5 year old in the ladies. Is it okay?

[LoveFridaynight]

At what age would people feel uncomfortable to have a child of the opposite sex in the "wrong" toilet?
I was told off yesterday for taking my nearly 5 year old son in to the ladies. A woman in there said he should use the men's. No-one has ever said anything like this to me before. I could understand if he was a teenager or something but a young child?
Really? On his own? At 5? Not that he could anyway as he's autistic and not toilet trained so I needed to change his nappy.
I thought afterwards I should have used the disabled toilet but I try to avoid that incase someone who can only use the disabled toilet comes along. I think I will just do this in future though.
But regardless of disability I don't think children under the age of 9 should be in the toilet on their own.
What are your thoughts on the age a child should be using the "right" toilet?

I think 8 years old is the standard

No way would I let my 5 year old son go in the men’s toilet on his own. Ignore the woman.

At 5 they need to go with an adult, if the kid's a boy and the adult is a mum, they go in the ladies.

I think mine was around 8 when we let her use the ladies by herself.

A 5 yr old in the ladies is fine in my opinion. I'm not sure what the cut off age should be though.

Tell the woman to get fked. Of course you can take your 5 yo to the ladies!

It has been 'juniors' forever, so about 8.

5 is fine!

She's an idiot

She’s daft. Five is fine.

Your kid will soon get to an age where he will not want to go in the Ladies anyway. This happened with both my boys. Not sure what age they were 7 or 8 maybe.

Yes, it’s fine.

I took DS swimming yesterday and there was a notice on the door saying under 7s were ok to be in the ladies changing room. I think 5 is fine but I don’t think you should be put off using disabled toilets. I know I’ve used disabled before either because it’s where the bay changing is or because there was no baby changing and needed the space to change DS.

Of course it's fine to have your 5 year old son in the ladies' toilets.

Absolutely fine to take a 5 year old boy into the ladies! I agree that 8 is the official cut off, but I still used to send my sons together (luckily there were two of them so I had this option).

I would think 5 years old is ok
Does he look older than he is maybe?

My mate's just turned 13 year old boy still goes in the lad women's changing rooms at swimming (in his own cubicle) as he doesn't feel comfortable in the men's on his own yet. He's (high functioning) autistic -if that makes any difference - but I often think about discussions on here about it

Really, she thinks a 5 year old going into the mens alone is ok. Not a chance in hell. I know 8 is the standard age but personally I'd have no issue with an 8 or 9 year old with their mum in the ladies. Though at that age my boys would have been mortified if I tried to bring them in with me.

I think most sensible people think 8 is about the right age, possible your son is quite tall? Maybe why she was being a bit of a dick.

I wouldn't send my 7 year old boy in there alone. My daughter got stuck in a cubicle at 9 and was scared whilst waiting for me to get a coin even with me knowing straight away. That's aside from the risk of who is in there at the urinals. At 5 it's completely inappropriate.
I'd say about 10.

Sure they did.

If a child has autism which results in them not yet being potty trained at an age when a neurotypical would be, I think that's sufficient justification to use a disabled toilet. Isn't it?

Obviously a 5 year old is fine in the ladies, but I'm saying don't feel that you shouldn't use disabled facilities if you want or need to

5 is fine. Around 7 is the age here they start going alone. However if you need to change nappies it might be better to use the disabled for space and privacy.

Bullshit.

I have a SEND teen boy and we use the disabled one. He can't manage the hand dryers. Nobody has ever had a problem with it, so that is an option.

I am showing solidarity with the totally believable OP, you cynics.

Depending on the child 8 to 10. Our swimming lessons used to state 8 years old for using "correct" changing.