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?

Good point, saintly.

I'm disabled and find it annoying when non disabled people use the disabled toilet (I know some you can't see their disability but I find the ok ones tend to have a guilty expression cross over their face when they spot you) however I would be much more shocked to see a baby or toddler left outside!

A lot of disabled people feel guilty about using a disabled toilet, pictureperfect. What if someone has a weak bladder or a prolapse which means they leak urine unless they use a toilet ASAP? It's embarrassing, but they may feel guilty about using a toilet if there's someone in a wheelchair outside (for example).

saintly the only times i have used the disabled ones are for nappy hange when no where else is available and it has a change table in. i tend to leave the door open/unlocked as then if someine needs it i know and can get out asap but if your son came in and used it whilst i was in there then i wouldnt mind as long as he didnt mind!

i just park the pushchair with child in outside the regular toilet cubicle. i have done this for the last 13yrs with five children...not one has bern abducted!! i dint get the issue, they are a metre or two away and its for 60seconds? it never occured to me to use a disabled toilet as i am not disabled! its crap they put the baby change facilities inthere tbh. i have used the change table when no alternative but actually often change nappy age child in regular toilet, i simply lay the changing mat on the pushchair seat if there is no change table in ladies toilets.

ultimately non disabled people have plenty of choices, they may not always be convenient but its still a CHOICE. having a disability and having to use disabled toilets is not a choice!!

This isn't really about a disability though, it's about using the disabled toilet when you're out with a buggy. What's a parent to do? Piss in a bottle?

park the pushchair outside the cubicle with baby strapoed in. go to the toilet, come out wash hands etc. your baby will be fine!!!

A parent has a choice,the disabled person doesnt if the only toilet that gives them enough access is blocked by a buggy.

Mine's 13. I really can't remember what I used to do. I don't think I used a disabled toilet though. I think I didn't go out for too long, so used to loo at home. I can't remember that far back though.

I do this, what else are you meant to do with a buggy, baby and three year old?

But if there was already a disabled person in the toilet, the next one would still have to wait. It doesn't really make much of a difference. The person with the buggy may actually be quicker, who knows?

leave baby strapped in pushchair outside cubicle. take three yr old into.the cubicle with you. once they are fiveish? they can stand just outside the cubicle whilst you go.

five children aged 13 yrs down to 23mths have always parked pushchair outside cubicle and taken toddler in with me whilst leaving baby in pushchair.

No it would never have occured to me to do such a thing. Life's tough enough when you are disabled so why should perfectly able bodied (including mothers with infants) people take away one of the few "perks" that they have?

I really don't know how many times it has to be reiterated, in a lot of toilets you could not get a pram down to the cubicle. You'd have to leave it outside the toilets, or near the sinks which could be meters away, and close to the door.

Like fuck I'd leave my baby where I couldnt see him/her. Not when there's a toilet that nobody is using. its not worth the risk, at all.

'Your baby will probably be fine' would be a more accurate way of putting it, 5madthings.

I wouldn't be pissed off if I had to wait for another disabled person to finish because I know, they have NO other options. I would be slightly peeved to find a mother in there with a buggy if there were other options.

It's a 'perk'? What if there's someone in a wheelchair outside and, although you have a disability, you could have used the ladies?

Are you talking to me, LadyMary?

No, sorry, to Sue.

I'm sure that parents would use other places if there was the option, crashdoll. I said above, some places have parents rooms which have a toilet (and a small toilet for toddlers), and changing facilities but are not disabled toilets. Shame they are not all as parent friendly.

"You won't find my disabled son waiting because he'd scream the place down rather than wait. So if it's full we're in the ladies giving the pillars of society something to suck lemons about."

Well I have never had to wait for a disabled toilet either!

Which makes me think this is really a non issue, that baby change areas can share a space with disabled toilets quite fine, and most people dont have an issue.

"'Your baby will probably be fine' would be a more accurate way of putting it, 5madthings."

My baby would also probably be fine if i weaned at 3months, or if i didnt use a car seat, or all sorts of other things that they used to manage back in the day,

How big issue is buggies in disabled toilets? how many disabled people find it an issue irl?

It is more often than not for me.

I have never found a disabled person waiting.

That is because we are a much, much smaller minority. The chances of a mum with a buggy finding a disabled person waiting are slim. The chances of a disabled person having to wait because of a mum with a buggy are high.

For me, the bottom line is that it is not physically impossible for a parent to use a regular sized cubicle and manage a baby. It is physically impossible for some disabled people to use anything other than a disabled toilet.

What's the point of it going unused for hours on the off chance that it may be needed at some point during the day, when there's people who need to spend a penny? Maybe someone should stand outside one and do a tally of how many times one is used and by whom.