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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

RE: dirty nappies and public transport

149 replies

ThisIsANickname · 30/04/2012 16:08

About 5 minutes into my journey into work this morning, the train carriage I was on began to smell and it became very apparent very quickly that the source was a baby's dirty nappy.

Fine. Babies do that. No one blames the child.

But the mother, who had a seat just behind the pram, decided that the best way to deal with this was to change her baby right there on a rush hour train. She lay them down (awkwardly as there wasn't much room) on the seat she had been on, and proceeded to change the soiled nappy.

It was horrendous.

AIBU thinking that this was completely wrong? I mean, really? EEW!

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 30/04/2012 16:09

Confused What else did you expect her to do?

Lulabellarama · 30/04/2012 16:10

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

YonWhaleFish · 30/04/2012 16:10

Was there no toilet? Was it a short journey or a long one? Did she protect the seat from poo with a mat?

debka · 30/04/2012 16:10

Exactly, bertiebotts. What should she have done, OP?

Indith · 30/04/2012 16:12

Have you ever been to the change facilities on trains? Usually just one of those fold down things with a broken strap for your child to bounce off as the train jerks along and you try to hold your child on with one hand and change nappy with the other. you can't use the loo floor as it is covered in piss from people missing due to trying to piss on a moving train.

plantsitter · 30/04/2012 16:12

There's another thread in an alternate universe in which someone is complaining about a mother who didn't change her baby's stinky nappy on a rush hour train, poor baby. She could've used the seat she'd been sitting in rather than make the child sit in its own filth et cetera.

Mothers, eh? Always doing things wrong.

Original poster
ThisIsANickname · 30/04/2012 16:12

What else did you expect her to do?

I don't know; get off the train and go find a toilet with a changing station. That's what I've done in similar experiences.

OP posts:
NatashaBee · 30/04/2012 16:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Voidka · 30/04/2012 16:12

What do you think she should have done?

2shoes · 30/04/2012 16:13

yanbu

DuelingFanjo · 30/04/2012 16:14

I was on the way to work today and I saw a dog. By the dside of the road. doing a poo! And... right there in front of me there was a man. with a bag. picking it up Shock

I almost spewed, I tell you!

mumble

grumble

there was this one time, in pizza hut, this woman had a potty and she let her child use it, right there, by the salad bar, in fronto of everyone Shock

and so on...

Softlysoftly · 30/04/2012 16:15

YABU I've never even seen a changing table on a train? You are saying she's supposed tonged off but where and what wait for the next train to come and get back on so she doesn't offend your nose??

AllYoursBabooshka · 30/04/2012 16:15

DS has very sensitive skin and if left in a soiled nappy for any length of time he would literally blister like he was scalded and took ages to heal.

It wouldn't bother me because I would rather sit in a slightly smelly train than have a baby sit in a soiled nappy for the rest of the journey, Especially in rush hour.

It's a train not a restaurant. I can't believe you would rather she get off.

insancerre · 30/04/2012 16:15

get off the train?!
Get a grip, it's just a bit of poo. Honestly, some people.

Softlysoftly · 30/04/2012 16:16

*to get not sure what use tonged would be!

Original poster
ThisIsANickname · 30/04/2012 16:16

I'm not advocating her leaving her baby in a soiled nappy, but I have always been under the impression that changing a baby in a place that other people's hands, feet or clothes could come into contact with anything accidentally left behind is wrong. This includes public transport seats, restaurant tables and the like.

Gross.

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 30/04/2012 16:16

Ridiculous to suggest she should get off the train - she might have had a ticket which wasn't transferable, she might have missed her later connection, and in any case do you know how awkward it is getting on and off a train with a pram on your own? I wouldn't get off unless absolutely necessary. Finding a toilet is not absolutely necessary - it probably smelled for a maximum of 5 minutes and was then sealed in a nappy bag, not causing a problem.

SparkyTGD · 30/04/2012 16:16

YANBU, was there a reason she couldn't use the loo?

Have also seen in soft play beside eating tables, there are usually changing areas in the loos so don't understand why they do that.

ChunkyPickle · 30/04/2012 16:17

Get off the commuter train and get on the next one? Delay her journey by 30 mins to an hour (that's what it would be for me - best case since the next train might be too full to get on) rather than just quickly change the poor kid on the seat?

YABU. She made the best choice given the situation.

AllYoursBabooshka · 30/04/2012 16:18

I'm sure she was very careful, If you had such a problem you should of gotten off.

BertieBotts · 30/04/2012 16:18

There is probably worse than a bit of baby poo on train seats, TBH.

I'm sure most people are capable of changing a baby without leaving swathes of poo behind for unsuspecting passengers to get on themselves.

insancerre · 30/04/2012 16:18

maybe she didn't want to leave her pram and belongings unattended?

AllYoursBabooshka · 30/04/2012 16:19

Should have

BertieBotts · 30/04/2012 16:19

There don't tend to be changing stations in train toilets Sparky.

openerofjars · 30/04/2012 16:21

Maybe you could have offered to keep an eye on her pushchair etc for her so that she felt able take the baby to the loo to change it.

I bet she was mortified.