Buddy System for Restroom Visits

If two five year olds go to the bathroom together, they're just going to play in the water and soap. Bad idea...

I've been in the classroom 17 years. Each grade level has their own bathrooms.

We don't send children on a buddy system. The main thing we keep track of is the younger ones playing in the soap and wasting time.

Children have designated times for bathroom breaks and of course if a child has to go when it's not "time" they are allowed to go.

There's usually no need for a buddy or teacher to monitor the bathrooms.

Our kids kindergarten classes always had their own little washroom right off the classroom. They were never assigned a buddy.

Even as they got a bit older they just went on their own. The school is secure.

At a summer program (is it at the school where she will be going) likely someone will keep track of who is in the restroom and if it's any kind of distance from the room they are in (or inside) they'll have someone show them, etc. It's always been that way in our experience. Often two kids end up going (sometimes more) and they will have a pee break.

But no - I have never heard of the buddy system for washroom breaks at school (or in day camps, etc.). We've never run into any issues if that helps.

Most kindergartens I've ever seen have a small bathroom in the classroom.
The kids don't get lost and the teacher is right there if needed.
Why don't you ask the school about how they handle it?

You do post a lot of questions and seem extremely worried about things regarding this child. While you are new to all of this, remember that the camps and schools and staff are not.

I think I would ask what the procedures are. There are a number of acceptable policies. You want some controls but not excessive controls - so here are the factors I'd ask about:
1) how far is the bathroom from the areas she will be in? Is is just short walk?
2) are there bathroom breaks scheduled (like everyone goes before using the pool or going to lunch)
3) does someone go along?
4) Is the same bathroom used by much older kids or adults?
5) Is there a "pass" program of some sort, where a child either takes a large wooden key or a laminated sign or something that indicates her classroom/camp unit so she can be returned to her group if lost, and that indicates to the classroom/unit staff that they've got (for example) 1 boy and 1 girl off to the rest rooms? Many classes do this, with, for example, a clothespin with her name on it clipped to the "bathroom" sign) - anything that's an easy visual cue to the staff of who is where.

If not one of the above are "checked off" then you have a problem. If 1 or more are under control, I'm sure she's fine.

It is normal for camps, like classrooms, to ask parents to provide a spare set of clothes, not just for kids who have bathroom accidents but for those who fall in the mud, spill a quart of finger paint, or any other number of messy outcomes.

Don't be concerned. I'm pretty sure the reason the schools use a buddy system is to make sure that the children don't get "lost" in the bathroom meaning they start to get distracted, waste time, play, etc. Having a buddy there keeps the kids on task and focussed to get back to class, and if not, then their buddy is there to prompt them!

Kindergarten is hard but also so fun. It's hard to let go and see your baby growing up, but it will also be amazing. You will be shocked and joyed to see the progress she makes and all the things she learns!

We used the buddy system at summer camp, but I've never heard of an elementary school using it.

Our school does have a kindergarten hallway, so the kindergartners have their own bathroom and their own drinking fountains. Even in the older grades, the teachers often have times when all the kids go to the restroom. They also walk the halls very quietly and in lines. It's very cute and very well organized.

I really do understand where you're coming from. It can be really tough when your first child begins school. When our oldest started kindergarten, I was a wreck! Then his teacher told us that she didn't use email. What? Turned out to be a good thing because it forced me to step back. She was a fabulous teacher, and he did just fine.

Hang in there! You'll be a pro at this before you know it.

I guess unless she is having trouble wetting herself/not wiping OR the summer program uses a bathroom that random adults are using I wouldn't worry.

BUT now is a great time for her to learn selfcare skills like how to wipe/flush/wash independently. How to speak up something makes her uncomfortable.

I didn't have my kids use the bathroom alone at target / grocery store until they were closer to 8 yrs old. But that is out in public where I didn't trust people.

Our Kindergarten in California had bathrooms in the classroom.

Here in Georgia? I don't know. I do know that our kids aren't supposed to be roaming the halls alone, even with a hall pass.

My youngest told me that they have the "buddy system" and they can't vary from their hall pass. When someone goes to the nurses office? They have to go in a trio, then the two walk back together.

I understand being anxious. Ask questions.

my kids haven't been in elementary school for 4 and 6 years....with that being said? Their school employed the buddy system - 3 kids - one to stay if there is a problem and one to go get help. Do I think it's overboard? Yes.

ETA - our kindergarten rooms have two bathrooms in their rooms so they don't leave the room. Our 1st grade to 6th grade? Walk down the halls to the bathrooms.

Unless your daughter is going to be in a program where she is outside and around non-cleared adults? I might be hesitant. I'd talk with the director of the program and find out where they will be and who they will be around.

I have not seen a buddy system in any of the elementary schools I have worked in. The kindergartens either have a washroom attached to the classroom, or very near by. In nursery school the teacher walked the entire group to the washrooms for a bathroom break and waited in the hall outside the washroom. The schools I have been enough have enough security measures in place without making kids use the washroom in pairs. Maybe the buddy system is for kinders who do not have a washroom near them?

I guess if it is a summer program, they may not have the same "rules" that may be employed the rest of the year - however, if the building is secure (ours is - I think many schools are nowadays), what would the buddy system actually do to increase safety?

You do seem a bit anxious about issues like this.

Good luck! The first kiddo is always the toughest.

In kindergarten rooms across the country they have a bathroom in the classroom so the kids can go any time they need to. They usually have the parents send a gallon size zip lock baggie and at least one set of clean clothing to stay at school in the case of accidents.

Kindergartners have accidents. They have a huge mental growth spurt over kindergarten and 1st grade and a physical one too. Their brain is super busy processing and storing all they are experiencing and bathroom stuff gets put on the back burner so they will have accidents and that's just part of kindergarten.

I find it appalling that any school would have a buddy system for the bathroom. If the building isn't safe enough that a child can walk down the hall or to the restroom on their own then it's not safe enough for my child to be in those walls and in the care of those people.