When can a kid go to bathroom himself?

[Biggie]

i just want to know that there are other moms who take their older boys in the ladies room. I recently saw one of the rules (I guess no one but me read them) of locker room of a club is that kids over 4 Yr has to go to their own gender locker room, which started me thinking.
I don't think my boy can go to the men's room, shower and change all by himself! but then again, I don't think anyone would complain if I bring him to ladies room

 

[carang]

4 years old? that's ridiculous. most 4 year olds can't be left in a locker room without supervision! i know i wouldn't let my kids at the age of 4 go to the locker room on their own.

 

[Honkyblues]

I swear to god, if my 6-year-old was in a public bathroom with Howard Coombs, I hope he would scream blue murder, kick him in the shins and run out, yelling: "There's a pompous old guy in the bathroom, quoting everyone's words back at them, mostly out of context! And even though he's boring everyone to death, he's in his own little world of smugness and thinks he's right all the bloody time!"

I would say, "You did the right thing, son. But next time aim higher."

 

[howardcoombs]

Good to know you have some interesting aspirations but I would hope that he would be a bit more sensible and logical as running in public bathrooms, which usually have wet floors, is never a good idea..

Kicking pompous big guys can also have negative consequences but usually they wont touch a 6 year old; I'd be more worried about running on wet floors than anything else :rolling:

 

[evgreen]

I don't know why, I just found this whole thread really humorous.

Teaching your child to scream loudly "I DON'T KNOW THIS PERSON!!!" in public when inappropriately touched or grabbed by strangers is a good lesson to teach. My mother taught me this at a very young age. I suppose when you feel confident that your child can carry this out, I'd feel comfortable about letting them go the bathroom in public alone. Maybe that's just me.

 

[charade]

Just thinking aloud but maybe the reason public bathrooms might be of more concern with regard to molestation than other places is because it is a place where it is appropriate to engage with one's private parts, there might be older men helping young boys in the process and for a kid alone, there might be a lot of grey areas which might be difficult to understand. For example, if an older person offers to help a kid with his zip, and there are others doing the same, a kid who is not used to refusing adults might think it's okay. While in a park it would be very obviously inappropriate even to a kid.

So while the likelihood of this happening is less in Hong Kong in general, a bathroom by virtue of being a bathroom might make it more likely than say a park. I am aware that statistically both are less likely than one's own home.

 

[carang]

I don't know why, I just found this whole thread really humorous.

Teaching your child to scream loudly "I DON'T KNOW THIS PERSON!!!" in public when inappropriately touched or grabbed by strangers is a good lesson to teach. My mother taught me this at a very young age. I suppose when you feel confident that your child can carry this out, I'd feel comfortable about letting them go the bathroom in public alone. Maybe that's just me.

funny true story:

when i was 11 my aunt had twins (fraternal boy/girl). i used to go to visit them every summer and help out with the kids. when the kids were about 3-4 years old, they would watch a tv show with me called THE FACTS OF LIFE. in it there was a tom-boy, motorcycle driving character named Jo (short for Joanne, i think)... anyway, my male cousin LOVED this character!

so, one day, i took my cousins to the shopping centre. while there, said cousin desperately needed to go to the toilet. i dutifully took him into the women's restroom. but once inside, he wouldn't go into the stall... i would say, "come on, XY. Come in here so you can go wee!"....."no, my name is not XY... it's JO! stop calling me XY!" "get in here, XY... come on, you will go wee in your pants!" " I'm JO! I'm JO! I'm JO!"

i'm sure people thought i was doing something horrible to him! perhaps even kidnapped him... funny story now, but at the time i was truly frightened someone would call the cops because i had kidnapped a kid named JO and was trying to do stuff in the public bathroom!....

 

[matemate]

His chance of defending himself against a molester is much less than a bigger-built (say) 8-year-old who might know to scream blue murder, give the offender a kick in the shins and dash for the door. (...) But I know that my little boy is in no position to recognize an uncomfortable - or worse - dangerous situation, let alone extricate himself from it. And I'll keep trying to teach him about what to do if a stranger/teacher/relative/friend touches him in a way that is inappropriate. But right now, the concept of 'danger' is a new one to him and he is not ready to deal with such situations.

have you seen the show world's worst mom? above kind of reminds me...

here's another link for your health: freerangekids.wordpress.com

 

[Honkyblues]

I'm sorry Matemate... I seem to be missing your point. Are you suggesting I'm the "world's worst mom"? Would you like to explain yourself further?

 

[matemate]

no, that's not what i am suggesting, but have a look at the show (NowTV channel 214, i think) and you will see that they talk exactly about cases like you describe (the title of the show is just to make it sound dramatic and to attract viewers)