To think baby changing at Grand Central Station is AWFULLY designed?

[Earlybirdnoworm]

Yesterday I went into Birmingham for some quiet shopping (in hindsight a mistake since it was Pride and a Saturday, but I digress).
I went to change my 1yo on the upper level of shops but was really surprised by what I found. The baby changing room is a big room with side by side changing mats, no privacy at all, and the door to the room is huge, meaning that once the door is opened anyone walking past or queuing for the toilets can see two babies being changed very clearly, three feet away from the door.
There was also no hand soap at either of the sinks and a random security bloke (not a cleaner etc) kept walking in and out and watching what I was doing. I have no idea who you 'complain' to about these kind of things but I wondered whether anybody else thought it was strange! Next time I'll head to the changing facilities in John Lewis, I think.

It's the same as one at Touchwood in Solihull then. I remember wondering in there looking for the parent and toddler toilets and being surprised by layout. Was there a parent and toddler toilet?

John Lewis in Bristol has three changing stations in a row, no privacy either. Why do you need privacy to change a baby's nappy?

Sounds like a good design up stop people having to wait for ages

I would have thought the big door is so you can get buggies in and out easily. Sounds fine to me.

Why do you need privacy to change a nappy? Unless there's someone dodgy hanging around outside the door trying to catch a look every time the door is opened, I don't see the issue.

It doesn't sound the nicest setup, but gets the job done.

I'm assuming it's baby changing and not also a feeding room and doesn't have a toilet in (which I think they all should, but that's a different issue!).

Wouldn't have an issue with the privacy part. There is one in a shopping centre near me that has automatic opening doors, seems like a good idea because you don't have to wrestle pram through the door. But it's really sensitive and you have to walk past the door to get to main male and female toilets, so everytime someone walks past the bloody thing opens. Not so good when you are trying to change a baby and have a toddler who tries to bolt out the door each time they see a chance at freedom.

I don't see the problem, why do you need privacy to change a baby's nappy? I've done it (out of necessity due to poo explosion) on the tailgate of our car in a public car park. The main reason for not just doing it anywhere is access to hand washing facilities and sparing other people the joys of the sights and smells of a nappy's content.

The same as everyone else; I don't see the issue. What do you need privacy for?

Wouldn't have a problem with the layout too much, at least it reduces waiting. However would be annoying if you have a toddler who is a runner.
And I'd have been inclined to stop and ask random man if there was a problem with my nappy technique as he seems so intent on watching...

Having no soap at the sinks is bad, but I can't see a problem with the rest. How much privacy do you think your 1yo feels the need for? I remember going to baby weight clinics and there were 4 changing mats side by side for all the babies to be stripped off. I can't see an issue there. Sounds like a very good idea to have one large communal area so you don't feel stressed out worrying about a queue outside the door if you end up dealing with a poonami.

The security guard popping in was probably because they want to make sure people don't use the room for inappropriate things (sexual liaisons, drug taking) - maybe it's normally covered by cctv but it was broken? I hardly think he was actually interested to watch what you were doing - it's not that entertaining.

Try newly revamped Manchester Victoria, turnstile for regular toilets, and a radar key for the disabled /baby change. Couldn't find where to get code from. On plus side in 8 months that is only place we've had problems with baby changing facilities.

I thought this was a stealth boast thread (Grand Central Station NEW YORK). Imagine my disappointment...

You need privacy if you are changing a child beyond the age of 3 ish. We managed to fit ds on baby changing tables (the table type not pull down) till he was about 7 but I wouldn't have done it with an audience.