Nappy changing in public

[Andy008]

I went out last night for a pint, ended up having ten, and after 2 hours sleep got the train home. I left the station, and walked through a shopping centre en route to my house. As I entered the building, immediately in front of me sat on a bench was a woman changing her child's nappy. The extreme heat only concentrated the acrid smell of fresh poo as it hit the back of my nose. This, coupled with a splitting hangover, made me feel so incredibly nauseous I almost vomited there and then.

There must surely be some law against doing that?  

[londondave]

I feel sorry for the poor person who come across the said nappy, it is not like the woman put it in her bag to take home to dispose of I bet. Dog poo has to be picked up and properly disposed off, this was probably sitting in open bin stinking worse

[inferno]

londondave - good job your Mum wasn't glad to be  children free!

[Emily Ball]

Ducati I am in full agreement with you. No-one said raising children was easy but there are suitable times and places for nappy-changing , breast feeding and so on and these activities should not carried out in a public place where passers- by may be offended.  I raised three children and never had the need to do so.

[justineo]

There was a piece on Radio 2 last week about how poor facilities are in the Uk, especially convenient places for changing babies etc.but most parents aren't so careless with their soiled nappies, surely.  There are times when you are breastfeeding when your baby is going to scream and scream unless you let it have some milk, I didnt care who was there, I just fed her.  Just look away if it offends you. 

[londondave]

Inferno......... I bet she wishes she was now though! HEHE

[undercovers]

lol boobesque - how dare you imply my choice of nutritious snack might be anything other than healthy!!!!    :-)

[boobesque]

well i succumb on occasion to undercovers!

[trionam]

I cant believe someone could be offended by breast feeding in public I mean you cant even see anything, If you are in a shopping centre where are you supposed to feed the child? I was in a baby feeding/changing area once and there was a women breast feeding, beside her was a bin full off dirty nappies how hygenic is that! not surprised she was hiding in there given some of the attitudes on here.

[mystress]

When sufficient,clean and private facilities are supplied for Mothers,to change nappies,and breast feed,then I am afraid you guys who dislike it so much will just have to put up with it!

Breast Feeding doesn't bother me at all, and nappy changing only a bit, because of the smell.

Such a shame some of these guys who object cannot be taken back to when they were children,or perhaps they still are! LOL

[Ducati]

Well Mystress, I often change my daughters backside when we are out together, so firstly, it is not solely a mother thing - secondly, I have never found myself in a position where I could not find a sufficient, clean and private facility in which to do so.

 

Perhaps I'm lucky in that the town I live in provides ample places in which to nappy change - I can only speak from experience - but I think it is stretching reality to suggest that some people have had no choice but to change a dirty nappy on a bench in a shopping centre.

 

Every shopping centre I have been in, be it Lakeside, Croydon, Crawley, Bromley, Bluewater or Tunbridge Wells have provided good changing facilities - I don't believe for a minute that other shopping centres don't.

[HAnn521]

So, wait...I'm I supposed to believe that changing a baby's dirty diaper anywhere you want to in public is different than letting your dog **** anywhere it wants to in public??

I mean, I have a dog that I would love to be able to take with me when I'm out and in public and that's completely not allowed...(and she's even trained not to relieve herself anywhere she wants to)...OH BUT, when a mom has a baby, it's a totally different story...the mother can take the baby anywhere, it relieves itself whenever and they can clean it up out in the open, share the smell with everyone around and that's fine!

Also, those of you who are upset that people don't like seeing your breasts in public while your baby is sucking on em'...you need to get a sense of modesty...and if the baby must be fed right then and there...go someplace else, there is always somewhere private that you can go! I just see too many mothers who have complete disregard for others in public because they have a baby...they think that common courtesy doesn't apply to them anymore....(same goes for babies in movies, stores, restaurants, etc...)

It was your choice to have the child, now accept that things are more difficult and going OUT will take a little more work!

[Andy008]

It's at this point I should mention that I have the misfortune to live in central Southampton - a stinking. dirty, rat-infested place full of crack addicts and illegal immigrants. So it whilst it was an unpleasant thing to experience, it was hardly surprising. 

[Mistopheles]

I'm kind of mid-ground on this. I quite understand why you found the nappy changing a bit gross, can't say it's my favourite thing to witness, but I understand that sometimes it might be necessary. Although I would have thought a shopping centre would have decent facilities.

As for breast feeding, I would like to remind you that most places don't have somewhere clean and private to feed a child, only to change them. And I don't think it's fair to ask mums to feed their babies in the toilets - you wouldn't want to have your lunch in one! As long as the mother is modest about it, I really don't see a problem. Half the time, you can't tell what they are doing anyway.

[Ralph]

I'm kinda with Mistopheles on this one. Nappies shouldn't really be changed in public as the smell is a toilet smell and should generally be released in that vicinity. If needs must and it's necessary, then it could be done discreetly. There's no excuse for selfish laziness.

I'm surprised at the attitude to breastfeeding in this thread. I didn't think that people were still that prudish! It's a human breast doing what it has evolved to do and is (barely) seen in a thoroughly non-sexual way. It's a mother feeding her baby.

Andy008, I lived on Derby Road in St Marys for 2 years as a student and didn't see anything like your description (although it is quite "colourful"). I still live and work in Southampton and it still doesn't look like your description! Where's your Utopia and we'll all live there?

[hinge1967]

Andy008 - 3 posts and gobsmacked 3 times.

Pulling myself out of it now to say:

I haven't seen such narrow-mindedness in many a year. Any reasonable point you are making about hygiene is lost to me.

[Dom Tuk]

The kindness and respect that we show our children is the most beautiful act of faith. unfortunately that does not seem to be the case in the UK. parents split up at the drop of a hat without a care for the children. Mothers bring in boyfriends by the dozens with small children in the house. This society is going to the dogs. A travel writer wrote a couple of weeks ago in the Times. She mentioned how a plane load of passengers walked past her screaming child who had slipped on the elevator stairs. Most of them like contributors here just wanted the mother to do the 'decent thing' (common decency!!) and shut the child up some other place. It took a turkish man to scoop the child up and calm it down. Other cultures tolerate children and mothers who suckle in public. There is no shame in that. But a child fed a diet of cola/crisps and chocolate for breakfast and turkey twizzlers for school lunches. Do you blame the mum, the children or the society that allows this.

[ursula62]

On the subject of breastfeeding:

My sister was in the a Pizza restaurant with some other young parents. She was discreetly feeding her baby without anyone seeing any flesh. A manager came up to the group and asked her to stop because someone had complained. My sister asked whether they had somewhere private she could continue. She was told to use the toilet. She asked the manager if he would eat a meal in a toilet and he said of course he wouldn't. She asked why he would expect a baby to have a meal in a toilet and he had no answer.

At the same time, another of the mothers in the group changed her baby's nappy in the ladies loos. SHe had to put her coat on the floor for the baby to lie on as there was no baby changing facilities there. The cleaner came in and told her to leave. She was told to use the public toilets in Oxford Street (yes, the venue of choice for druggies). Again, the manager had no answer to this, just that babies' nappies shouldn't be changed in the toilets.

Given that this particular pizza chain markets itself as a family friendly restaurant and has high chairs suitable for babies I think this is appalling. My sister and her friends have all said they will never eat there again, no matter how popular the ice cream factory is with kids.

[Dom Tuk]

I was once conducting an interview with a woman who was wearing a large gown. Within the first few questions i heard a suckling sound and enquired where it was coming from. The interpreter told me that it was a baby suckling. I had not seen it and it was well hidden. We all (including the woman) burst out laughing and i asked if they wanted a break. The lady said no, the child is actually asleep and suckles ocassionaly out of habit. I was happy for the interview tp proceed mindful that the lady had travelled a long way and had a long journey back. Her legal rep wanted to halt the interview and was the only person in the room not smiling at the situation. We continued as if nothing had happened. Most of my colleagues would have continued to. Its a part of life and we have to carry on.  

[Dark Angel]

Here here, Emily Ball.

These should be banned in private places:

(1) Changing diapers

(2)"Natural" feeding 

(3) Kissing

[Dark Angel]

sorry, that should be public places.