Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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:
MustControlFistOfDeath · 30/04/2012 19:14

YABU

But I have had a good laugh, esp the bit about getting off the train to find a station with appropriate facilities, so for that I thank you Grin

AllYoursBabooshka · 30/04/2012 19:16

I don't think that being a parent automatically means that your comfort and convenience is more important than anyone elses

Trust me, That women didn't wake up this morning and decide it would be great fun to change a dirty nappy on a busy train. No good parent will let their baby sit in a soiled nappy unnecessarily, She did what she had to do for the comfort (or health if the child was like my DS) of her infant.

Would you really rather that little baby sat there in it's own feces for your own "comfort and convenience"?

Original poster
ThisIsANickname · 30/04/2012 19:16

ChippingInLovesEasterEggs I am always be willing to accept the reality that a lot of people disagree with me. This is clearly one of those cases.

OP posts:
Original poster
ThisIsANickname · 30/04/2012 19:18

AllYoursBabooshka I have actually already answered that question at least once. But so you don't have to worry about scrolling up, no I would not advocate her leave her child in a soiled nappy. I would advocate her either doing so in the pram she had with her, rather than on the seat, or leave the train to find appropriate facilities.

But clearly, most people think that that is too much to ask.

OP posts:
BananasInBloomers · 30/04/2012 19:23

Just goes to show that no matter what a parent does,someone is hoiking up their judgy pants about it.
Have you,OP,ever had to stand up on a train to change a nappy in a buggy? I have and ended up going flying when the train rocked.

Parents very quickly learn to change nappies with speed,effeciency and without dropping poo. Would you be also here complaining if she left the baby in a dirty nappy and it wailed its head off? Would you like to sit in your own shit?

MissPricklePants · 30/04/2012 19:24

oh YABU! Me and dd use public transport all the time and before she was potty trained I had to change her nappy like that. There are no adequate changing facilities on the train but I have sometimes changed her in the pushchair if I had it with me. Now dd has just about cracked potty training we sit near the toilet to avoid accidents. Although I still take the potty with us as when she needs to go she can't hold it in for very long!

AllYoursBabooshka · 30/04/2012 19:24

Leaving the train is a ridiculous suggestion and changing the baby in the pram probably would have taken twice as long (it's quite awkward to change a child in most prams) so would have been doubly unpleasant for everyone.

heliumballoon · 30/04/2012 19:39

Very surprised and somewhat grossed out by the emerging consensus on this thread. Perhaps it is because people are thinking of a train journey which is very long and involves leaving baby to fester for ages or having to wait an age for the next train if they get off.

Given it was on a packed tube, presumably with frequent service, I'd get off at the next stop and either look for a cafe/ public toilets (much as I would if I suddenly needed the loo) or change it quickly in a corner of the platform/ on the floor somewhere discreet (lying on a mat).

MsKittyFane · 30/04/2012 19:39

OP, didn't you know that babies take priority over everyone and everything at any time?
Babies bottoms really do need changing the minute they poo and God forbid the mother leaves it as long as it would take to move to a more descreet spot on the train or to take other passengers feelings into consideration.

Wink
catfart · 30/04/2012 19:40

Get over it, shit happens. As for changing the nappy in the pram.....ummm no, i'm one of the fastest nappy changers in the land and thats just a needless faff that will take much longer, kinda wish she had though just to get the poo smell lingering in the carriage a bit more for you. Says a lot about how intolerant people are of children and how detatched we are from our most basic needs. When you do a nice fat dump next, think of smelly disgusting babies.

BananasInBloomers · 30/04/2012 19:44

Its a bit of poo,not nuclear waste.

mamij · 30/04/2012 19:48

YABU. If it bothered you, you could've got off the train and on the next one instead...?

DD1 has been on her travel potty on the train. I've also changed her (discreetly) in restaurants and public places.

CrackedNipplesSuchFun · 30/04/2012 19:49

Oh dear, YABU Angry

So the tube was packed, there would be no room for a pushchair to be open, surely? So she couldn't have done that.

If there was room and pushchair opened you would be happy with this, so that means that the smell isn't an issue? No?

You don't advocate a child staying in a dirty nappy, so you agree she had to change DC? No?

She didn't use a mat? there is no doubt a good reason for this. No mother who is happy to suffer the judgment, embarrassment and haste of a 'unplanned' nappy situation would WANT to change there DC on any other surface other than a CLEAN surface. So a seat with no mat is a better option than floor with no mat!

As for getting off the train??? Are you really suggesting that? Public transport is expensive, end of. Why should SHE be the one to be short changed because the transport network is not completely family friendly?

Your offence to this situation says mo about you than the lady on the tube... Get a grip.

MsKittyFane · 30/04/2012 19:49

OP, just remembered something to top your story!

Years ago my friend and I were in a cafe with her new baby and not only did my friend change the baby's soiled nappy in the cafe (no changing facilities but there was a toilet) but she put the nappy sac on the chair next to us when she had finished (to throw away later.)
I was :o

I think your train woman should have found an appropriate place.

MsKittyFane · 30/04/2012 19:50

That should say Shock not :o

PooPooInMyToes · 30/04/2012 19:55

Not all tube stations have toilets and nearly all of them have escalators. It would have been a huge faff to get up to street level looking for the toilet.

When ever I've taken a pram on the tube i always make sure there is direct access to the street (no escalators!) or has a lift. So i wouldn't randomly get off anywhere so i could change a nappy.

Public toilets aren't always that easy to find and cafes won't let you use the facilities unless you are eating there.

bitbewildered · 30/04/2012 20:47

YABU. I doubt it was her idea of heaven, tbh. At least the kid would have felt better than if left in pooey nappy.

pigletmania · 30/04/2012 21:07

It depends on the length of the journey. If its a tube than i would wait until my stop and then find a toilet, if its a longer journey i i would change the baby on a seat covered with a mat

DialsMavis · 30/04/2012 21:23

YANBU, On a train I would go to the toilet, on the tube I would wait or do it in the pram and apologise like mad to everyone in the carriage, My daughter does produce particularly rancid leavings
How long was her journey (if you know)? and how old was the baby? If new born and a long journey then YABU

trixie123 · 30/04/2012 21:30

most mothers with babies above a few months old are pretty damm good at changing pooey nappies very fast, leaving no mess, wrapping all the wipes etc up in the nappy and bagged neatly. You can lay the clean nappy under the baby so at no point does a bum come into contact with a seat. Also, its just poo, not toxic waste. Slightly Hmm at the hysterical "no running water" comments. If I haven't got actual visible poo on my hands and am out and about, a baby wipe suffices. The faff and hassle of moving to another part of the train or getting on and off again far outweighs the minor nasal discomfort of the other passengers.

Original poster
ThisIsANickname · 30/04/2012 21:31

"How long was her journey (if you know)? and how old was the baby? If new born and a long journey then YABU"

Her journey length from time of soiling; she got off the train about 10-15 minutes later if memory serves (it was a few before my stop and my journey is about 30 minutes). Baby looked to be about 6 months (definitely not newborn).

OP posts:
Firawla · 30/04/2012 21:38

OP I am with you, its not acceptable to just start changing nappies in the middle of the tube!!! It runs v frequently so if they need to change the nappy its really not asking that much to get off the train.
Personally if not going far I would just wait for my stop i think, but my dc don't really have sensitive skin, so a few mins wait they will be fine - otherwise as someone said, get off the train and change the baby in an empty corner of the platform would probably be more ideal. If you walk right down the end you are bound to find an empty spot, so that would do the job in a real emergency, then get back on the next train - this is preferable than just whipping the nappy off right next to someone in the next seat.
I would be shocked to see someone do that, don't get how it is necessary at all, or that people can really have the cheek to do so.

halcyondays · 30/04/2012 21:40

Yabu. I certainly wouldn't get off the train to change a nappy and train toilets are usually tiny. Changing a nappy in a restaurant is totally different, people should use the toilet. I saw someone changing a nappy in an M&Scafe once, which I thought was disgusting, there was a perfectly good changing room nearby and she had a friend ith her who could have kept her seat.

DialsMavis · 30/04/2012 21:56

It that case YANBU, how does she cope when in a car? Or on a packed bus? Not on the tube

McHappyPants2012 · 30/04/2012 21:59

i would of done the same, in the car i would change on the back seats or the boot. The bus i would use her buggy.

my dd is almost 3 and pretty regular now so i doubt i would have to these days