Top 5 worst places to change a dirty nappy…
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Written by Laura Rutherford Brody, Me & GDD & Laura Moore Mum On A Mission
We all know how hard it can be when you’re out and about and need to change your little one’s nappy. But if your ’little’ one isn’t actually quite so little then throw a standard size baby changing unit into the mix and the combination is, well… stressful!
So we thought we would team up and give you our run down of the top 5 worst places our kids have had their nappies changed – please share yours too!
FIVE – Public Baby Changing Units
Yes, you heard
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us right – the one place it’s supposed to be easy. As Mum’s we know that these are sometimes conveniently only in women’s toilets – do Dad’s need any more reasons not to change a nappy? Some are in the worlds tiniest toilet cubicles (WTF why?!) and others are just simply too small to lay your child on. Let’s skip the fact that there are always crumbs on these bad boys (which one of you feeds your kid whilst changing them anyway? *puke*)
Brody is tall and when his legs are hanging off of the edge – ignoring that this is dangerous and
SelfishMother.com
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uncomfortable – you can guarantee that there will be a hand-dryer by his feet going off in protest at the same time…Perfect!
FOUR – The Car Boot
If you’ve got a bigger car then this is the most do-able option, but in the past ,when I had a VW Polo, I’ve actually battled to change Brody on a car seat. If there is shopping in the back then I revert back to this joyous option. Changing your kid in the car is always guaranteed to get some disapproving stares. Hey there with your potty trained kid tutting at me! *Waves*. Not to mention the
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risk of sh*t stains on your seats and it being a tough ride for your child and your back.
THREE – 30,000ft In The Air
On a Virgin Atlantic plane nonetheless. You may have noticed that baby changing tables on a plane are about 6cm long. Richard Branson’s kids must have been teeny weeny (or maybe their private jet had a long diamond encrusted table). Anyway, not only are they about 6cm long they are also always wedged between two walls in the tiniest toilet ever invented by man. You know how hard it is to manoeuvre yourself when you need a
SelfishMother.com
5
wee at 30,000 feet, trying to get in and shut the door behind you without falling down the toilet. But with a kid in there too – that takes some super contortion skills!
Anyway, as William is slightly taller than 6cm, when we go on holiday we have to find other places to change him. And at 30,000 feet the options are VERY limited. So we usually have to resort to the floor in the galley – and yes folks that is the same galley where your delicious dinner is being prepared just a few inches from the dirty nappy I am about to
SelfishMother.com
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remove…Winning.
TWO – Dining Tables
Number 2 is definitely the time I had to change William on a table. Not just any old table – no this was a table in the middle of a room which was quite clearly meant as a staff lunch room. We were at a local farm and whilst I hadn’t expected state of the art facilities I was shocked when the manager showed me to the lunch room and told me to help myself to a table to change his nappy! It wasn’t the most hygienic place even before it had a dirty nappy on it. The tables hadn’t been cleaned and there was
SelfishMother.com
7
dried food all over them! To be honest, it was hard to decide which was worse, the fact my beautiful boy was laying on this revolting table or the fact that people were going to eat their lunch from it the next day!!
ONE – Toilet Floors
Number one is every single toilet floor either of us have ever had to use. And there have been so so many that it’s just impossible to pick one. Have you ever looked at public toilet floors? They’re pretty much always disgusting aren’t they? Urine, tissues, chewing gum and approximately 77,000 germs. And
SelfishMother.com
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nothing separating our boys from them. Yuck!
Toilet floors? What are they on about? We can hear you ASKING!
Yes we may be a little insane, if that’s what you’re thinking (ha!), but we are also two passionate Mums who face this battle every time we leave the house.
Why? Because our kids aren’t just bigger than your average nappy wearer, they’re also disabled.
William (7) & Brody (4) are getting bigger every day which means it’s basically getting harder and harder for us every time we need to change their nappy. And this
SelfishMother.com
9
isn’t going to change unless we fight for people (that includes you, politicians, business managers – movers and shakers!) to do something about it.
From two Mums’ to another, we’re asking you to please please help us. We need to raise awareness of this issue and the solution. We hope that this problem never affects you, but disability can happen to anyone, at any time. It’s something we weren’t aware of until we became parents to our beautiful boys. We didn’t mention the D word (that’s disability in case it isn’t obvious!) until now
SelfishMother.com
10
because we know from experience, most people will just scroll on by a blog about disability.
Next time you pass a disabled toilet take a peek inside. You’ll notice that there isn’t anywhere clean to lay if you’re longer than the average baby changing unit. And that – coupled with thousands of germs – is why we try anything we can to avoid laying our boys on the floor. If that means we have to use the back of our car or a table in a lunch room, that’s what we will do.
The solution to all of this is Changing Places or Space To
SelfishMother.com
11
Change toilets – larger disabled toilets, containing a hoist to assist with lifting and an adult sized changing table/bed. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Yet, we need to fight to convince decision makers to install these!
And it’s not just our boys who need these facilities – there are thousands of children, young adults and fully grown men and women who do too. We live with the knowledge that one day our children will be disabled adults – and potentially incontinent. We are their voices. And we need this sorted before that day arrives and
SelfishMother.com
12
it’s impossible for us to take them out.
The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people.
You can help in a couple of ways – all of which are easy, quick and free (we promise!):
Sign this petition
Ask your friends to read this blog – share, share, share! Knowledge is power.
Talk about this issue – until its public knowledge nothing will change.
Of course if you are in a position to make a change then please do! Whether you’re a politician, an architect, a business
SelfishMother.com
13
owner or similar you can help to make these changes!
Nelson Mandela said it always seems impossible until it’s done. Some days, we feel like we’re fighting an impossible battle (and this isn’t the only one we face). But it is possible. We just need your help, Mum to Mum, parent to parent. Will you help us?
We’d love to hear the ridiculous places you’d resorted to changing nappies in! Leave us a comment below…
SelfishMother.com
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Mum On A Mission - 5 Jun 16
Written by Laura Rutherford Brody, Me & GDD & Laura Moore Mum On A Mission
We all know how hard it can be when you’re out and about and need to change your little one’s nappy. But if your ‘little’ one isn’t actually quite so little then throw a standard size baby changing unit into the mix and the combination is, well… stressful!
So we thought we would team up and give you our run down of the top 5 worst places our kids have had their nappies changed – please share yours too!
FIVE – Public Baby Changing Units
Yes, you heard us right – the one place it’s supposed to be easy. As Mum’s we know that these are sometimes conveniently only in women’s toilets – do Dad’s need any more reasons not to change a nappy? Some are in the worlds tiniest toilet cubicles (WTF why?!) and others are just simply too small to lay your child on. Let’s skip the fact that there are always crumbs on these bad boys (which one of you feeds your kid whilst changing them anyway? *puke*)
Brody is tall and when his legs are hanging off of the edge – ignoring that this is dangerous and uncomfortable – you can guarantee that there will be a hand-dryer by his feet going off in protest at the same time…Perfect!
FOUR – The Car Boot
If you’ve got a bigger car then this is the most do-able option, but in the past ,when I had a VW Polo, I’ve actually battled to change Brody on a car seat. If there is shopping in the back then I revert back to this joyous option. Changing your kid in the car is always guaranteed to get some disapproving stares. Hey there with your potty trained kid tutting at me! *Waves*. Not to mention the risk of sh*t stains on your seats and it being a tough ride for your child and your back.
THREE – 30,000ft In The Air
On a Virgin Atlantic plane nonetheless. You may have noticed that baby changing tables on a plane are about 6cm long. Richard Branson’s kids must have been teeny weeny (or maybe their private jet had a long diamond encrusted table). Anyway, not only are they about 6cm long they are also always wedged between two walls in the tiniest toilet ever invented by man. You know how hard it is to manoeuvre yourself when you need a wee at 30,000 feet, trying to get in and shut the door behind you without falling down the toilet. But with a kid in there too – that takes some super contortion skills!
Anyway, as William is slightly taller than 6cm, when we go on holiday we have to find other places to change him. And at 30,000 feet the options are VERY limited. So we usually have to resort to the floor in the galley – and yes folks that is the same galley where your delicious dinner is being prepared just a few inches from the dirty nappy I am about to remove…Winning.
TWO – Dining Tables
Number 2 is definitely the time I had to change William on a table. Not just any old table – no this was a table in the middle of a room which was quite clearly meant as a staff lunch room. We were at a local farm and whilst I hadn’t expected state of the art facilities I was shocked when the manager showed me to the lunch room and told me to help myself to a table to change his nappy! It wasn’t the most hygienic place even before it had a dirty nappy on it. The tables hadn’t been cleaned and there was dried food all over them! To be honest, it was hard to decide which was worse, the fact my beautiful boy was laying on this revolting table or the fact that people were going to eat their lunch from it the next day!!
ONE – Toilet Floors
Number one is every single toilet floor either of us have ever had to use. And there have been so so many that it’s just impossible to pick one. Have you ever looked at public toilet floors? They’re pretty much always disgusting aren’t they? Urine, tissues, chewing gum and approximately 77,000 germs. And nothing separating our boys from them. Yuck!
Toilet floors? What are they on about? We can hear you ASKING!
Yes we may be a little insane, if that’s what you’re thinking (ha!), but we are also two passionate Mums who face this battle every time we leave the house.
Why? Because our kids aren’t just bigger than your average nappy wearer, they’re also disabled.
William (7) & Brody (4) are getting bigger every day which means it’s basically getting harder and harder for us every time we need to change their nappy. And this isn’t going to change unless we fight for people (that includes you, politicians, business managers – movers and shakers!) to do something about it.
From two Mums’ to another, we’re asking you to please please help us. We need to raise awareness of this issue and the solution. We hope that this problem never affects you, but disability can happen to anyone, at any time. It’s something we weren’t aware of until we became parents to our beautiful boys. We didn’t mention the D word (that’s disability in case it isn’t obvious!) until now because we know from experience, most people will just scroll on by a blog about disability.
Next time you pass a disabled toilet take a peek inside. You’ll notice that there isn’t anywhere clean to lay if you’re longer than the average baby changing unit. And that – coupled with thousands of germs – is why we try anything we can to avoid laying our boys on the floor. If that means we have to use the back of our car or a table in a lunch room, that’s what we will do.
The solution to all of this is Changing Places or Space To Change toilets – larger disabled toilets, containing a hoist to assist with lifting and an adult sized changing table/bed. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Yet, we need to fight to convince decision makers to install these!
And it’s not just our boys who need these facilities – there are thousands of children, young adults and fully grown men and women who do too. We live with the knowledge that one day our children will be disabled adults – and potentially incontinent. We are their voices. And we need this sorted before that day arrives and it’s impossible for us to take them out.
The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people.
You can help in a couple of ways – all of which are easy, quick and free (we promise!):
- Sign this petition
- Ask your friends to read this blog – share, share, share! Knowledge is power.
- Talk about this issue – until its public knowledge nothing will change.
Of course if you are in a position to make a change then please do! Whether you’re a politician, an architect, a business owner or similar you can help to make these changes!
Nelson Mandela said it always seems impossible until it’s done. Some days, we feel like we’re fighting an impossible battle (and this isn’t the only one we face). But it is possible. We just need your help, Mum to Mum, parent to parent. Will you help us?
We’d love to hear the ridiculous places you’d resorted to changing nappies in! Leave us a comment below…
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Laura is Mum to William, the happiest boy you'll ever meet. William has quadraplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
Laura writes about life with a disabled child & the issues they face on her blog Mum on a mission www.mumoam.co.uk
She is passionate about making a difference and is dedicated to campaigning for better accessibility for disabled people in the UK.
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