A Montreal mother says she was shocked to learn that her four-year-old son was not allowed to use the bathroom in the women’s change room at the indoor pool at Benny Park in Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
Amanda Galanopoulos told Global News she was watching her son, Connor, at the splash pad when he told her, “I need to pee.”
She said she scooped him up in a rush and headed to the pool, where they had previously taken swimming lessons.
As they tried to enter the change room, Galanopoulos said an employee told her, her son was not allowed in because he was too old.
“I thought she was going to tell me, ‘sorry, you can’t use it because he’s cleaning,’ but instead, she looked at my son and said ‘sorry, how old is he?’’” she told Global News.
“I said, ‘four, can I go now?’ And she said, ‘no, I’m sorry, he can’t be in here.'”
A poster on the door states children over the age of three must use the “appropriate” change rooms or go to the family change room.
“I fully understand. I just personally feel that four, that’s cutting it really low.”
Galanopoulos insists the stalls in the family room are often crowded and it “needs to be larger if they are to impose such an odd restriction.”
In a written statement, city officials told Global News the rule was put in place because some women are not comfortable undressing in front of a child who is a certain age.
“[Four is] too young for children to change clothes by themselves,” argued mother Sadaf Shahamat.
Many mothers who use the pool insisted if the size of the family change room cannot change, the age limit should be increased.
Marra explained most three-year-olds she knows do not get changed by themselves and added “a lot are still in diapers.”
The borough said it is not opposed to changing the rule and it will check to see if this is a common issue with pool users.
In the next few weeks, visitors to the pool will be able to share their opinions either by filling out a form onsite or by calling 311.
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