OT - What the Heck Is A "Family Restroom"?

 I was in our brand new local Super Target store last night, and as I headed for the "boys room" I saw THREE doors, one for women, one for men, and one labeled "famly restroom".   Through the open door I could just see a single commode and sink in this "family restroom".   

  What in the world is a "family restroom"?   Are there families that actually prefer going to potty in front of each other, or what?       Call me old-fashioned, but what happened to the days when fathers and sons went in one and mothers and daughters (and/or their very young boys) in the other?  

LOL....We LOVE the family restrooms.  As a mom with 2 small children it's nice to be able to roll the big old stroller into one restroom and have a place where my 4 year old can be going potty, washing her hands, etc... while I am changing my 10 month old and then going potty myself.  It's just a bigger more private bathroom for families with little kids.  Lots of times Dad's don't feel comfortable taking their young daughters into the mens room (not to mention the yuck factor of the mens room ....so I've heard) ...or little boys don't want to go into the women's restroom.  Plus, sometimes the (nicer) family restrooms have a clean and private rest area where nursing mothers can feed their babies...etc.  I would imagine it's also a nice alternative for handicapped persons...etc.  I know at our mall...the family restrooms actually have two toilets in them...one is regular sized for adults and the other is smaller so it's easier for the little ones.  They also have a smaller/shorter sink...etc.  My daughter gets all excited about that!

Hope that answers your question!

 Yes ..  makes sense, now ..   Thanks  ..  

Good explaination of the family restrooms.  It is really nice for us because I have two small boys and they are old enough to not want to go in the ladies room but not really old enough to trust to go into the mens room alone.  It was esp. nice when my youngest was still in a baby carrier or stroller because those bathroom stalls aren't big enough for a fat girl, a toddler, and a baby carrier/stroller!  heh 

Lisa

Batswingman, ole buddy. I was about to poke fun at you over this but then I realized that Texas has just made a law against being mean to Texans on the Internet. I am kidding of course, the Texas law is against cyber bullying. The poster above summed it up very nicely. They also work out well for the handicapped in wheelchairs. Now the stranger part about this is that I work for a large, US, auto company and in the plant I worked at last week they have these "Family Johns" in the building. Now once, twenty years ago, I remember the company having a family open house day. We haven't had one since. So explain to me why a factory needs a third restroom. Oh, yeah, I bet I can guess why; there must be some government subsidy for this and some smart guy in corporate figured out how to save a few million dollars in taxes by adding these restrooms.

 Hmmm    that makes one wonder, doesn't it?     

Its also a restroom where a father can take their daughter to do her business so he doesn't have to take her to the men's room and say close your eyes and women can take their sons to so they don't have to walk into the ladies room and they can stand right outside because usually the family room is a one toilet bathroom for that purpose and for women to breast-feed privately.

Handicapped people who need assistance use them.  They were very good when my brother was taking care of his wife with alzheimer's disease.  They eliminate the need for both men's and women's rooms to be handicapped equiped also.  Loris

I wish more places had these. When I was using a wheelchair while my broken ankle was healing, I noticed the handicapped stalls usually have the changing tables in them.

So who's to say who gets first choice? The cripple w/ a wheelchair, walker, crutches, etc...or the kid with the poop pants problem?

Thankfully I never ran into this issue when I used a wheelchair but then again I was only in it for two months.

There should be more of them. The world being what it is today it provides a safe place for our children to go to the bathroom.