Dad using individual ladies loo to change baby – what’s the etiquette?

Then they’d have pay for two sanitary bins to be serviced instead of one.

This may be reasonable depending on their clientele. Commercial drivers, who are more likely to make use of most petrol station toilets than commuters or leisure drivers, are far more likely to be male. Most cafes, on the other hand, are more likely to have women using the toilet and should probably weight use towards them.

Almost app (possibly all) cases of cameras put in women’s loos for voyeuristic purposes have been planted by men.

Why?
The ladies/baby change was a self contained cubicle.

This!

BP by the sounds of it

Last time I stopped at a petrol station, the men’s had urinals and a cubicle but the one ladies’ toilet was also the disabled toilet and the changing facility 🤯

Why is a ladies " safe space" though? There's no women in there while a dad is changing his baby. Tl

He’s choosing to go in the ladies because the establishment has left him no other option because he wants to change his baby’s nappy

This infuriates me. I hurt myself when my daughter was wee and really struggled to change her when we were out. The number of times I had to announce my husband’s presence so he could go change his child was super annoying. I complained at multiple locations. How ridiculous to assume there are no single fathers or same sex couples or just a dad hanging out with his own child. Absolutely no issue with using whatever facilities there are and I’d encourage you to put in a complaint - had at least two places add a changing table in the men’s room after I shared my feelings about it

See, this pisses me off. Men get a WC all to themselves, disabled people have to share with women and parents.

Of course it’s fine for a dad to go wherever the child changing facilities are - the other way round I would absolutely.

That’s bizarre. Not only for the flustered parent and the wriggling baby, but for all the passers by who have to ensure shitty nappies in public. I’d say the hotel has got that wrong, but it probably stems from women kicking off about dads needing to change kids in the ladies loos.

Fucking hell. The sooner everywhere has to install unisex enclosed bathrooms (to include disabled and baby facilities) the better. It’s complete madness and it’s making people weird.

Not sure how it’ll work in bigger places like shopping centres, though.

I wouldn’t have any issue with this. We went to a wedding at the weekend and the baby change unit was on the wall in the middle of the corridor at the hotel venue so I had to change my baby in full view of anyone who walked past, which felt really intrusive but he was crying as he had a dirty nappy and the car was a 10 min walk away.

I would much rather a man used a single-occupancy toilet to change a baby than have to use that changing unit where anybody could have been looking. Even babies should be afforded some privacy!

My husband would knock on the door and say ‘dad coming in to change a baby’ loudly and then just walk in. A man walking in with a baby to change is hardly a threatening thing to do. It’s not like the toilets are open like urinals.
Yes it should be in both but I’m not going to stop going to a cafe we like based on this. Even bloody mother are has changing tables only in the ladies back when my eldest was little.

A pp said this -
I can't see the issue, it's clearly a toilet and a baby change area, it isn't a single sex space only for women to change female only babies

You replied with -
It is if it's labelled ladies/women/female.

Why are you denying saying when it is clearly there in black and white?

I’ve seen a set up where gents is a singular loo and ladies is a ladies/ accessible/ baby change. In thst instance I think it’s fine to use if you are a woman, need an accessible toilet or are changing a baby regardless of sex.

It’s not a great situation and there will of course be different opinions, very valid arguments for and against.

ME..."it isn't a single sex space only for women to change female only babies."

YOU..."It is if it’s labelled It is if it’s labelled Ladies/women/female"

🤔

For a girl of say 2 or 3 to navigate a female toilet all on her on, find a door, lock the door, wipe, flush? Seems impossible to me. But it’s not a clear cut situation and so there will be a difference of opinions.

I find it odd that a small cafe would even have separate loos to start with. Far easier to have a couple of gender neutral loos.

I would assume this is down to cost. If they have them serviced it just costs more to have two done rather than one. So somewhere thats trying to minimize costs (which most small businesses are) might think this a reasonable economy.

I would regard that toilet sign as "Ladies or Baby Change" rather than "Ladies + Baby Change". In the same way that many toilets are labelled "Disabled or Baby Change". It means they are equipped for either use, you don't have to meet both criteria.

The cafe could simply label both spaces as Toilets, additionally showing which has space for a changing table. However, a small business may not want the expense of providing disposal for sanitary products in two toilets, so labels Ladies and Gents.

No, I didn’t say that. Maybe have a read of the relevant legislation around single sex spaces which, I believe, makes provision for children of the opposite sex under the age of 8. Who you think are the same as adults.