Imagine this. You are a dad, you are out and about with your young daughter, and she is busting to go to the loo.

There are no parents' rooms available. The only options are the men's and women's toilets.

What do you do?

That is the dilemma facing fathers like Noosa's Eli Madigan and two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Alaya.

Eli Madigan with partner Kara Rose and daughter Alaya. ( Supplied: Kara Rose )

His partner Kara Rose said her daughter, who is toilet trained, wanted to go into the women's toilets when taken by her father.

"My partner and her were at the shops and there was only male and female toilets and he goes, 'Where do I take her?' and I didn't know," Ms Rose said.

The couple have another child, a boy, on the way in the coming weeks.

"Now he's starting to take Alaya to the park so they can have their time together. And when the little one's born he'll be doing a lot more one-on-one with her to help more and it's just that question of which bathroom is the right one to go to."

Ms Rose said in the past when faced with a choice, her partner has taken their daughter into the women's toilet.

"That's the right thing to do for her, because he knows what she's like … and she'd probably ask, 'Why am I in the males?' if she was in there," Ms Rose said.

But Ms Rose said her partner was worried about upsetting any women and wanted to avoid confrontation.

"What's the so-called right thing to do? Mums always take their sons to the toilet, you always see mums in the toilets with their little boys and no one bats an eyelid. When it's father and daughter in the female toilets, it can get looked upon a bit differently," she said.

"I don't want him to have to face that confrontation or my daughter being involved in it. I've heard some stories and some women are very vocal and abusive about it … very out of line."

Ms Rose took the issue to a local Facebook community group on Friday where she said the majority of respondents backed her partner taking their daughter to the women's toilets.

"Some said, 'It's 2018, people need to get over it'. That's my opinion, I wouldn't care less. If I saw another dad in their with their daughter, I'd think, 'Good on him'.

"We should be supportive of them. I don't think there's enough support for fathers in general especially when it comes to silly little things like that.

"A lot of people also said take them to the disabled toilets or parents' room, but that's not always an option. Some parks only have male and female, same with restaurants and cafes."

Don't put parental insecurities on children: psychologist

Parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson from Brisbane-based Happy Families acknowledged it was a tricky situation, but said common sense applied.

"The first thing is I don't think it's ever appropriate for an adult male to be taking his daughter to the female toilets so that she's comfortable," Dr Coulson said.

"That would certainly make a lot of females very uncomfortable, and that wouldn't be appropriate.

"Similarly it doesn't seem appropriate that a woman would take her son into the male toilets.

"We have gendered toilets so that people feel safe, and that should be respected. I think that's an appropriate social norm that we have."

Dr Coulson, who has six daughters, said he had been put in the same situation countless times.

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"I just wait outside while my daughter goes in. If she's too young to go in on her own and there isn't a parents' room available, I'll approach a random stranger and say to her, 'I'm wondering if you might help me. I have a daughter who needs to use the bathroom. Perhaps you could just escort her in and out'.

"That's always worked really well, no one's had a problem with that.

"The reality is until they're at least three or four years of age, you just take them into the toilet that you use.

"My four or five-year-old daughter, if necessary, if I'm so uncomfortable letting her go and use a female toilet on her own, I'll just carry her into the men's room, get some toilet paper and wipe the seat, and help her out."

Dr Coulson said parents were becoming "hypersensitive".

"A two-and-a-half-year-old girl going into a men's restroom and seeing three or four men standing with their faces to the wall as they do their business, that two-and-a-half-year-old is going to be completely oblivious.

"They're not sitting there taking it all in and wondering if they can get a sneak peek."

Dr Coulson said parents had to "stop putting on to their children their insecurities".

"Young kids are oblivious, they just want to go to the bathroom so as long as it's clean and safe and they have appropriate supervision, the job can get done," he said.

"It doesn't matter if it's the male or female toilets. So long as it's clean and safe, problem solved."

'I do not wish a man to walk into the women's toilets'

ABC Brisbane Facebook followers were split over what to do in the situation.

Many said they would use the disabled toilets over the gendered bathrooms.

Others said ...

"I would ask a reliable and trustworthy looking woman who is going in if she would help a guy out and take my little girl in." Ward Whittaker

"He takes her to the womens' toilets. Other women understand. My husband did this 30 years ago with our daughter. No one ever said a thing to him about it. He always announced he was coming in etc and was polite. Women's toilets have stalls. Whats the big deal." D'Lora McCandless

"I see no harm in a man bringing his daughter into a women's toilet." Emma Levarre-Waters

"Women's room. Any woman who would comment need to be told to f*** off! We have 2 daughters. When they were younger hb had to do this. He never encountered any problem as far as I'm aware." Therese Houghton