My friend and I had a good chat yesterday about "at what age??" questions. I would love to hear if our opinions are similar you yours and also if you have any "at what age?? questions. It was a good discussion!!!

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?

***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?

***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?

***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??

***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??

***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?

*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?

These were all topics we wondered about and our answers varied (as ofcourse our children's maturity levels vary too).Also I dont have girls so i have never been asked by a daughter for this to happen, so i had no personal experience.

What do you think? Have you ever wondered "at what age?" questions? Esp for mums who have older children, they might have a heap of questions we have not thought of yet!!!

My friend and I had a good chat yesterday about "at what age??" questions. I would love to hear if our opinions are similar you yours and also if you have any "at what age?? questions. It was a good discussion!!!

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?
Cory was 4 I let him go in disabled toilet by himself made sure wAs vacant first and made sure he didn't lock door I always stayed out side never let anyone in till he finished
***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?
7.8yrs old
***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?
Not fan of either most like primary school
***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??
Cory don't like scary movie when he was younger. Only now he watches them but still not into them much

***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list?? Primary school

***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?my girls in heaven. But most likely when she clean it herself

*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?
5 or 6 but I always sat at bathroom door



These were all topics we wondered about and our answers varied (as ofcourse our children's maturity levels vary too).Also I dont have girls so i have never been asked by a daughter for this to happen, so i had no personal experience.

What do you think? Have you ever wondered "at what age?" questions? Esp for mums who have older children, they might have a heap of questions we have not thought of yet!!!

]
***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?

When he is old enough to Kung Fu some pedophiles ass.

***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?

Varies. Depends who it is. I'm mostly against MOST things happening before age 10 to 12.

***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?

My 18 month olds had bubble gum a few times now. She likes an Extra when we go for a drive on the occasion. My son maybe too, but not as much. Lemonade, sips here and there from 1 up but prefer they stick with water. Personal choice that.

***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??

My son had been watching scary movies since about 3 i think. The ONLY horror i watch is like Lake Placid, Or the snake ones where they eat people and Pirahna. Basically animals eating people. He got really into then at one stage, then stopped watching them. He will get into it when i'm watching one. They don't bother him. He understands they're not real and they're just robots.
Do not want him watching Ghost or monster ones.

***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??

Soon as the child says they don't want a particular person attentding. It's THEIR party, why force people on them that they dont want.

***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?

When she is old enough to grasp the concept of what it is and what will happen when it gets done. That it WILL hurt and that she NEEDS to keep it clean.

*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?

Sons been doing it for years. Daughter showers by herself with her brother. They clean themselves, i don't help.




I'm personally not fussed at all about 'what age' questions generally. My kids will do what they do when they are ready and not a moment before. As for other peoples kids, they're their parents problems, not mine. I don't spend much time thinking about when they do/did things.
smile

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?
I don't have any boys yet, but I would probably say about 7. At that age they have the concept of being boy/girl. But I would probably stand out side the males toilets anyway waiting for him.
***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?
I haven't thought about that one before!! I would probably say 7 or 8. If I knew the family yes but if it was a first time then I would probably still walk them in until 11 or so.
***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?
Bubblegum probably 7 again LOL. Lemonade, Husband doesn't know this but Miss 23 months has tried it a few times. Just a tiny little bit... we went to a party yesterday and she had a little out of my cup.
***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??
I guess when they ask to see them.
***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??
When they ask again I supose.. My mum still invites some of her friends to my parties... and my brothers LOL (I am 23 and moved out of home at 18)
***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?
I got my daughter done when she ws 8 months old. So N/A as for my son when he asked for it.

All if those questions apart from the toilet question will depend on the individual child and what you think they're capable of.

If we have a son it'll be many years til he's allowed in a public toilet alone. A few years back there was a story here in SA on the news - a 9 yr old girl was raped and strangled to death while her father waited for her outside the toilets. The murderer walked right past the dad on his way out.....

My DS has been asking alot lately to go to the "mans" toilet as he calls it. He's four and I've let him go twice. The first time was when we were getting our tyre fixed and there was only one male toilet. The second time was yesterday. I stood out the front holding the door open and was talking to him the whole time. There was no one else in there and I'll decide each time if I let him do it or not.

Both of my kids have had softdrink.

I'll get my DD ears pierced when she asks for it and understands the pain and cleaning.

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?

Depends on what size the toilets were and where they were. But at a typical shopping centre probably around 8? And I would stand at the door waiting!!

***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?

If I knew that family and it was at their house or a contained area like maccas I'd probably let them stay around 6/7 if they were comfortable with that. If I didn't know the family well, probably around 10.

***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?

DD has had sips of lemonade if we're at a party (she's 2). Bubblegum- probably around 10. That stuff gets stuck in hair!!!!!!

***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??

I'd follow the ratings, if it was PG I'd watch it with them from around 10years old I guess?

***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??

When it becomes an issue for them! smile

***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?

School age. If DD asks me to get hers done when she starts school I'd let her.

*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?

I probably won't let DD be in the bath alone until she's over 3. She washes most of her bits and pieces by herself now, I supervise and give her tips wink helping out if needed. She's going through a "that's private" phase.....

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?

My son is 6, and has used the mens toilets once or twice, only because the family room was being used, and there was a huge line at the ladies - and kids being kids, he'd left it to the last minute and was busting! Usually though, he comes with me - I think by 8 or 9 I might let him always go by himself.


***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?

I'm not really sure about this one, I guess when my child asks, and if I feel comfortable about it.


***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?

I think my 2 oldest were each about 3 when they first tried soft drink, but it wasn't me that gave it to them <img src='http://www.huggies.com.au/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dry.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='<_<' />
DS and DD1 both tried chewy about a month ago...and they're not having it again for a looong time!


***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??

DS saw the first Transformers movie while I was in hospital with DD1, so he was 2.5yrs then, had it been my choice, I would have waited until he was at least 6. My girls haven't really seen any that I'm aware of, and probably won't for a while.


***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??

I've never invited my friends to my kids parties...it's always been family!


***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?

The rule when I was growing up was that I has to be 10, so I'll most likely stick with that!


*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?

DS and DD1 both shower/bath by themselves - I'm always keeping an ear out though.

Toilet - not really sure (I don't have a boy anyway) BUT this is something that I was just thinking about today! I was at the mall and there was a woman in the women's toilets with her two sons, who I would say looked to be about 8 and 10. I felt most uncomfortable with them in there and thought that certainly by that age, they should have been allowed to go into the men's (there would have at least been two of them together rather than one child alone). I then saw a man walking out the men's with his daughter who looked about 6, so not very old, but still I can't imagine it's nice for a little girl having to go into the men's! This particular mall is located in a very safe area, and there are parents' rooms and disabled toilets right next to the other ones, so I couldn't understand why either of those parents had chosen to do that. In general I think it depends not just on the age/maturity of the child, but also what the facilities are like.

Treats - any age really, don't think DD has ever had lemonade but she's tried Coke and she hates it. My motto is, as long as the child isn't so young that the treat is going to be a choking hazard!

Movies - depends on the child's maturity and on the movie itself. I am definitely a firm believer in abiding by the official censor's classification. And I would much rather watch a movie with a child so that I am there to explain it, than found that they watched it round at someone else's place with no parental guidance at all. So there is a lot to consider. I used to be a Manager at a movie theatre and I can remember this one woman lodging a complaint that "we" had allowed her 8-year-old to purchase tickets to, and watch, Bridget Jones's Diary. The movie did not have an age restriction and therefore the movie theatre was certainly not at fault, but I wouldn't have wanted my 8-year-old to watch it either. So, if you want to have control over what movies your kids are watching, take them to the counter and buy the damn tickets for them, don't just drop them off in the foyer!!!

Ear piercing - whenever! My DD would be allowed to have hers done now if she wanted to, but she doesn't. I got mine done at 6 (as did everyone in my class) and I would say that either 5 or 6 is a good age.

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?

I only have girls but I would not let them go into the toilet alone before age of 8, if they are with DH then he takes them into the parents room. Have no problem with other mums bringing their boys into the ladies toilet, its not like they are going to the loo where you can see them, its all behind closed doors. If I had a boy I'd be bringing him with me into the loo till at least age 8 - have heard too many horror stories.

***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?

Age 5 if its at a friends house, if its at a venue or park we stay.

***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?

We dont ever buy either softdrink or bubble gum, if DD whose nearly 6 wanted to try either at a party she can. Doubt she'd drink soft drinks, whenever offered anything but water she always says no (at grandmothers or at friends houses).

***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??

Not sure on content of Transformers movies, guess it depends on what they wanted to see and would assess at the time. At the moment age nearly 6 and 3 its strictly G movies and occasionally a PG movie.

***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??

We've stopped this now with DD1 whose turning 6 soon, now the guest list is her choice (just lucky it includes my BF and her kids smile

***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?

If my 5 year old was to ask for them I'd think about it and talk to her about what was involved, neither have expressed any desire at all to have them, none of their friends or schoolmates have pierced ears.

*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?

I leave my 5 year old in the bath on her own but do help with hairwashing and to get her out of the tub (its a massive and very deep tub).

My friend and I had a good chat yesterday about "at what age??" questions. I would love to hear if our opinions are similar you yours and also if you have any "at what age?? questions. It was a good discussion!!!

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?

***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?

***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?

***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??

***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??

***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?

*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?

These were all topics we wondered about and our answers varied (as ofcourse our children's maturity levels vary too).Also I dont have girls so i have never been asked by a daughter for this to happen, so i had no personal experience.

What do you think? Have you ever wondered "at what age?" questions? Esp for mums who have older children, they might have a heap of questions we have not thought of yet!!!

-8-10. obviously hed go in with dad if hes there but otherwise its womens, family or ill stand outside the disabled..there are far too many creepy ppl out there

-varies if its family or not, family id prob do it now 3+yrs. not family or in a public venue id say 12.

- havnt yet but ill hold out as long as possible, id say realisticly around 5yrs tho

- that really depends on the kid, i dont think my DD will be ok with these until at least 8+ DS maybe a bit younger

- as soon as they say 'i want to invite people' or 'i dont want *** to come' within reason of corse

-when she asks, but no younger then school age.

-around 7ish but id still check that everythings done properly

For me everything pretty much depends on the maturity of the kid....

Except for bubblegum and lemonade. My 2 year old drinks lemonade - because its mineral water with lemon juice in it. wink
Bubblegum they can have when they have permanent teeth and can look after them in an appropriate way - same goes with lollies.
However I have no problem with my 2 year old having some good quality chocolate.

how random!! laugh

My DH and I have just been debating whether to let my DD1 get her ears pierced as her 5th birthday present.

So this was interesting read, thanks ejane!!

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?

Still dont and he is nearly 7. We go to family toilets or he comes to the womens toilet with me and the girls. I am not at all comfortable with him going in alone and will play this by ear.

***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?
Again, I havent yet but think I might this year, DS will be attending 7th and 8th birthdays and as long as I have met the parents and am confortable with the venue, I think I will leave him. He is mature for his age and I think he would hate me hanging around!!


***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum?
both older kids (nearly 5 and nearly 7) are allowed to try soft drink but neither of them particularly like it. DD1 will drink a small cup, DS only drinks water. Bubblegum - not sure, when they ask me I guess!!


***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??
Both my older two have seen Jurassic Park (which I think is scary) and have coped fine, I think because they know dinosaurs no longer exist, so it couldnt happen.

***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??
I guess when they ask. At the moment both older kids consider our friend's kids to be their friends, so they are always on the guest list.

***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?
as above, for her 5th birthday. We will talk her through the process first and I think she will handle the cleaning etc just fine. I am sure she will love it, she has been asking for 'holes in her ears' for about a year.


*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?
have been doing this for a while, I guess since DS was about 5 and DD1 was about 3. They went through a phase of showering together, I would yell out the occasional reminder about cleaning and not playing. Lol. Dont leave them alone in the bath though as DD2 is in there too and she is only 15months.

q

Toilet - not really sure (I don't have a boy anyway) BUT this is something that I was just thinking about today! I was at the mall and there was a woman in the women's toilets with her two sons, who I would say looked to be about 8 and 10. I felt most uncomfortable with them in there and thought that certainly by that age, they should have been allowed to go into the men's (there would have at least been two of them together rather than one child alone). I then saw a man walking out the men's with his daughter who looked about 6, so not very old, but still I can't imagine it's nice for a little girl having to go into the men's! This particular mall is located in a very safe area, and there are parents' rooms and disabled toilets right next to the other ones, so I couldn't understand why either of those parents had chosen to do that. In general I think it depends not just on the age/maturity of the child, but also what the facilities are like.

Treats - any age really, don't think DD has ever had lemonade but she's tried Coke and she hates it. My motto is, as long as the child isn't so young that the treat is going to be a choking hazard!

Movies - depends on the child's maturity and on the movie itself. I am definitely a firm believer in abiding by the official censor's classification. And I would much rather watch a movie with a child so that I am there to explain it, than found that they watched it round at someone else's place with no parental guidance at all. So there is a lot to consider. I used to be a Manager at a movie theatre and I can remember this one woman lodging a complaint that "we" had allowed her 8-year-old to purchase tickets to, and watch, Bridget Jones's Diary. The movie did not have an age restriction and therefore the movie theatre was certainly not at fault, but I wouldn't have wanted my 8-year-old to watch it either. So, if you want to have control over what movies your kids are watching, take them to the counter and buy the damn tickets for them, don't just drop them off in the foyer!!!

Ear piercing - whenever! My DD would be allowed to have hers done now if she wanted to, but she doesn't. I got mine done at 6 (as did everyone in my class) and I would say that either 5 or 6 is a good age.

Bad people are not exempt from entering 'safe' areas. Did you read what I wrote about the 9 yr old in my post? That was in a 'safe' shopping centre that I have shopped in many times. My dd goes in the men's with dh - and he vows and declares that if it gets to the point where she won't go in.... he will go into the ladies with her. I'm grateful my hubby takes it seriously. Why does it make you uncomfortable for a 10 yr old boy to be in the toilet? You can't see in the cubicle.... do you make men use a different bathroom or toilet in your home?

Bad people are not exempt from entering 'safe' areas. Did you read what I wrote about the 9 yr old in my post? That was in a 'safe' shopping centre that I have shopped in many times. My dd goes in the men's with dh - and he vows and declares that if it gets to the point where she won't go in.... he will go into the ladies with her. I'm grateful my hubby takes it seriously. Why does it make you uncomfortable for a 10 yr old boy to be in the toilet? You can't see in the cubicle.... do you make men use a different bathroom or toilet in your home?

Yes I read your post and of course that is awful, but whilst bad people are obviously not exempt from entering safe areas, I'm not sure that they'd be in the second-busiest shopping mall in the whole country in the middle of a busy Sunday afternoon. Pretty sure they'd only be in somewhere that is a bit quieter.

I guess one of the reasons it made me uncomfortable was that I only really noticed the boys because they were standing there looking very uncomfortable themselves, which made me think that they probably would have prefer to have gone into the men's.

As I said, there were parents' rooms and disabled toilets there (and this place has so many disabled toilets that there is literally always one available, even if the parents' room had been in use) so I didn't see why the parents had chosen not to use those options. I mean, I'll very often use the disabled with DD just because there is more space in there for the two of us.

So, that is what I meant when I said that it depends on the facilities available. I wouldn't expect a parent to send their child in to the toilets alone at any age if they weren't comfortable with it, but I would expect that parents do make use of other facilities if/when they are available.

And as for not seeing into the cubicle, I have found in other places (where parents facilities are not available) that women might leave the cubicle door open so that they can see their child who is in a stroller if they can't bring it in the cubicle. I have also seen unaccompanied children who cannot/do not close the door so they're exposed. So what you are saying is that public toilets shouldn't ever bother being gender-segregated, right? Can't say I agree.

It wouldn't bother me if there wernt gender specific toilets. Not one bit - if the door can be closed it doesn't bother me.

When dd was in a pram I used to take her out of the pram and into the loo with me so that I could shut the door. Or like you said is find a disabled toilet that the pram could fit. If children are unable to shut the door themselves... where is the parent?

I think you can never be too paranoid about these things... you can never say it won't happen to your kids... no matter the area or how violence might usually occur, there is always the exception. All it takes is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

***At what age do you allow you son to use the "boys" toilets alone instead of coming into the girls/family toilet with you?


I would not let my child for awhile in the toilet alone til maybe 10 as there are some wierdo's out there that they think they do anything they want. I have a shopping centre that is very busy but didn't stop the creep killing the little girl while her brother, uncle and father was outside the toilet waiting down the corridor as he worked there and unfortunately it happened in the disabled toilet it made headline a few years ago and I wil be the guard outside the toilet too


***At what age do you drop of your child at a birthday party instead of coming in too? Does it vary if its a venue or a family you dont know well?

It depends on the area in which it is held also on the family if I know/ trust them enough


***At what age do you allow your child to try treats like lemonade or even bubblegum? lemonade

he has tried but bubblegum no and he won't until he can actually be allowed out on his own as it can be stuck anywhere and is hard to get up



***When do you allow your child to see a scary movie (like transformers), the "real" movie, not just cartoons??


It depends on the movie and the child, my mum used to view movies before allowing us to see it as she wanted to know what happens in the film and what she thought we could handle so I will be doing the same

***What age do you stop inviting friends to your children birthday party out of obligation/because they are your friends and allow your child to have control over the list??


I am one for family events so don't do general parties


***what age would you let your daughter get her ear pierced?


I suppose when she can ask? I don't have a girl so it is hard to say now when I would let her


*** What age does your son (and i suppose daughter too) have a shower/bath by themselves without your help?


depends on the child as some children can be abit wild in the bath lol

our boys are all doing the toilet thing and have since school age(5-6) when the sign at the pool says that school aged boys not allowed in female toilet.I normally send then in together or wait outside, if dh is with us he takes them.
Movies- our boys have watched tranformer type movies from about 7
actually everything from around 7yrs