diaper changing in public

vduboise

anotherclone wrote:

If you knew a grown adult that was somehow disabled and had to wear a diaper, would you change their diaper out in public?

they would call that indecent exposure and give you a ticket

curmudgeoness

As a mother who spent hundreds of hours breastfeeding and who changed thousands of diapers, here are my thoughts:

diaper changing: should be done in a restroom whenever possible; if the public restroom does not have a changing table, that's a major problem (I changed a very squirmy toddler once on the floor of a restroom -- never again!).

If you are at a park, on a hike, etc., it is perfectly okay in my opinion to change baby on a blanket, in the back of your car, wherever people are not eating. All of you gentlemen who relieve yourselves outdoors while hiking, golfing, or enjoying lots of beer at PJ concerts should not have a problem with this. ;-)

Diapers should never be changed on restaurant tables or any other non-changing-table; yes, I have seen this happen, and I think it is disgusting.

Cleaning up the area after changing the baby should go without saying; leaving diapers under benches, etc. is just gross.

breastfeeding:

Babies need to eat, frequently. Mine ate every two hours until they were nearly a year old. They also tend to get hungry on their own schedules. Going anywhere or running nearly any kind of errand will mean that the baby will need to be fed while you are out. I do not eat in restrooms, why should babies?

A number of women are able to breastfeed so discreetly that you might not be aware of what is happening. Most women carry a blanket with them for discretion. Yes, you know what is happening under that blanket; you also know that we all are naked underneath our clothes, yet somehow most of you manage to deal with that fact and get through the day. [I eagerly anticipate the clever responses to that sentence!]

Feeding also is the quickest, easiest way to calm most fussy infants. Would you prefer to listen to a baby screech or to see a woman seated in a corner with a blanket over her shoulder?

That's probably enough for now. :-)

decides2dream

i'd rather not witness it, period. however, i also completely understand that yes indeed, shit happens...and parents need to deal with it. IF there is a restroom/changing station nearby, it would be polite to go and utlize. if not, however, i fully appreciate the necessity of taking care of your child's needs, and yes...i far rather that then the SCREAMING or STINK that a baby wanting to be changed, NOW, will occur if it doesn't get what it wants.

lephty

wow.. i expected a response but 6 pages.. yeesh. (though 2 pages of derailment)

a lot of people are attacking the mall worker too... well first off, most of the people are assuming the worker was a HE when in actuality it was a SHE. she was not a mall cop, that some of the people posting in this thread in favor of the mother think is a joke job. the job is just to enforce an 18+ age rule after a certain time unless accompanied by an adult. would you rather this person not work and be on public assistance? maybe she is working here while going to school but just needs the money. i hate people that judge people for the job they are doing... AT LEAST THEY ARE WORKING. maybe her life was not as privileged as yours. take that silver spoon and shove it somewhere.

there is a time and place for everything is what i am trying to say. she could have walked the 200ft to the bathrooms to change the baby. she could have continued to her car and changed the infant in her car. she was not trapped on a train or a plane or in an area where there was no public restroom available.

she was in a mall, in view of a restaurant, 200 feet from restrooms, 100 feet from the parking lot. she had options but she chose the most obscene and unsanitary.

vduboise

Until the law says that you can change dirty diapers where ever you want, the property owners have the right to tell you to move it to the bathroom.
They are not denying you to change the diaper, but do it in an appropriate place. This woman was near the bathroom. there is no excuse.

lephty

vduboise wrote:

Until the law says that you can change dirty diapers where ever you want, the property owners have the right to tell you to move it to the bathroom.
They are not denying you to change the diaper, but do it in an appropriate place. This woman was near the bathroom. there is no excuse.

very true... people seem to have a misconception about what is public property and not. stores and malls are not public property and there are rules that can be made within reason.

Derrick

Um..I only read the first post in this thread, but I thought I would add that there is a YouTube clip of Stone Gossard giving an interview on a New York radio station while changing the diaper of his kid.

Edit: Found it

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> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jS7AGSleyLc

lephty

funny video... listening to what the DJ said, i hope Stone cleaned it before and after the changing=p

i decided to google my topic and oddly enough found this=p

http://www.noodad.com/wp/instructions/diaper_changing_in_public_know_the_etiquette

vduboise

Derrick wrote:

Um..I only read the first post in this thread, but I thought I would add that there is a YouTube clip of Stone Gossard giving an interview on a New York radio station while changing the diaper of his kid.

Edit: Found it

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> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jS7AGSleyLc

but we don't know if he asked if it was ok to do so.

_

lephty wrote:

there is a time and place for everything is what i am trying to say. she could have walked the 200ft to the bathrooms to change the baby. she could have continued to her car and changed the infant in her car. she was not trapped on a train or a plane or in an area where there was no public restroom available.

Was it getting dark at all? There's no way I would feel safe to change a baby in a car in the mall parking lot at night.

Jeanie

scb wrote:

Was it getting dark at all? There's no way I would feel safe to change a baby in a car in the mall parking lot at night.

I woudn't feel safe doing it in the daylight in some of the shopping centre car parks I've been in. :eek:

genie

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

"i gave an appreciative nod"

lol...

ah yes...the appreciative nod...

i'm off the topic completely, just wanted to say cool signature!

facepollution

I've only read a few posts on this thread, so this might have been said, but to me this all boils down to common sense and common courtesy. Common sense dictates that if baby changing facilities are available, you use them. Common courtesy dictates that you don't change your baby's nappy/diaper right next to someone who's eating. If on a train and there are no changing facilities, common sense will once again dictate that you make the best of the situation and change the baby, if possible not right next to people (if the train isn't busy), and worst case scenario and the train is busy, well tough shit for the people around you - you can't leave a baby festering in their own shit and piss, particularly while they are screaming blue murder!

Finally, and I don't care what anyone says, a baby will survive an extra five minutes for you to change their nappy or feed them.