11 Year Old Bathroom Time

Do you think he's building a bomb or what?
Seriously. You can gently ask him if he's having tummy trouble, but beyond that leave him alone and don't invade his privacy.

It's totally normal for a variety of reasons. Talk to the pediatrician or a good librarian about typical pre-teen and teen privacy and puberty issues (the librarian can recommend some good books for both your and your son). If you haven't had a series of age-appropriate discussions with him about all the changes and feelings he's having and will have, you'd best get started. Even if you started when he was 7, 8 and 9, an updated review is a good idea, and it will set the stage for open communications when he enters the teen years.

The terrible diet, though, is entirely under your control. Kids aren't buying their own food, and if you're allowing him to eat junk or avoid fruits/vegetables because you don't want to hear arguments or whining (and who does?), you're going to have a very tough few years when he's a teen and really defying you. Constipation is not normal for most people unless they have IBS type conditions, and it's not healthy, so this is entirely fixable and should be dealt with asap.

He has constipation issues due to a "terrible diet". MOM.... YOU are responsible for providing a healthy diet!!!!!

Other than that, he's 11... ask him if something is wrong.

If my 11 year old is in the bathroom for a long time he's either going #2 or he's "brushing his teeth."

If he's going #2, he's probably been done for quite some time and is just sitting there playing on his phone.

If he's "brushing his teeth," he's probably looking at himself in the mirror and flexing his muscles and trying different things with his hair.

The only time we say anything is if someone else needs to use the bathroom or he is supposed to be doing something else (homework or chores). Other than that, we just leave him be.

I don't know if this is normal for kids that age or not, but usually my son isn't doing anything wrong, so I just don't really worry about it.

At 11 yrs old - he eats what you give him.
He can't have a terrible diet unless you provide it for him.
Get his diet straightened out and address any issues with the constipation.
Work with your pediatrician on that.

It's less of a problem if you have more than one bathroom in the house but if it's the only one and people are waiting on him to use it - well that's annoying to everyone.
If you think he's masturbating - he might be using the bathroom if it's the only room that has a lock on the door.
See that his bedroom has a lock on it - preteens/teens have need of some privacy.

I don't know, ask him. Maybe he is reading a book or playing on his cellphone, something a lot of kids and adults do when they are sitting on the toilet and doing #2.

My six year old often spends that much time in the bathroom. My dad and my husband spend even longer. I guess I never thought it was an issue.. I just thought it was something all males do.

I have to laugh. I often spend more than 20 minutes in the bathroom. My teen grandchild is often an hour or so in the bathroom. I don't understand why you're concerned.

I also don't understand why his diet is unhealthy. Aren't you in charge of what he eats? To me, a poor diet resulting in constipation is more serious than 20 minutes in the bathroom.

This totally normal for teens of all ages and kids moving towards puberty. Also totally normal for some people to just spend extra time sitting on the toilet reading or playing with electronics, etc. Unless there is someone else waiting to use the bathroom, I'd say nothing

why is your 11 year old doing the household grocery shopping?
khairete
S.

Yeah, he's 11. Probably masturbating. Give him his privacy.

Would you ask the same question if you had a girl? Girls spend twice as much time in the bathroom, lol!