A conversation that parents often have to face is how they will handle the use of public bathrooms while out and about with their kids. When a child is of diaper-wearing age, the answer is simple enough, assuming changing tables are available in both bathrooms: the parent can take their child to the bathroom they normally use.
But what should a parent do once their child is a bit older? Should they go to the bathroom with their parent? And if they do go together, should they use the restroom of the parent's gender or the child's?
'Girl Dad' DJ Drewski prompted the divisive question when he went to Disney World with his younger brother, who is also the father of a toddler daughter. DJ had always taken his daughter into the men's restroom with him, because he didn't want to impede on women's spaces.
But his brother had a very different opinion on the subject—he always brings his daughter into the women's restroom, specifically because of cleanliness.
You can watch the video here:
While the conversation in the comments section proved to be totally civil, there were a lot of different opinions about what the "girl dads" should do when taking their daughters to the bathroom.
The concerns about the situation were wide-ranging and not just based on "men using men's rooms and women using women's rooms." There were also concerns about the cleanliness of the space, since the women's room is often cleaner than the men's room. There were also other considerations, like the number of stalls available, visibility and privacy, and whether or not changing tables were available.
Some stated that it depended on the parent's gender—so in their case, going to the men's room was the way to go.
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Others reassured the dads that they'd be welcome in the women's restroom as long as they announced themselves first.
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After reading through the comments, DJ was touched by all the comments from women and moms stating that dads and children are welcome in the women's restroom, not just because it's generally cleaner, but because their first priority is the children's health and safety.
But he was also reassured to see comments that agreed with him about using the restroom based on the parent's gender since that was what made him comfortable.
You can watch that video here:
Based on this conversation, it's clear that there is not a hard and fast rule in place for where young children should go to the bathroom and whether or not their parents should come in with them, depending on their gender.
It's heartening to hear that most people are more concerned about providing clean and accessible spaces to children than they are about the conversation about which restroom adults should be using.
At the very least, it's great to hear that new parents who are still figuring things out don't have to stress quite so hard over this.
