When did you ditch the changing table?

eeclem · February 2011

I think I've become oddly attached. We should do some rearranging in C's room and the biggest difference would be taking out the changing table. It's an older model, with a thin pad and 6 inch rail all around, so we've been able to use it up until now. It's the perfect height for me and although he can sometimes put up a fight, C is generally pretty cooperative about laying down for diaper changes and getting dressed, getting jammies on, etc. Sadly, it takes up a lot of space and C is getting too tall for it.

I realize this is a stupid question even as I type it: how do you transition to not using one? I know the answer is the floor, but, ugh. Our floor always seems so dirty (we have two dogs and a mix of hardwoods and rugs). And doesn't all the crouching down bother your back and knees?

This is me and my first world problems. I'm scared to remove a piece of furniture that 98% of the world functions without.

HikerBride07 · February 2011

We had one in the beginning but never used it. Actually it was just the changing pad on top of a dresser. We've always done changes on the bed, couch, floor, wherever. Usually the floor. We do use one of those fold up waterproof pads that you can keep in your purse sometimes too. I used to throw a large prefold diaper under DD on the floor just in case she peed during a change. Now she runs and gets a pillow off the couch and grabs a diaper and lays down for me.

luvmagoldn · February 2011

I still use ours. I moved it out of the play room and in to the laundry room to make more space (in his bedroom we have a pad on top of the dresser, still use that too). I really needed the table down stairs for the storage more than anything else (I couldn't figure out where to keep diapers, wipes, creams, etc).

It works well in an out-of-the-way place. I will probably continue to use it as long as DS is willing to lie down on it.

Sofka · February 2011

we used ours until about 20-21 mo old, DS came when DD was almost 20mo old and we started using it less and less; DH now uses the floor with DD and if she goes on the potty, he uses the bathroom; she's in pull-ups only now so he can also change her while she's standing.

I love our changing table, both of the kids are poopers and there've been times with projectile poop so I would not dare change them anywhere else! DD is now potty-trained for pooping.

jenarella · February 2011

Ha, we still have the pad on top of the dresser even though we haven't used it in a long, long time. We are going to have to move the dresser to unscrew it and it just hasn't made it to the top of the priority list. Troy was a major squirmer, so had to abandon it pretty early for the floor - yes it is a pain on your back. We always put another changing pad under him, we had 2.

My ILs have the kind of changing table you're talking about - it is great for storage with all the shelves underneath.

LMH1209 · February 2011

We never had a separate changing table, but we used the changing table on our Chicco playard until DS was about four or five months old. Since then, we usually change him on a futon that happened to be in his room (our old office). It's higher than the floor but lower than a changing table. If we didn't have the futon already there, I probably would have used the floor. DS often fights diaper changes, and changing him anywhere where I can't throw a leg over him just doesn't work. (Sometimes throwing a leg over him doesn't even work, and I end up changing him while he's standing.)

tracy042206 · February 2011

Gosh, I think we ditched it with Maggie around 6mo and then I barely used with Molly except the one night where she had puked everywhere I needed somewhere to put her while we cleaned up.

We mostly use the floor and to avoid any accidents on the carpet I use blankets on the rugs/floors and just throw those in the laundry each week. It really isn't rough on my back if I kneel down on the floor to change the diaper and that is how I dress her in the mornings anyway.

AgrippaRidesAgain · February 2011

At 7 months when DS learned to crawl and perfected his alligator death roll, LOL.

ETA: We just put the changing mat on the floor and kept using it. It's completely flat at this point, but DS is now attached to it, so getting a new one would go badly. That, and he will be PTed soon, right? Right?

JKM416 · February 2011

Hmm, I'm in the minority. We used it for DD until after her second birthday - and while DH kept putting her up there for a while after that, I was in my third trimester and it was awkward to lift her. So I switched to doing it on the floor, which hurt my knees and back (maybe exacerbated by the pregnancy, too). DS is still going strong on it. I just find it more awkward to always have to grab all my supplies, put them on the floor, wrestle him down there and make him stay put, risk getting poop on the carpet, etc. He understands that when he's on the changing table, he shouldn't squirm and is very cooperative. He did go through a wicked squirmy stage around ?seven? months, and I had to fight him to stay on it...but when I'd try to change him on the floor instead, it was ten times worse...I had to literally pin him with wrestling moves. Yes, he's a bit long for it now and likes to dangle his legs over one side, but I'm always right there to keep him safe. There's no space in his room for a day bed, and the crib isn't turning into a toddler bed anytime soon. So...the changing table is staying put in his room indefinitely!

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