to use a disabled toilet if I've got the buggy?

[MrsHelsBels74]

Pretty much as the thread title says, if you're out in public & need to loo but can't fit the buggy into a normal cubicle is it acceptable to take the buggy into the disabled toilet? I'd never use a disabled parking space but did this today in desperation. So, is it ok or still a no-no?

[pigletmania]

Welsh it's not selfish if there are no other options. Yes I make sure tat here are no other disabled people about waiting to use it, noway would I leave my bby in a pram outside to be snatched and yes they cold be. You cannot say that 100 per cent hey ould not

[threesocksmorgan]

"peeriebear Fri 23-Nov-12 12:33:35
The disabled loo in our main shopping centre always has a queue of mums and buggies outside it because the regular loos are tiny, smelly, totally cramped and you can't even get a buggy through the door let alone in a cubicle."

so out of curiosity, what happens if a disabled person comes along? I assume they go to the front

[MrsHelsBels74]

I would always give priority to a disabled person, but where I was today (supermarket) I wouldn't have even got the buggy into the room with cubicles let alone a cubicle & there was no way I was going to leave DS2 outside the room.

It's a tough one, some people say yes, some say no.

[WelshMaenad]

Leave pram outside, take baby in. Or find another loo. As a continent adult, there's always an alternative. For someone who is disabled, there probably isn't.

[RooneyMara]

It's not ideal for those reasons already outlined.

However if you're desperate and you aren't going to be ages, and there's no alternative, I think I'd not judge anyone for it.

Mind you I'd not judge someone using a disabled parking space if they were desperate and had no alternative. Someone with a broken leg got told off for doing that on here once - I think even if your disability is temporary, well, that's why they have spaces near enough to get to the shop. But obvs think of other ways round it first - getting online shopping, someone else to take you etc.

I can understand why it would piss off someone disabled though - and I am sure I've used a disabled loo before when pregnant when I was about to wet myself on the floor of the shop. I'm sure the shop people would have been Ok with this, even if no one else was! Explaining to the queue for the ladies wasn't fun though.

[NuzzleandScratch]

Has anyone ever used the family toilet in John Lewis, they have a normal toilet & a mini toilet side by side, so you & your child can pee in unison! Always amuses me!

[SaraBellumHertz]

If there is not a suitable alternative i.e. a family loo, it is perfectly acceptable. I would be surprised if anyone thought it was ok to expect a parent to leave their child unattended if they werent comfortable doing so.

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

I think it's fine.

[pigletmania]

Err how do you take a bby in when your sitting on the toilet. Yeh try juggling a bby and wiping yourself and pulling your clothes up and down. I am not talking about a baby who can stan and walk but those who are still very young and cannot

[BalthierBunansa]

RooneyMara I just want to say I love your username

[WelshMaenad]

Nuzzle, they have those in the St David's Centre in Cardiff, they're awesome! Also plenty of space for a buggy.

[SaraBellumHertz]

Take baby in and do what with them exactly?! There is no way on gods earth I would lay a baby on the floor of a public loo and I certainly can't pee or change a tampon whilst carrying a baby.

[lisad123]

You do realise that not all disabled people look disabled right?

[WorraLiberty]

In fairness, if you need to use a public loo it's usually ok to go to the end of a run and leave the buggy outside the cubicle (without the bags of shopping!)

I take it you don't mean leave the baby in the buggy but remember to remove your shopping in case it gets stolen?

It's not always possible to remove the baby from the buggy and hold them with one hand whilst trying to navigate your zips, buttons, knickers or tampons etc.

Sometimes you need a big cubicle to simply take the buggy and baby in with you.

[pigletmania]

Welsh I generally wait until we get home but if my IBS strikes than I need a loo now our I will poo myself

[WelshMaenad]

I've always managed it, piglet mania. Maybe I'm superhuman. I've also sat in a loo backwards to pee with DS in a back carrier.

It's never going to be as awkward as an actual disability though, is it? So we should maybe just count out lucky stars we're able bodied enough to have a go. Or maybe just take a slash before leaving the house?

[whatsforyou]

I've asked about this in my local m&s and Tesco, neither of which have cubicles big enough for buggies or separate baby change facilities.
I was told that they are not disabled toilets, they are accessible toilets. However they still just have the disabled sign on the door.

I do feel bad if I come out and there is someone in a wheelchair waiting to use it but sometimes need use public toilets and sometimes I need to change a nappy when we are out.
The problem is with the lack of facilities, not with the people who have to use them.

[RooneyMara]

thankyou Balthier!

First thing I thought of, have got that film sitting on top of the hard drive! I am nothing like her. of course.

[FireOverBabylon]

I would but mainly because disabled loos round here tend to double as baby changing anyway so no-one would be any the wiser as to which of us needed the loo, as it were.

I have to say though, having experienced the joys of going to the loo whilst out with a toddler, I tend to wait until I get home if at all possible so he can't open the door, tip the pushchair up, soak himself with the tap etc whilst I'm otherwise engaged.

[pigletmania]

If there is no other suitable loo and I desperately need it than I will

[ariane5]

I am surprised some think this is selfish-I was not at all bothered when we had to wait for disabled loo recently due to a mum with a pram using it. Yes, ds1 could have wet himself waiting but he didnt, even if he had it would just be one of those things.

There is no other option sometimes, and it is difficult to take a baby with you into a normal cubicle, very difficult.

[5madthings]

not unless it is a disabled toilet and baby change.

i just go to regular toilet and park buggy right outside. i am all of 60 seconds and can see the wherls of the buggy eyc. someone would have to wheel the pram away which i would see or faff about to unstrap dd. not that there are loads if baby snatchers about anyway!

[WelshMaenad]

Buggerama, the very nature of her disability causes sudden urinary urges, and she needs to go NOW. I'm not so clueless that I deliberately make her wait, you know.
Piglet, to be fair, I would consider IBS a perfectly valid reason to use a disabled toilet in any case so you're arguing a moot point there.

[MrsHelsBels74]

DS is only 9 weeks old, as others have said how am I supposed to pee etc with a baby in my arms. I have gone when DS1 was tiny in a sling but DS2 hates the sling with a passion so I don't use it. I think carrying a sling about just in case I need to use the loo is a bit much, along with all the other baby paraphernalia.