"I've been to a men's bathroom millions of times but walking in with your daughter makes you look at it completely differently."
Having a kid tell you they need to use the toilet while you're mid-queue at the shops can be a stressful enough ordeal, but for girl dads, it comes with an extra set of complications.
One California father is making a strong case for allowing men to take their daughters to the ladies loo.
Muhammed Nitoto, the parenting blogger behind the Chronicles of Daddy, swears by using the women's restrooms with his two daughters in a respectful manner.
"Dads are left to decide between taking their daughters to the men's bathroom or the women's," he wrote in an Instagram post. "Now when first hit with this choice I did what most men would do which is, I went to the men's bathroom.
"I've been to a men's bathroom millions of times but walking in with your daughter makes you look at it completely different. Men's bathrooms are DISGUSTING," he continued.
"They smell like pee and nothing is setup for a woman or a person with a child. The changing table was right next to the urinal which means my child literally would be next to where men pee [when she's being changed]."
The dad said that with the safety and comfort of his daughters Zendaya, 5, and Zuri, 3, at the top of his priorities, he was in no way willing to continue bringing them into what he saw as an unsanitary space where men would be coming in and out and using urinals.
He now uses the women's bathroom when he's out and about and his daughters need the loo if there isn't a family or gender-neutral facility, going in with them as they're too young to enter alone.
"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, making sure if someone is inside that they know I am a Dad coming in with his daughter and making sure they are comfortable with that," he said.
The dad added that even when in the stall he'll announce himself again whenever the door opens so that the women entering know a dad is on toilet duty and aren't surprised or alarmed when they see a man in the ladies' room.
While the topic of gendered and gender-neutral bathrooms has recently become a debated issue, Muhammed said he’s never encountered a person who was put off by his presence or who wasn't understanding of his situation.
“Being a dad with daughters, it’s just a completely different experience than being a mom with a son,” he told Today. "And I think moms understand that."
Until gender-neutral/family toilets become more common or men's bathrooms become more accommodating, the women's loo is where he'll be bringing his girls when he's out and about.
"Women's bathrooms are so much cleaner and set up perfectly just incase they have children," he explained on Instagram. "The changing station is usually inside a stall instead of just 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."
