Changing diapers in public

jesusita2002 · September 2011

So I have noticed when going out and about with our son, there isn't always a changing table in the bathrooms or at times even a bench or large enough counter. What do you ladies do if your little one is in desperate need of a diaper change and you are out and about/at dinner without a changing surface to be had?

In desperation I've gotten on the floor of a bathroom stall to change him (no table, bench, booth, or anything of that sort) and fortunately had one of those travel changing pads in the diaper bag. Is this what everyone else does? Oh, and I'm not the tallest person ever so lap space is limited so I know he won't fit there.

ElatedMom2B · September 2011

Luckily I have never been in that situation but, if I was, I would first try to go out to the car first if the only other option was a bathroom floor. Otherwise, wee do what we gotta do, right? The worst spot I have ever had to change a diaper was in an airplane lav - they have a changing table but it wasn't very condusive to changing a 17 month old at the time!!

zro · September 2011

boohooboohooboohoo

IlliniQT · September 2011

I also do them in the car if that's the only option.

suzyqjmu · September 2011

zro:
boohooboohooboohoo

I don't get this post. I see that it is your first post, and it doesn't seem very nice or helpful. Why bother writing anything at all?

BakingMrsC · September 2011

I never realized how many public places don't have a baby changing table/wall thing. If I have her stroller with me, I'll put a blanket over it to cover her up and change her in the stroller. But if the bathroom floor is my only option, I keep some disposable pads in the diaper bag. I lay down the disposable pad, then her nice changing pad on top of that.

NeonEyeliner77 · September 2011

I tend to change Z in the car even if there is a changing table only because he's one of those babies that start screaming the minute his outfit comes unsnapped and his diaper is off. There are a surprising amount of places without changing areas anyway.

Yellow_Daisy · September 2011

I go to the car, I can't imagine using the bathroom floor, ick. If I couldn't get to the car I would put two chairs together and do it in the middle of the restaurant. I think it's terrible when I go to a place that doesn't have a changing table in the restroom and I usually say something to the manager to make them aware that they are lacking in the customer service dept.

aichandaich · September 2011

I've used LO's stroller before... she needed it right now. Desperate times, semi-desperate measures

12bailey18 · September 2011

The only time I've been in that situation is when I've had the stroller with me so we just reclined the seat and changed him there. I've also done it in the car.

madelinemurski606 · September 2011

NeonEyeliner77:
I tend to change Z in the car even if there is a changing table only because he's one of those babies that start screaming the minute his outfit comes unsnapped and his diaper is off. There are a surprising amount of places without changing areas anyway.

I always do diaper changes in the car. I don't like the changing tables in the bathrooms because I think they're gross and I do good to get out of the house and have diapers, the travel changing pad is one more thing for me to forget LOL.

WeWearCombatBoots · September 2011

I have never seen a bathroom without one, and I thought every bathroom had to have one. Where in the world are you going that doesn't have a baby changer? Are you looking in the stalls? If there isn't one out to use, then they are usually in the handicapped stall.

suzyqjmu · September 2011

WeWearCombatBoots:
I have never seen a bathroom without one, and I thought every bathroom had to have one. Where in the world are you going that doesn't have a baby changer? Are you looking in the stalls? If there isn't one out to use, then they are usually in the handicapped stall.

I live outside Boston, and it is very common not to have them.

rakayla · September 2011

Yellow_Daisy:
I go to the car, I can't imagine using the bathroom floor, ick. If I couldn't get to the car I would put two chairs together and do it in the middle of the restaurant. I think it's terrible when I go to a place that doesn't have a changing table in the restroom and I usually say something to the manager to make them aware that they are lacking in the customer service dept.

I am glad to see that I am not the only one to do this! It's the restraurant's responsibilty to provide a changing area for their customers, especially so called family restrauants. I refuse to put my baby on the floor of a bathroom, especially after having cleaned them. Had I realized before ordering dinner that they didn't have a changing station then we would have gone elsewhere and will not be going back until they fix that problem.

Pockety · September 2011

I've changed DS in his stroller, and also in his carseat. I just put my changing pad down under him (I have the changing pad that came w/ the diaper bag, and I also carry disposables with me everywhere.) I wouldn't put DS on the floor of the bathroom; I'd go outside first. This may change when it's freezing outside, but not likely. I'd be more likely to put him on the floor outside the bathroom than in the bathroom - ick!!

ChelsiAnn13 · September 2011

I use my car usually. I call it the mama mobile. The passanger seat flips down flat and it even has a plastic back with little ledges. I use that as a changing table and then pop a movie into my car because my touch screen radio turns into a dvd player when not in motion and breast feed in there too (not that I am shy doing it in public).

samanthadarneille · September 2011

I have thought of this too. What I did was went and bought a pack of 5 seat covers for $1.00 in the travel section and leave them in the diaper bag, so when there is absolutely no space id put a seat cover on the toilet and sit on that, and change baby on my lap.

XSailoretteX · September 2011

suzyqjmu:
zro:
boohooboohooboohoo
I don't get this post. I see that it is your first post, and it doesn't seem very nice or helpful. Why bother writing anything at all?

Don't feed the trolls. It just makes them trollier.

XSailoretteX · September 2011

Floor + long paper towels + changing pad + something soft for DS' head.

Sorry, it isn't the fault of the restaurant patrons that the restaurant doesn't provide a changing table. They shouldn't have to smell baby poop while they're eating.

LEB2009 · September 2011

aichandaich:
I've used LO's stroller before... she needed it right now. Desperate times, semi-desperate measures

This - I was at the fall fair last year with my nephew and they only had a portapotties so I used the stroller to change him. I just made sure to put a receiving blanket and the change pad underneath him.

I too comment to restaurants/malls etc...if their public facilities have no change station - very consumer unfriendly

momtoRaegan041008 · September 2011

Lap, bench, booth seat, stroller, car, etc. I changed DD1 pretty much anywhere she needed a diaper change.

jesusita2002 · September 2011

I would have never thought to use the stroller or even pushing two chairs together! And yes, we have used the car before too but that's not always feasible.

As far as one of the previous posters' question, I've run into this predicament mainly in restaurants and a funeral home (though I can understand a funeral home). And yes, if I don't notice one in the common area of the bathroom, I do look in the stalls, including the handicapped ones.

And then to think of it, I think I even recall Betheny Frankel (sp?) changing her daughter on the bathroom floor in Betheny Ever After once

damabo80 · September 2011

WeWearCombatBoots:
I have never seen a bathroom without one, and I thought every bathroom had to have one. Where in the world are you going that doesn't have a baby changer? Are you looking in the stalls? If there isn't one out to use, then they are usually in the handicapped stall.

I went to an office building that didn't have one. I laid out paper towels on the bathroom floor, laid my diaper mat on top of the paper towels and did it quickly. Not ideal, but it got the job done and LO didn't come in contact with the ground.

nycinaugust · September 2011

I live in NYC and don't have a car. Most establishments do not have changing tables and so far -- I've changed DS diaper in the stroller on the street (on a "quiet" street) and on the floor of a one-seater restaurant bathroom. I have the Skip Hop Pronto Changer Diaper Bag -- so used the porta-changer built into that to protect LO from the not-so-clean bathroom floor.

SoxFan777 · September 2011

I'd do it in a fitting room before I used the bathroom floor. That's a trick I learned from DH!

chelwig89 · September 2011

I have a Jeep Liberty, so I change them in the back on a blanket. I used to have a Saturn and I changed them in the seats in there... hard with a 2 year old! Since she is bigger, though, I would take her to the bathroom and take her diaper off, have her bend over so I could wipe her, and put a new diaper/pull-up on her while she is standing up.

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