Proud mummy moment (and a serious question)

[Gobbledigook]

Ds1 and ds2 have been attending a swimming course all this week - a lesson every day.

Ds1 is 5.4 and has done his 50 metre badge! This week he's also learned to do breastroke and front crawl. He properly puts his face right in the water, does 3 overarm strokes, breathes and does it again - I was amazed!

Ds2 is 3.9 and this week has been swimming about 5 metres without armbands, he's particularly good on his back. He's also been jumping in and fully submerging himself which he has never done before.

Am so proud of them both!

Serious question - at what age would you let your ds go into the male changing rooms alone? We were told today that there had been a complaint about our boys being in the ladies changing room and that our older boys (5!!!) should be going in the mens. Really? No way would I send my 5 yr old in the mens on his own. Apart from anything else, he'd take 2 hours to get ready he'd be so busy goofing around with his friends!

People also complained that the swimming lessons were disrupting them. They are on for just 2 weeks of the holidays and for just one hour a day. These people need to get a grip!!

Congrats to your boys, that's great

Our local pool says kids over aged 8 can swim unattended, so I would say age 8.

Our lessons were done when the public werent there iyswim.
I wouldnt send a child of 5 into a changing room on their own

oh...Well done boys x

people definitely need to get a grip. there is no way that i would send a 5 year old into the changing rooms by themselves.

No way should a five yr old be expected to use a changing room on his own. I'm really angry about this actually, I would make a complaint as it's just not on. Every pool I've used for the past ten yrs has had ladies', mens' and family changing areas and I can't believe your pool is so behind the times.

Well done your dss!

my dd is 5 and there's no way she could get ready all aone if she was made go in a different change room on her own Silly people have no lives if they feel the need to complain about children!

At our swimming pool the policy is over 6s should not change in changing rooms of opposite gender. Good timing really, because DS (7 in November) started to complain about going into the ladies ... refusing point blank actually.
Our swimming pool has family changing rooms available ... so we use that if we can but I let DS go in the men's if all of the family ones are full. The changing rooms are very open plan and I trust DS to scream/kick someone/leg it if necessary.
I think 5 is very young to change in the men's - DS would have taken far too long for one thing. And I think that if swimming pools insist on this they MUST provide family changing facilities.

My ds isn't old enough yet for this to be a problem, but I don't understand the problem these places have with children going into changing rooms of the opposite sex.

Ok maybe once they get to 11 or so, but b4 that , they're kids ffs. Most of them still need their parents round to organise and help them.

My cousin is 7. I cannot imagine him being confident enough and able to go into a changing room by himself without a)losing something, b)taking forever c)getting confused about what to do and where to go.

I think this society has to be so oversexualised to think children going into these changing rooms with their parents is a problem.

Five yr olds go to teddy bear's picnics, not lap dancing clubs! What is in some people's heads????