Gym at hotel with pool and children in changing rooms?

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24

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  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    If there are private family rooms available the parent should use those (I would have told the mom about those). Otherwise the parent needs to make the choice that is best for his/her kids (as others have mentioned). As others said, the child could be tall for his age and actually be 7. At ten he may be old enough to go and change on his own (but it really depends on a lot of factors). My 8 year old daughter can change on her own. I agree that it is more uncomfortable for the adults, and not "damaging" to the children.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    When a sign is clearly posted I've asked the mother how old her son was and pointed toward the sign. 10 is too old to be in an opposite sex locker room.
  • sleepy11
    sleepy11 Posts: 23
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    My gym has a family locker room which I think is brilliant as it cuts down on these uncomfortable situations. People still bring their kids into the adult locker rooms but thankfully it's rare and staff usually says something to them if they see it. I agree with the previous poser who said 10 is a tough age. I think there are a lot of parents who would feel uncomfortable sending a 10 yo into a locker room alone. At the same time, a lot of people feel 10 is too old to be in a locker room with the opposite sex. If I was this mother, I probably would wait outside the men's locker room while he dressed and then have him wait outside while I dressed. That would be the best compromise in my eyes.
  • Dreamerlove
    Dreamerlove Posts: 441 Member
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    Any boy over the age of 3 would have made me feel awkward. I would have complained to the management too.
  • gramacanada
    gramacanada Posts: 557 Member
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    All above well said. And... a four year old is still small enough to tuck under your arm and leave with.
    No matter her state of temper or dress. As long as she has underwear on.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Ten is the beginning of puberty. That was incredibly inappropriate for that mother to do that.
  • stepherzzzzz
    stepherzzzzz Posts: 469 Member
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    Not entirely sure what a tog is, but it's definitely weird for a kid that old to need his mother with him to get changed.
  • MissJanet55
    MissJanet55 Posts: 457 Member
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    I'm a changing room nudist myself, so I can imagine how you felt. Ten is too old for a boy to be in a women's change room.

    I do have some sympathy for the mother, though. If she didn't have an adult male to take her son into the change room I can see how she might have been concerned. I might be a little cautious about sending a child into a men's changing room without supervision.

    I'm not sure what the answer is. Maybe gyms need small change rooms for one or two people in this situation.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    I'm a changing room nudist myself, so I can imagine how you felt. Ten is too old for a boy to be in a women's change room.

    I do have some sympathy for the mother, though. If she didn't have an adult male to take her son into the change room I can see how she might have been concerned. I might be a little cautious about sending a child into a men's changing room without supervision.

    I'm not sure what the answer is. Maybe gyms need small change rooms for one or two people in this situation.

    Her gym had the private spaces though, and the Mom just didn't use it.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Maybe this is a smaller club, but most commercial places have some type of "family changing room" for this type of situation. It's also used by a number of adults and adult caretakers who have a partner who can benefit from the pool/exercise areas but who need physical assistance getting dressed.

    I have issues with kids running around the fitness areas to begin with, unless that's the way the gym is set up. We have child care at our facility and that's where they belong. If the kid is too old, then they can sit in the lobby and read or play games while the parent works out. There are always a-holes in every social situation who think that they are the mostest, specialist, people in the world so the rules don't apply to them. And that general a-holeness is often magnified 10-fold when their special little angel children are involved.
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
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    It's kind of mind boggling what some other people think is o.k. Since I can't control other people, only myself, I would have removed myself from a scene I found uncomfortable.
  • RunDoozer
    RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
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    She should have been in one of the private stalls but I get why she doesn't want to send her son into the men's locker room yet. Far too risky for a boy that age. Sad to say that in this day and age but its the world we live in.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
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    I am most uncomfortable, not so much about the situation you have brought to the forum, but that as soon as one poster mentions that he has to sometimes enter a female area of the centre to help his daughter get chaged, you come out with this:

    quote: "You go into the women's changing room? Oooh saucy! Tell us more!"

    This thread says more about adults than it does children in my view.

    A suggestion if it happens again - just approach the mother gently and suggest the boy is maybe a little too old to be in the womens' changing rooms, rather than making complaints before sorting the matter out - like adults. Perhaps its just that she and her children are just a little more comfortable with their bodies than other people and don't realise there is a problem.
  • sarahmichelle91xx
    sarahmichelle91xx Posts: 113 Member
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    I have two sons aged 1 and 3.5 I would not be comfortable with them changing in the men's changing rooms alone aged 8 or even ten, maybe 12 and above but if the lady was uncomfortable with her son changing in the males she should have taken him with another male that could be present in the room with him. I personally think he's too old to be changing in the females.
  • msbunnie68
    msbunnie68 Posts: 1,894 Member
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    They are slowly addressing this issue in Australia.

    Over here we have separate toilets/ change cubicles for the disabled located between the gents and the ladies. These are being rebadged as 'family' or 'multiuse' change rooms. The disabled have priority use but it can be used by anyone when there is no-one waiting. Solves a lot of changing and toileting issues for families.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    Sometime between the ages of 7 and 9 it becomes inappropriate. At 10 it is wildly inappropriate. The boy is clearly at the stage where he is very interested in women. The mother needs to get a clue.
  • sweetchildomine
    sweetchildomine Posts: 872 Member
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    I'm surprised that a couple people think 10 is too young for a boy to go into a changing room alone. Seriously? If your 10 year old can't manage to go into a bathroom or changing room by himself there is something wrong lol. I understand that there are perverts out there but perverts are EVERYWHERE, not just in changing rooms. A small child is understandable but a 10 year old is already at the beginning stages of puberty and much too old to be in a women's changing room. I am not ashamed of the human body but I still don't want a 10 year old staring at me naked lol.
  • sarahmichelle91xx
    sarahmichelle91xx Posts: 113 Member
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    I'm surprised that a couple people think 10 is too young for a boy to go into a changing room alone. Seriously? If your 10 year old can't manage to go into a bathroom or changing room by himself there is something wrong lol. I understand that there are perverts out there but perverts are EVERYWHERE, not just in changing rooms. A small child is understandable but a 10 year old is already at the beginning stages of puberty and much too old to be in a women's changing room.

    It's not the fact that there is perverts everywhere but the child is in a very vulnerable position at aged ten alone in a swimming pool changing room, I would never allow my children to go in there unless a male I trusted was present, how can a ten year old defend himself against a fully grown man? It's a risk i wouldn't take.
  • RunDoozer
    RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
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    The majority of people posting on this thread are women and have never been in a men's locker room. It is one of the creepiest places ever. Especially as a 10 year old. Hell I hate going in them and I'm 30. As for the people thinking that he is sitting there getting aroused by you at age 10 is rediculous he is not going home and taking care of himself to the thought of you naked. He is atmost curious. She was just trying to protect her child. I would have done the same thing if there wasnt a private space in her position.
  • sarahmichelle91xx
    sarahmichelle91xx Posts: 113 Member
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    The majority of people posting on this thread are women and have never been in a men's locker room. It is one of the creepiest places ever. Especially as a 10 year old. Hell I hate going in them and I'm 30. As for the people thinking that he is sitting there getting aroused by you at age 10 is rediculous he is not going home and taking care of himself to the thought of you naked. He is atmost curious. She was just trying to protect her child. I would have done the same thing if there wasnt a private space in her position.

    Agree 100%

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