Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Mum changing shitty nappy in ladies

368 replies

ProudAS · 20/09/2014 13:03

I just went to the loo in a restaurant to find a mum had just changed her DC. The used nappy was on the floor with poo visible. She did get rid of the nappy (in the sanitary bin) but not the smell.

The smell made me retch and feel sick. AIBU to think she should have used the baby changing room next door?

OP posts:
floatyflo · 20/09/2014 16:04

That was quick!

icanmakeyouicecream · 20/09/2014 16:05

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Ron99 · 20/09/2014 16:05

If the baby change area was already in use, they are often also the accessible loo, then what would you prefer; a smelly toilet area or the baby remaining unchanged in the eating area?

I have a real issue with parents changing their babies nappies in cafes and on public transport where a baby change area is available but I accept parents sometimes have no option but to use the main toilet area.

Bet your poo doesn't smell of roses either.

FlossyMoo · 20/09/2014 16:05

See OP it could have been worse the mum could have changed the shitty nappy at the table next toy you while you were eating a meal. I'm sure that has been a thread on here somewhere. Grin

I am sorry you have a condition which is affected by smells but in this instance I am afraid you will just have to get over it.

WhyBeHappyWhenYouCouldBeNormal · 20/09/2014 16:07

ProudAs it IS in your control - you really can help yourself. Make tiny steps to improve your quality of life. The suggestion of nice smelling oils a poster earlier on the thread made was a really good one. You can distract yourself from distressing sights by quickly looking at something else - maybe a picture on your phones home screen which instantly calms you, or charm on a bracelet, or a puzzle in your pocket, whatever works for you. For me, it's pandas and bunnies.

The poor women in the toilet probably was upset at being judged by you when all she wanted was to change her baby and probably do a wee herself.

ABlandAndDeadlyCourtesy · 20/09/2014 16:08

Op, quite often there is a changing table in the ladies also, out in the basin area.

There's rarely enough room in a cubicle to get on the floor with a mat and change a baby.

I'm sorry you felt sick.

LittlePeaPod · 20/09/2014 16:11

Proud My BIL has Aspergers and he has coping methods to help him deal with difficult situations.

Gileswithachainsaw · 20/09/2014 16:13

Maybe the fold down table was broken.

I hated using them tbh mainly a because the strap was broken half the time, they are too small after a certain point and the baby kicks the wipes packet off or sticks feet in the nappy and you end up in really strange positions trying to hold baby on the table safely while you try and get hold of the stuff they kicked off.

Floors much easier

Badvoc123 · 20/09/2014 16:13

It's poo.
Not toxic waste.
I think yanu.
Public toilets are not the sweetest smelling of places.

Badvoc123 · 20/09/2014 16:16

For me it's the smell of cherries.
I retch.
I avoid them when I can.
Maybe you need to avoid public loos when you can and accept that sometimes there will be the smell and even sight of poo and learn some coping strategies?

ILovePud · 20/09/2014 16:16

I do have sympathy with your sensitivity to smells, I wretch easily and have nearly been sick a few times when I've been in a stinky loo, I am forever spraying oust in the toilets at home. However It's unreasonable to expect there not to be poo smells in a public loo.

Floggingmolly · 20/09/2014 16:18

Maybe you should use the disabled loo yourself then?

SolomanDaisy · 20/09/2014 16:18

No mother is going to change her baby lying on a dirty toilet floor unless there are no other suitable options. A baby that has had a poo needs changing asap. It's a shame it made you feel nauseous, but that's something transient for you and something you can work on coping mechanisms for.

poshlymanor · 20/09/2014 16:18

Oh dear OP. I get that it made you feel sick. My DD has aspergers and she would have a similar reaction. She was sick in the monkey house at the zoo because of the smell (and to me it wasn't that bad).

But the mother did nothing wrong.

Do you have any strategies to cope with situations like this?

I mean surely you must have come across other unsightly things in a public loo, like an unflushed or blocked toilet, piss on the floor, used sanitary products on the floor.

I teach my DD what to do in these situations because they're not uncommon.

Mouthfulofquiz · 20/09/2014 16:18

I give up. The people that told you to get a grip aren't psychic!
I'm not going to apologise for telling you to get a grip, but I will say that I wouldn't have said it if you had provided the relevant facts in the first place. Your OP doesn't read as someone genuinely trying to guage opinion - it reads as someone being unreasonable and unsympathetic to someone trying to solve a problem, eg a child with a dirty nappy.
So - as you seem to realise that poo in public places makes you want to heave... Well, you best stay out of public loos from now on. Shit, literally, happens.

FlossyMoo · 20/09/2014 16:18

You are not being attacked for something you can not control OP.

People are expressing their opinion regarding you blaming the mother for changing a shitty nappy in the toilet.

The baby changing room may very well have been in use when she went to use it so she used the next appropriate place. The toilet.

extremepie · 20/09/2014 16:19

I feel for you OP, I recognised you from another disability thread & was going to bring up the sensory issue if you didn't first!

I don't think yabu, it must be difficult to manage but at the same time I'm sure you realise the world can't completely change to accommodate you all the time (as annoying as that is :) ). I second what others have said about trying to find a way to cope with situations better rather than hoping it will never happen, just in case it does happen again in the future.

Fwiw I would recommend using the disabled toilets, yes they sometimes double as a baby changing facility also but since it is only a single toilet (which presumably would be locked if there was someone in there using it) there is then no chance of you walking in and accidentally seeing someone's poo without warning. That way even if it does smell at least you won't have to deal with both seeing and smelling at once :)

If anyone questions why you are using the disabled loo just tell them you have a disability, you don't have to tell them the specifics of why. I am not disabled myself but I always use the disabled toilets when I'm out with ds as he does and it's not safe for me to leave him outside the cubicle on his own while I use the loo so I'm sure you'd be entitled to use it.

Aeroflotgirl · 20/09/2014 16:28

I dident know you have ASpergers, dd7 has ASD, yes I understand strong unpleasant smells being worse for you op, I dint think you can do much about it, it's not often you come across it.

CarbeDiem · 20/09/2014 16:29

I do have some sympathy for you regarding your sensory issues but that is yours to deal with and if you can't manage in a toilet that has the potential to smell of shite then you should make alternative arrangements.
Granted - seeing a shitty nappy as you walk in is probably a bit bleurgh but no more so than seeing floaters or skids in public loo's.

For whatever reason the lady didn't use the baby change, I find it difficult to believe that on the floor in the ladies was her first choice. She WNBU - she was using the toilet for its designed purpose = toileting needs.

PrettyPictures92 · 20/09/2014 16:33

YAB completely U Biscuit

Babiecakes11 · 20/09/2014 16:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PistolWhipped · 20/09/2014 16:47

What a load of shit.

PistolWhipped · 20/09/2014 16:48

badum-tish!

tobysmum77 · 20/09/2014 16:50

yabu

I saw some woman changing her baby of the not particularly clean public toilet floor a couple of weeks ago Sad There was no baby changing although these are often gross also). I was Shock as I would have caused offence to the sensitive mnetters and done it outside instead. This thread just goes to show you can cause offence whatever you do. Thankfully mine aren't in nappies anymore.

ProudAS · 20/09/2014 16:53

My BIL has Aspergers and he has coping methods to help him deal with difficult situations. So do I but I've not got one for this (I can cope with smell OR sight of it but not both unless seeing it on loo roll). How does your BIL stop himself from feeling sick and retching?

I'm not going to apologise for telling you to get a grip, but I will say that I wouldn't have said it if you had provided the relevant facts in the first place. I'm not going to apologise for being autistic or not posting a fact which I didn't realise was relevant. My condition affects the way I communicate especially when stressed and trying to avoid throwing up like I was then. It wasn't obvious that I had these issues so just assume that I don't and that I'm making up the bit about retching and feeling sick. I'll post in mental health in future - might not be the best place for guaging opinion but I might get a bit more understanding.

I feel for you OP, I recognised you from another disability thread & was going to bring up the sensory issue if you didn't first! Thanks extremepie - I've told MNers about my condition before but tend to forget that that isn't enough especially when I'm trying to avoid retching in a restaurant.

Then you need to stay inside for ever. Your needs are not as important as everyone else's, especially little babies. Why should I stay inside?? Babies grow up but I will always be autistic. Would you tell a wheelchair user not to use the bus because your PFB's needs to go in the wheelchair space in their buggy is more important than theirs and what difference does it make when it's a hidden disability?

the reason why there is little empathy is that no one likes the smell of poo and that's the most reasonable place to change it. i don't know anything about asperger's, so I don't know why it makes you more sensitive to smells, but I will take your word for it. in any case, even if you are ultra sensitive to it, you can't expect the world to either know or tip toe around it. I never expected people to tiptoe around me and there is more to my problems than just the smell.

I am ultra sensitive to the smell of fish. I find it absolutely revolting. but you know what? Tough for me. People eat fish and do so often in restaurants. If I am in a restaurant, it makes my meal substantially worse if someone at my table or near me is eating fish. But I can't expect anyone to take that into account. The best I can do is move tables or leave. it's my problem and no one else's. I know what you mean - I have similar problems with crowds and excessively noisy places. How do you suggest I avoid loos though? Should I go in the street?

Never never follow me and DD into a public toilet, she has a colostomy and it stinks and I mean stink. She is too big for the baby changing. I have never had anything but smiles and help as sometimes we have to queue jump .shock
I do think you are being unkind.
So long as I don't have to see it I'm fine. If I knew about it I'd be even more understanding. I don't think you would be unreasonable to use the disabled loo though with a colostomy.

I always think that changing a baby in the actual restaurant at the table (previous thread), cafe (previous thread), friends living room/kitchen (previous thread)etc. lazy and gross.

But, in this case YABU Op. Its a toilet not a kitchen or restaurant. Get over it! Oh and clearly adult shit in restauant toilets doesn't stink! hmm It wasn't the smell - it was seeing it too and if I could get over it that easily I would have done so 20 years ago. Would you tell a paraplegic that they've got a pair of legs so get over it??

OP - what you are saying is comparable to me explaining I have a disability and also social anxiety. Therefore it is very offensive to me when I see any people about in public. AIBU to think they should have all buggered off to their own houses so that I can do my shopping in peace? It has made me feel very sick and anxious.

You see? Of course, I have absolute sympathy -I have many problems which make interacting with the world on an NT scale difficult (like bloody escalators in London) but I accept that these are MY PROBLEMS and that actually, people are not doing things just to terrify me and that I need to find coping mechanisms so that I can get by in the world.

This lady was not AIBU, you need to improve your coping mechanisms.

A psychiatrist/psychologist doesn't sound best for this -an occupational therapist might be able to forward you onto someone who can help though? I don't expect people to bugger off home simply because I don't like crowds either. This situation was less avoidable though.

OP posts: