Changing nappies on airport seats

But she would have been changing the nappy in front of people if she had gone to the toilet too. There's often not a separate cubicle.

I think it's fine if she used a mat. The seat itself isn't going to get contaminated so what's the problem?

It hadn't been mentioned yet, but it is NOT YOUR JOB, to reinforce perceived politeness and social boundaries.
Do you chastise and berate everyone who neglects to say please or thank you? Doesn't hold the door or lift for you as you approach? Or, were you having a bad day and chose an easy target to let loose? Perhaps you have some deeper issues to explore in therapy? Just some thoughts. It's worth reflecting, don't you think?

I think most people agree they would avoid doing it. I have done four long haul flights (2 return trips) and two European short flights with my 13 month old and so far managed to only change nappies in the bathroom/mum & baby facilities.

But as a mum, I also recognize that sometimes babies are really really hard work and you're really stressed and probably got 2 hours of sleep and are just trying to survive and you make less than perfect decisions.

She was probably stressed, saw the queue for the bathroom, heard the boarding call and made a split second decision to change the baby then and there. Again, not ideal or sth I would have done.

But she certainly did not deserve to be publicly berated by a stranger. That's not ok. The OP was rude and mean.

Because she IS JUST A MUM and it IS JUST A BABY.
it’s a nappy for crying out loud.
the vast majority of us are really just trying our best on a day to day basis.
By the sounds of it, it could have already been an incredibly stressful situation. She didn’t need a random stranger who has ZERO clue what kind of day she’s had or what it’s like being a parent calling her out and telling her she’s disgusting. Make that make sense.

im sorry that you were never taught that if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

And I just thought of another aspect. She would have had carry on bags... so. Gather it all up. Pick up baby. Put baby into sling/carrier.Make way to toilet. Find change table being used or Find change table filthy and needing to be cleaned.
Panic as you are trying to find a suitable spot on the floor or counter instead. Put bags down. Dig out change mat. Take baby out of carrier. Undress baby. Clean and change baby. Put baby back into sling. Pack everything up awkwardly while wearing baby and try to pick up bags. Retuen to boarding area to find your section has boarded. Atruggle to board with baby and bags. Find no space for your bag at your seat except nappy bag under seat. Struggle whole flight to get items from your carry-on, disrupting others and calling flight attendants.
It's not an unreasonable scenario.

I have two children and would be really angry to witness this.

Why on earth are people saying it's OK because she's a mum and it's just a baby and this is a parenting site so that means changing your baby's dirty nappy infront of everyone in a public place is perfectly fine.

Make it make sense

If the plane was about to board, how would she have had time to queue and then change the nappy? Which often takes a number of minutes? To then be rushed onto the plane as the last passengers and find there's no space for luggage?

I feel stressed just thinking about it. Best of luck with your future kids, I'm sure they'll never do anything inopportune like poo at the wrong time.

And not to mention, a dirty nappy creates a screaming baby. Even worse for the mum to cope with that. On a plane.

Frankly, you had the bloody audacity to berate a mum looking after her child in a difficult situation. Small baby. Did you once stop to wonder what she was going through? Did she have ppd? How was she coping? Had she slept? Did she need help?
The better social standard is to keep your mouth shut if you don't have anything nice to say. I can't believe you're defending your deplorable action. You take the cake, lady.

Good luck when you have kids OP!

I hope you remember berating this woman when you’re a parent and you experience moments like this. As you said, the plane was about to board so she probably didn’t have time to change her child in the airport. The queue for the toilets was too long for her to make her child wait and sit and a dirty nappy.
a baby nappy on a plane will be a tiny percentage or the germs and bacteria you will come across while on board.

have a day off.

Jesus Christ, bloody harsh to call a mother that WHO IS LOOKING AFTER HER BABY.

Check yourself.

Still. I wouldn't have berated her. I couldn't do that. It could have been a leaking nappy and worse to take that on the plane than make a quick change. I highly doubt it's something this mother does regularly. And she used a mat so it wouldn't affect anyone sitting on a seat at a later date. It's a tiny baby.

I've put a receiving blanket down on the bed and changed both of my babies on it many times.

This.
One. Hundred. Percent. 👏

that's an utterly deplorable comment. Well done?
Are you kidding me? You seriously think is grand to berate a stranger in an obviously difficult situation?
Christ almighty.

I doubt you’ll change your mind when you are a parent, OP, because what she did is utterly disgusting. I have a child and would never do this. People seem to have lost all social boundaries. It is not neglect to wait in the queue for the toilet. Well done for telling her off- she deserved it 😃

Congratulations on having a big enough bathroom for that.

Further congratulations for having immediate access to hot running water and soap for every nappy change you’ve ever done. You can’t go far from the house is all I can imagine.

@CheeseWiselyNope never in my bedroom either.
I had a changing table in bathroom, much easier as at waist height and everything accessible.

I have no idea what the issue is - she had a changing mat - no contents of the nappy is going on any seats so the worst is putting up with a smell for a few seconds.

are you people - on a PARENTING site - so completely out of empathy that you can’t forgive a mum of a four month old on a flight (let’s face it one of the most stressful places to be with a baby) changing a fucking nappy?! On a changing mat? Rather than waiting in a massive queue?

You don’t have children OP so you might not know that babies bottoms can get sore extremely quickly. And with baby girls if the poo is loose and stuck in a nappy it can travel into the vagina or the urinary tract and cause infections. I’d be asking her if she needed any help, but well done OP for making a new mum feel like shit.

Not in my bedroom either. Do you always change your baby in your bathroom? Fair enough if you do I suppose but I’ve never encountered anyone else that does. That’s why there’s a market for changing tables.

@CheeseWiselydo you go the the toilet in your livingroom?