Changing a baby’s nappy on a food table

Fucking grim....baby....dog.....cat.....myrtle the turtle...... I've seen this so many times in public spaces (pre and post small person) and its just..........well.... just a no from me. Sorry if that makes me unreasonable judging by the poll! (To add, I'm also way too chicken shit to confront but I'd definitely not use the tables ever again.....,)

I think grass yes table where people eat is gross

I think you become a bit desensitised to poo/ wee/ nappies when you have a small baby. Although I wouldn’t do this myself (I would have used the grass) I don’t think it’s huge deal. I bet there was already bird poo and any number of other animals climbing over it during the day. I wouldn’t have thought too much about it. But I do get why some people would dislike this!

i have seen mums. Change babies in the buggies - did she not have one of those OP?

very interesting to see that the majority of people would not be bothered by a baby being changed on a mat on a park table/bench - there is another thread on mumsnet regarding pictures on social media (a mil using the baby’s photo as her profile photo) and the majority didn’t think this right. If this was really a privacy issue - mum is ok to change a nappy in public where anyone can see it not ok to post on social media.

didnt mean to hijack op, I am a new mum myself and whilst I wouldn’t do this, she must have had her reasons!

Baby was on a mat. I am sure other worse things have been there.
You also don't know if she had a c-section making bending over into the grass painful.
Or she could have a baby that hates the changing table.
Bottom line is, worse things have been on that table and you don't know that person's circumstances. Bigger and worse things are happening in the world

I would and have had a problem with a dog being sat on a picnic table sharing its owner’s food. I chose not to comment but did think I may not eat food from a picnic table again.

Oh come on, of course not. Indoors smells would be unbearable. And also, indoors, it's quite unlikely that you'd get wild animals pissing on the tables, birds shitting on them, and them not getting cleaned at all. Indoor tables are CLEAN. Outdoor tables are ALREADY dirty.

A baby on a mat.. does no harm.

Voted you are unreasonable because you're unreasonable- not because I think it's the park keepers job to deal with.

was the mat floating mid air?

Honestly, no one apart from the parents appreciates the sight of a poo smeared bum or wee.

It’s common courtesy to keep that off the table.

If they were on a mat then they were not on the table?

A tough one. She used a changing mat on an outside table (that is exposed to wildlife and the elements). I think that is ok, but it depends if they were picnic tables that never get cleaned, or tables that get packed up by the establishment they belong to,
In any case, no on wants to see a baby get their nappy changed when they are eating.
There should be a special level of hell for parents who do this in indoor spaces.

I really don't! I genuinely can't work out whether you agree with me or not but yes let's leave it there 👍🏻

Clearly you understand, but let's not discuss this further

You've totally lost me now but for clarity I would agree that changing a baby's nappy on a table intended for people to eat on is both poor etiquette and unhygienic.

Still comes under etiquette whether we are addressing hygiene issues or not.

Were we? Lol.

Yes I am aware that's what we are discussing. I stand by my view that it's an issue of hygiene to change a baby (even on a changing mat) on a restaurant table. I find it slightly bizarre that that's even up for debate tbh.

A little bit, but we are discussing baby being changed on changing mat on a table

It's not just a matter of etiquette, it's hygiene.

Yeah that's what I said - etiquette. Plus any good place has a changing facility

How bloody massive are the picnic tables that they can fit an Alsatian and a picnic on and still have room for three people to eat at?

I highly suspect that a restaurant owner/manager would disagree that it would be fine to change a baby on a table in a restaurant.

Well it would, it's just etiquette and the likely availability of better options/places to change them that would hold most people back in a restaurant.

If it's an outside setting, on the ground most people would also want a blanket under the changing mat, on a seat/chair isnt a trick that many people can pull off. A table sounds sensible.

Extinguishing the global fires, one wee at the time.

Brought to you by MN.

Of course you should be minding your own business. New parents have enough to cope with without you. It will be years before this woman has time to have a coffee on her own and judge other people in the park.

The world is burning, there are wars everywhere, children are being separated from their parents and deported, racism is on the rise, a sex offender leads one of our global allies and we say nothing about it. But carry on worrying about someone taking care of their baby in a slightly different way to how you'd prefer.

If she was a new mum then we’re probably talking about a newborn here, in which case it really wouldn’t bother me. Newborns are pretty clean. Even if it was a dirty nappy, their poo doesn’t smell. It’s not like the toxic waste that comes out of a toddler. There’s a chance she finds it difficult sitting on the floor - I had an episiotomy and getting up and down was uncomfortable for a while. Maybe she had a c section? Or maybe she did it on the grass last time and someone’s dog came over and interfered? (It happens). I dunno, it’s not ideal but at the same time sometimes when we’re sleep deprived we make some poor decisions because we’re not thinking clearly. I’m glad you didn’t say anything because new mums can be quite fragile