This Dad Uses The Women's Restroom When He Takes His Daughters To The Bathroom — Here's How People Are Responding

    "The men's bathroom is not set up for a man with kids."

    Krista Torres
    by Krista Torres

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Muhammed Nitoto is a proud dad to his two adorable daughters, 5-year-old Zendaya and 3-year-old Zuri.

    And Muhammed shares all things related to dad life on his Instagram account, @chroniclesofdaddy.

    As a man trying to raise two girls, Muhammed is constantly learning new things while navigating fatherhood. For example, he recently shared how he sits when he pees because — if you know anything about kids — privacy isn't in their vocabulary, even when you're using the toilet. He sits so they don't see anything they shouldn't! Brilliant.

    Speaking of using the restroom, Muhammed also caught the attention of several women on Instagram when he shared one "dad" obstacle he's had to work around — taking his daughters to the restroom in public.

    On Instagram, Muhammed explained that he uses the women's restroom with his daughters (when family restrooms aren't an option) because men's restrooms lack privacy, are filthy, and overall are not set up for dads. He then asked women on Instagram how it made them feel.

    In his Instagram, he captioned, "...They are too young to go on their own, so I have to go in with them. I try to be as respectful to women as I can while doing so, which consists of knocking on the door before entering and announcing myself. If someone is inside, I make sure they know I am a dad coming in with his daughter and make sure they are comfortable with that. Once inside our stall, I still am aware of the door, and whenever I hear it open and someone new is coming in, I announce myself again and make sure they know I'm inside with my child so that they aren't surprised. Women's bathrooms are so much cleaner and set up perfect if you have children. The changing station is usually inside a stall instead of just out in the open and it's always clean. As a girl dad, I can't help but want to protect my daughters from all things that aren't for them and the men's bathroom is 100% one of those things..."

    Right away, it was evident that women were on board with Muhammed using the women's restroom with his girls.

    Instagram: @chroniclesofdaddy

    Many also pointed out how they take younger boys they are caring for into the women's restroom because they can't send them into the men's restroom alone.

    Instagram: @chroniclesofdaddy

    The consensus is that women 100% support him.

    Instagram: @chroniclesofdaddy

    BuzzFeed spoke to Muhammed, who said the first time he used the men's restroom to change his daughters, he felt completely out of place. "The men's bathroom is not set up for a man with kids. The changing table was very close to the urinal and it was out in the open. I literally had no privacy to change my baby. Not to mention, it was nasty and completely unacceptable for my daughters."

    All of the positive responses have made Muhammed feel better about his choice to use the women's restroom with his daughters. "It seems women understand because, usually, moms are the ones out alone with the kids having to figure it out," he said.

    And although he is happy to know that women are OK with him bringing his girls into the women's restroom, Muhammed said he hopes his post helps other girl dads. "It's a solution to a problem we all face when out with our kids alone. I also want women to hear what dads have to figure out while out with the kids. The world is so used to only seeing active moms out doing it alone, but now dads are more involved and we have some obstacles that we have to learn to navigate, just like moms."

    I think what we would all really like to see (in addition to more family and all-gender restrooms!) is men's restrooms becoming more dad-friendly in general. "Having changing tables inside men's bathrooms is very important — a lot of men's restrooms do not have them. Also, having those stations inside of stalls instead of in the open would also be very helpful. Of course, cleaning should be a top priority as well," added Muhammed.

    "Becoming a 'girl dad' has been like starting school all over again. There are so many things that we, as men, never learn or even think about as little boys. But once we become fathers of daughters, we need to know those things. I was completely lost on so many things and, while my wife is very helpful, some of those learning experiences are things she doesn't have to think about, like 'which bathroom to use while in public' or 'how to use the bathroom yourself while out with the kids.' Needless to say, I want to have open discussions about these kinds of topics," concluded Muhammed.

    You can follow Chronicles of Daddy on Instagram and TikTok!