At the risk of piling on, here’s one more vote for “you did nothing wrong.”
My daughter is five, and I sometimes still take her into the men’s room with me, if we’re in a very “public” area with a large restroom and/or lots of people. She goes into the ladies’ room by herself in more controlled circumstances, such as a small bathroom in a restaurant.
When I worked as a manager for an ice skating rink we had lots of kids in the 10 to 18 age range. The boys we only had trouble with is the vandals. Easy to take care of, boot them out (not with an ice skate!) for a night.
The young ladies couldn’t be safer if they were going to the bathroom in Cheyenne Mountain. Mom’s or both parents drop them off. Usually 4 or 5 teens about the same age. Any 12 year girl will have appx. 3 to 4 other young ladies as an escort. Yes, they always spot another teen and knowing her or not, will ask if she wants to go to the ladies room with her!
They learn this stuff early in life, god bless’em. 
In 1964 I was 11 years old. I travelled by myself 8 miles into central London to school and back. This was considered normal.
Now posters are suggesting a 12 year old can’t go to the toilet by themselves.
Have things really changed that much? :eek:
[parrot]She’s a twit, ignore her.[/parrot]
My little girl just turned 8 and I don’t remember exactly when she was allowed to go into the ladies room at the theater with me waiting at the door. Maybe the cusp of 6-7?
Lot’s of variables though. theater -v- sports arena? Quiet community -v- inner city? It comes down to personal comfort levels and common sense.
I don’t think so. Please do.
Not a popular opinion, but my son is a Young 10 and very shy. I go with him to the bathrooms of Penn-Station-Crowded multiplex theatres because he gets intimidated and because I don’t want anyone in there to take advantage of his shyness in there. It only comes up on weekends, and since we generally eat/ drink at the same time, I’ll use a urinal after making sure he has the safety & privacy of a stall.
…And aim for the lady complaining about fathers taking little girls to the mens room! A squirt in the face would do her good.
My kids go on their own to a seperate bathroom once they are task-oriented enough to focus through the entire process. This will naturally vary from child to child, none thus far younger than five or older than nine. The time I waited half an hour outside a woman’s bathroom only to be treated to a recitation of the various pithy sayings written on the walls when my daughter came back out left an impression.
Enjoy,
Steven
What has changed that much is an eight year old traveling solo is now considered bad parenting, where a woman taking her twelve year old son into the ladies room (where he peeks through stall doors while she is in her stall) is considered normal and safe. And for that you can thank the media - when I was little (and I’d assume you as well), your mother just told you not to speak to strangers, to not talk to the “funny neighbor” and - maybe - not to visit sleezy train station bathrooms on your trip - there were sickos out there, but they weren’t seen as “everywhere” and they were seen as something that you could reduce your risk considerably by teaching your children some basic street sense.
(I didn’t know why I wasn’t to talk to the funny neighbor who had a cute dog, but I didn’t.)
For the last time, it wasn’t a tap! I just have a wide stance! :mad:
I’M NOT GAY!!! 
My experience with my boys matches WhyNot’s pretty much.
I do remember the first time #1 son went into a public men’s room by himself. He was 5. It was at the Field Museum. I had #2 son in the stroller with a stinky diaper, my daughter and me. I had #1 son go first into the men’s and I stood outside, worried about him (it was a popular toilet or the museum was crowded that day). A few of the dads looked at me kinda funny, but I didn’t care. Everytime the door opened, I’d call his name out. He came out and then I had him stand in the vestibule of the women’s room so I could change #2 son there.
after that, I would hang by the door until he was about 8 or so. And then he took over the taking of #2 son to the toilet…
I cannot imagine accompanying any of my children to the toilets now, unless I also have to go. The exception would be if we were somewhere huge–like McCormick Place or a stadium. Somewhere they might not be able to find us again.
Just yesterday my four year old daughter was in the stall next to me when she announced that she couldn’t reach the paper. Luckily she could reach the wad I passed under the partition.
Likewise, despite hovering in the 50-75th percentile for height, she can rarely reach the sinks, and more rarely the soap dispensers, in public bathrooms. Sometimes the outer door is too heavy for her to manage easily. And I have no idea if she would know what to do if confronted with an unsanitary toilet, or hell just a sprinkled seat. Add to that that she can’t wipe her ass properly, and you’re damned right she goes into the men’s with her father, sometimes even if I’m available and he wants to give me a break.
And while I do have some trepidation about Stranger Danger, I have to say, if my daughter catches a glimpse of a naked penis being used for a pee, I don’t think it will harm her one whit. It’s just the human body, people!
Speaking of, there are more than a few 5-6 year old boys who’ve seen my tits and bush in the pool locker room, and I don’t have a problem with that. Nudity, in and of itself, is not something to be scared of, and not a problem for kids not out of the latent period of development.
Sorry for the short hijack, but I changed my username in the middle of this thread and I just want to clarify that for anybody wondering where I went.