What age to allow daughter to go to the bathroom by herself?

Well - years ago - we (me and my two young daughters) were in the bathroom that used to be in Fantasy Land (by Peter Pan). I was helping my youngest to wash her hands while her sister washed her own hands. A woman came out of the stall, shoved my older daughter aside and proceeded to start washing her hands. I means - she SHOVED HER. That led to what is called to this day in my family as - THE ALTERCATION.

Do not let a child that young go into a bathroom at a theme park alone.

Edited to add the daughter who was shoved was 7 at the time.

Oh my, your daughter was shoved. Bet it wasn't the first time, nor the last. People get shoved everywhere - subway, lines at school, the mall... Are you going to follow her around forever, handling situations for her? And what difference does it make, as you were there when she got shoved in the first place?

I'm not a parent myself, but I'd be concerned about other people being rude to your child. There are crazy people out there, sadly.

people are rude - so what? You shouldn't shelter kids from rude. They need to learn to deal with it, ignore it, etc. See the above.

Another no vote - take her into the mens room with you.
I'm not concerned about her safety, but I am concerned about her just physically being able to do everything in the bathroom. Unless she's very tall for her age, she may have trouble reaching the soap and towels and in AK may have trouble opening the door.
Of course, almost always there will be a good samaritan there to help her, but why put her in that situation.
- signed, mom still mildly scarred from the time her 6 year old son got stuck in a chick fil a bathroom because he couldn't open the door himself.

WDW has some of the best bathrooms for kids - lower sinks, no outside doors, just a bend in the passage. I do get the AK door issue - but people go in and out a lot there.

Now then, others can flame me all they like, but this current US trend of taking children into crowded opposite-gender restrooms until they reach puberty is bizarrely paranoid. If a child is in a regular school every day, he or she knows the rules about public restrooms.

I think worrying about gender bathrooms is paranoid, myself. If an adult is with the child, what is going to happen? All you see in the men's bathroom are the backsides of pants, and maybe a flash of a private part - but that's if you let the kids wander over to the urinals. Just go straight to a stall or turn the kids aside if you have to wait.
 
I think if a 5.5 year old girl is expressing feelings of not wanting to go into the men's room with her dad, that should be respected. She's become old enough developmentally that this is making her uncomfortable. If you can't find a companion restroom to take turns using, I would consider sending her in to the ladies room by herself if she is generally responsible, as long as it isn't crazy-busy, and you both have an understanding you will wait for her right at the exit area (watch out for any with more than one exit). It's really unfortunate that a shoving incident happened, but honestly, that can and does happen in many kinds of crowded spaces. I believe that much more often, a young girl in the women's room is going to encounter kind moms and grandma-types, and many other young girls as well. If I saw someone shove a child washing her hands away from a sink, you can bet I'd stop to make sure that little girl was OK and stand up to that kind of bullying if she didn't have an adult in there with her.
 
a mother walked in and yelled out a Man is coming in with his daughter and I walked into the ladies room with her. I got a lot of laughs from women as I stood there embarrassed. But you gotta do what ya gotta do for them.

Oh, this could have been ugly. As an adult woman, I would have been not pleased to see you there. And a man in the ladies room triggers so many of the reasons that others hesitate to send their young daughters in alone...
 
I’m a dad with DD5.5 and DS4. We are theme park veterans and I watch the kids by myself often. We’re going to the parks next month, and there will be a day where my wife will be attending a function, and I will take the kids to the park by myself. Now I have no problem taking all 3 of us into a men’s room stall and taking turns going potty. But my DD is getting pretty insistent that she can go into a public women’s restroom by herself. She’s pretty responsible for her age, and I’ve had no problem letting her go to a smaller public restroom with one or two stalls like McDonalds by herself. I’ve talked to my wife, and she is hesitant about letting her go to the women’s room in a large place like Disney unattended. One thing I do need to keep in mind is that there will be times I will have to take my son into the men’s room because he definitely still needs assistance, and I don’t want to leave my daughter out front alone, but I anticipate this will be a growing issue as they both get older. I also know there are family restrooms. Just seeing what the public has to say about this. Thanks

It was a gradual thing with my DS. Like you, we started in smaller places where we were comfortable, and worked up. The main criteria was "can he reach everything?" - and I think Disney is good about having some of the sinks low. The only restrooms there that I would really worry about are the ones with two exits, and her going out the wrong way and getting lost. (Unsafe individuals inside wouldn't cross my mind there because there are far too many people around. I'm pretty sure anyone who wanted to do awful things would pick someplace without so many witnesses.)

Tell the kids in advance that you will be announcing "try to go" stops (which is a good idea anyway, to avoid emergencies in line) then pick restrooms that you feel are well-set-up. You want to notice the ones with one door, and a good sight-line to a place where your DD can sit while you and you DS go in, and where you can wait for her when she goes in. (I wouldn't try to both go in different rooms at the same time.) Other good times might be when you see a companion restroom with no line, or when you're near the baby care centers. (It's been a while, but I think they have smaller ones.)
 
Oh, this could have been ugly. As an adult woman, I would have been not pleased to see you there. And a man in the ladies room triggers so many of the reasons that others hesitate to send their young daughters in alone...
All I got was laughs and teasing and a couple of women commenting that their husbands were to cowardly to take their daughters into ANY restroom. All I did was stand there with my face towards a wall and talked to her.
 


I would say that 8 is a good age for them to start using the bathroom alone. Big enough to reach everything and old enough to be aware if someone is acting "strange" towards them. Never had to deal with the opposite gender thing though. However if I had a daughter, I'd feel uncomfortable taking her in the men's room if they were over 8. At 5.5 years though you should probably not let her use it alone unless we are talking single unit bathrooms.
 
I wouldn't let my 5.5 year old DD go into the men's room with her dad. That's just awkward to me. For my DD and the men in the bathroom. I think my XH stopped taking her into the men's bathroom when she was around 2-3.

At that age DD would use the bathroom by herself. We went to WDW when she was 5.5. She would go to the bathroom with me or (if she was with dad) they would hit a companion bathroom and she would go in by herself and he would wait outside. OR we would find a less busy public restroom, let her go in by herself and we would wait outside.
 
My ODD started going to public restrooms by herself on a Disney trip when she was 4.5. Not always, but she was ok with it, either because I had to deal with the baby, or DH and I had split up and I was with the baby. She got a boost a few times to reach the sink or the soap (now at 6, she has no problems with either). Normally, at WDW and at home, we go together since we have a general plan of "everyone goes when one person needs to go," but occasionally it just doesn't work out logistically. It is not a big deal, and the only issue is if the rest room has 2 exits, that she knows which exit to use.
 
Personally, no, I wouldn't. My oldest, yes (she's 9).

I don't personally subscribe to the "If they are school age they go to the bathroom themselves all the time and are fine." Disney is different. They aren't walking into a bathroom with 4 stalls that is shared by one corridor in a school with 500 students, only half of whom would use the same bathroom. There just isn't the volume of strangers in the school. It isn't comparable in my mind.

HOWEVER what I think doesn't matter. You need to decide what to do based on what makes you, your wife and your daughter comfortable.
 
E10C4AB1-B0D3-41A8-A315-48A076232757.jpeg
I’m a dad with DD5.5 and DS4. We are theme park veterans and I watch the kids by myself often. We’re going to the parks next month, and there will be a day where my wife will be attending a function, and I will take the kids to the park by myself. Now I have no problem taking all 3 of us into a men’s room stall and taking turns going potty. But my DD is getting pretty insistent that she can go into a public women’s restroom by herself. She’s pretty responsible for her age, and I’ve had no problem letting her go to a smaller public restroom with one or two stalls like McDonalds by herself. I’ve talked to my wife, and she is hesitant about letting her go to the women’s room in a large place like Disney unattended. One thing I do need to keep in mind is that there will be times I will have to take my son into the men’s room because he definitely still needs assistance, and I don’t want to leave my daughter out front alone, but I anticipate this will be a growing issue as they both get older. I also know there are family restrooms. Just seeing what the public has to say about this. Thanks
 
I think she can be sent in to the bathroom by herself at 5, however, I wouldn't want her to wait outside the bathroom for you and your son alone. I would either try to find the companion bathrooms, bring her in the men's room with you, or maybe find a CM outside the bathroom? Is that allowed? Could you find a CM and say "I have to take my little boy to the bathroom, can she stand next to you for just a moment, we'll be right back" and then at least you wouldn't have to worry about somebody taking her.
 
I think she can be sent in to the bathroom by herself at 5, however, I wouldn't want her to wait outside the bathroom for you and your son alone. I would either try to find the companion bathrooms, bring her in the men's room with you, or maybe find a CM outside the bathroom? Is that allowed? Could you find a CM and say "I have to take my little boy to the bathroom, can she stand next to you for just a moment, we'll be right back" and then at least you wouldn't have to worry about somebody taking her.
I wouldn't do that. CMs aren't there to be our babysitters.
 
I think she can be sent in to the bathroom by herself at 5, however, I wouldn't want her to wait outside the bathroom for you and your son alone. I would either try to find the companion bathrooms, bring her in the men's room with you, or maybe find a CM outside the bathroom? Is that allowed? Could you find a CM and say "I have to take my little boy to the bathroom, can she stand next to you for just a moment, we'll be right back" and then at least you wouldn't have to worry about somebody taking her.
No that is a liability that no CM would want to accept
 
I wouldn't leave a child under age 7 anywhere unsupervised in WDW. That is the policy for riding alone, so it seems the best policy for being unsupervised at all.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top