something within you seriously wrong, there is no way i would put my child in harms way to please ANYONE, now if the child were looking under the stalls then say something to the parent but to jump the gun is sick in my opinion

I think that children of either sex accompanying their mother into public restrooms is the norm. I never think anything of it; I often see boys with caretakers in ladies rooms. This is on no level transgressive behavior.

It's not a 2 way street when it comes to men's restrooms,though. My husband has a terrible time if he is out alone with my daughters--both in his reluctance to bring them into the men's room and in figuring out what to do with them if he needs to juse the restroom.

In any case the safety of the child should come first.

Family restrooms are great because they solve all of these problems. I hope we see more of them.

meandtheo - I had a similar situation happen when my son was about 10 months old. We were in the checkout line at the grocery store, it was relatively warm out and I had socks but no shoes on him. A little boy behind us asked his mommy (loudly enough I could hear him) why my son didn't have shoes on (who was sitting in the shopping cart). She said that he probably couldn't walk. I turned around and smiled and said that he actually could walk (although obviously not well enough to be walking around the grocery store!)thinking this was start a pleasant little conversation. Her face changed and she asked me (very sharply), "Then why ISN'T he wearing any shoes?" I was so taken aback by her rudeness and attitude over a minor detail such a shoes on a baby who wasn't walking around. I tried to be as polite as possible in answering her (he didn't really like shoes and would kick them off as soon as I put them on him) and then quickly ended the conversation. As a new mother, I was very upset that somebody basically implied that I wasn't doing a good job. As you have noted, many people feel they have the right to assert their opinions over your pregnancy and parenting even though they are complete strangers. It's amazing - I'm sure we all have these kinds of stories!

The woman should have told the nosy b*tch in front of her to go back to her home and use the bathroom if she wanted privacy & to turn back aroung so she could spit in her face. (LOL- Angry much!)
People really are soemthing though.. I am 44 yrs old, I have a 2 year old. She was an amaziong blessing and a suprise. I can't begin to tel you the nuytty things people ask me.. Where did you get her, (WHAT!) did you have invitro, I didnt know you were married, (I'M NOT!) Etc, etc. I mean is anyo f this your business? How much money do you make or do you just rob your husbands wallet at night is what i would like to ask them back, instead I look at them like they have 100 heads and i say, Pardon me, what did you just ask? (Sadly, 99% of the time these idiot questions and comments come from women)
Oh well, nuff venting. Happy Day

I need spell check! So rushed in my first comment. Lot's of errors! SORRY! Typed too quickly!

I have a young son and there is no way in hell I would ever let him go to the restroom by himself. As for the comment that woman made, I think it was best just to ignore her. What an ignorant person to make a comment like that!

Greggie, that was my first thought--why would Target have such a long line? I've never even seen anyone in our Target restroom (I think ours also has a family one FWIW). LOL.

I've never gotten comments and neither has anyone in my family when the boys or girls (small children obviously) in my family went into the opposite bathroom. My cousin sends her two sons together or even three since the oldest is 9 and then the next two are 7 and 6. Otherwise, they would just use the women's bathroom.

I think there was a post about male kids in the ladies room a long time ago on lilsugar. I'm pretty sure I was flamed for occasionally bringing my 9 year old into the ladies room (it really depends on where we are and how much I trust who's lurking in the mens room). I'm pretty non confrontational so I probably wouldn't have said anything to that woman but it would have pissed me off for sure.

Well there are issues like what if her son was molested in the men's bathroom and he was alone in there by himself. I would feel horrible as a mother if that happened. But I have a daughter.

The only thing that pisses me off is when the little boys are peeking into the stall I'm in. Other than that, they're just children. Get over it.

I would probably start letting go a little though, if he was about 6. If something seemed strange while I waited - I would definitely go into the men's room. I wouldn't have a problem with doing something like that if I had a son.

Ditto anniekim for my daughter and husband! That's only happened once to him when I had to work so he took her to the doctor instead of me taking her. I felt bad.

macgirl, that one was about the locker rooms at gyms. A lot of us got flamed for daring to take our sons into there.

I don't have a problem with children of the opposite sex being in the bathroom with me. I mean they are children and they need to be supervised. These days it's a lot safer to keep your child with you all the time. Just waiting outside the bathroom for them is not enough when it comes to their safety. It doesn't take a child molester long to molest your child.

The way I see it.... anyone that has a problem with it, has serious issues and they just love to cause drama. Having a young child of the opposite sex in the bathroom with you is NOT a big deal...oh, and of course as long as the children are behaving.

The gall of some people. I always wonder if people who say things like this are parents. I have to say, when it comes to me protecting my child, I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks. That's just the momma bear coming out in me!

On a lighter note. Back in college my sister worked in a movie theater. One day she got really intestinally sick during matinee hours. She was in the bathroom having issues when a mother came in with her two young sons, probably 4 and six or thereabouts. My sister tried to hold it all in until they left, but couldn't. She started tooting those sick awful toots. The mother was in a stall with the younger of the two while the older boy was in his own. The mother started yelling at the son to stop making the tooting noises. My sister kept going because it was beyond her control. The mother kept yelling. The little boy was screaming, it's not me!! I still do the aching laughter every time I think about that.

I always think of when my sister brought her two boys into the women's room and they asked what the tampon dispenser was. My sister told them it was just things for women. One pointed to the picture on the side of a woman riding a bike and said "See? Stuff for women." The other one got a really disbelieving look on his face and said "I don't think they can fit a bike in there."

I think it's ridiculous for anyone to even care. I have a son and I'll be taking him into the restroom with me until he's old enough to go by himself to the men's room. And in these times, that isn't going to be until he's well past 6 years old! For crying out loud, it's not like he's going to see anything anyway--you're all in private stalls!

It doesn't bother me unless the kid is one of those that runs around screaming and looking under stalls and stuff (and the mother is one of those who doesn't seem to care). Then it drives me nuts.

Up to a certain age, I see no problem with it. I'm sorry, but I'm not letting a small child go into a restroom by theirself - especialy not with all the perverts around. It takes SECONDS

OOPS -
for someone to quickly change a child's looks and take off with him/her!

I had a woman demand my gym membership be taken away because I took my 10 month old son into a locker-room because he was still breastfeeding and I was in PAIN and there are no non-lockerroom restrooms. I took him from the childcare center to the lockerroom to nurse him (in a changing stall) and she threw a fit. People are just ridiculous.

I carry cards in the diaper bag with the California laws protecting breastfeeding. I've only had to refer to them once, but it was nice and handy to have it around.

Greggie--the card carrying is such a good idea. Did you type it up yourself or are such things available in CA?

I just copied and pasted the laws from a website and put it into Word, then printed it out.

thanks,I am going to do the same.

I would NEVER EVER under ANY circumstances let my young son (not that i have one) go into a bathroom unattended. I dont think they should even really go in without an older buddy or atetndant. Kids of ALL ages, not just young, but preteen and teens, get molested and kidnapped. I totally agree with the rest, absolutely not. She can pull the pole out of her rear and get over it.

on the note of pushy nosy people, i get CONSTANT comments. I cant go to the store without someone making a snide remark, adn im not exagerrating. My daugther is 9 months old, but nearer the size of a skinny 1 1/2 - 2 year old. Because of this i get a whole host of comments about the things i shoudlnt be doing and the things i should be doing. Its annoying and exhausting to explain to people that my "toddler" is drinking a bottle because shes 9 months old. That my "kid" is in the car without shoes becuase she cant walk on her own and quite frankly, shoes are NOT comfortable for babies. Their feet are still on the carseat and it causes them to have to lay their feet down at odd angles.

when i was little girl and my mom used to do this with my brother i was in a huff because icouldn't go in the boys restroom but he could go into the girls plus i didn't understand completely. now that i'm going to be a mommy my son would stay with me even at like 6! too many molesters and the child abuse rate for little boys is going up because they are less likely to tell than girls so i'm all for boys following mothers into the restroom

Most states have laws governing ages here. In many states, it is 7. I think that as long as you are following the law, you are okay. Beyond that age, it is rude though and makes many people uncomfortable. There is a reason that bathrooms are labeled by sex--b/c many people aren't comfortable using the rr with someone of the same sex.

Yesterday, while attending a swim meet, I tried to take my 5 year old son to the Ladies Locker Room/Restroom. A woman came over to me and told me that when her daughter comes out of the shower, she will be freak if she sees my son. We left and I had to find and coach my son into going to the men's locker room (by himself). I stood near the door and tried to blindly coach him into finding the toilets. NEVER AGAIN!!!! I can't put my 5 year old son in danger to appease the irrational fears of another child.

I can turn a blind eye to six and seven-year-old boys in the womens room, but I've seen boys as old as eight, nine and ten in there. That is too old and is disrespectful to the privacy of other women who use the bathroom!