To think that the perfect place for a changing station is the toilet

[ProseccoMamam]

We had visitors over and there was one woman I want to ask you lot about (DH's side - auntie or something like that - the ones you only acknowledge on special family occasions). So anyway, all was good, Christmas was enjoyed etc etc.

I have 2 toilets. One downstairs toilet and an upstairs bathroom. The downstairs toilet is quite big (purposely built to be easily changed into a wheelchair friendly house), so it's big enough to have a unit in there which can hold a changing mat on top and the shelves underneath hold nappies and other changing bits. Brilliant, I have a toddler and big family so lots of babies. People who visit love it, they can take their LO into the toilet and change them easily just like you could in a public mother and baby toilet.

The woman from DH's side pulled me to one side and asked me to move all of the changing stuff 'upstairs where it belongs' I was confused? I asked why? She told me that it is very unsanitary to have a baby's changing things in a toilet 'that adults use too'. Now am I missing the point or is it disgusting? I was very happy that I could create a small changing station downstairs so I didn't have to take the toddler upstairs to change him all day every day. But now I'm thinking, Is it unhygienic? The toilet is cleaned daily (obviously) and I have always been in the habit of wiping down the changing mat with an anti bac wipe before and after use. I personally am completely confused with her comment so am I thick or is she just strange? Isn't a toilet the best place to be wiping bums and throwing away dirty nappies or am I missing something?

But if you use public toilets the baby change are most often inside toilets used by adults.

"Toddlers poo is less likely to be infected?"
Wtf?

We have had a changing station in our bathroom for years -so convenient, aunt is weird

Baby wee and baby poo is less likely to be infected than an adults, so more sanitary!!

I would really like to understand where some MNers get their science from....

Greenshoots1 sorry for my total ignorance but why are antibac wipes off the cards?

because of the danger of them increasing the resistance of bacteria to products that we use to fight them. Some antibac wipes risk doing this. Some don't, generally the very strong ones are less of a risk, but tbh you are better off just using soap and water than strong bleach, etc.

I read this as 'charging station' as in somewhere you might plug in your phone's and hang around while they charge which I thought was pretty U!

Sounds like a great idea, ignore her!

I had a downstairs changing station, just outside the loo as there wasn’t room in the bathroom. Upstairs it was in the nursery as again there wasn’t room in the bathroom.

Auntie is nuts. Bonkers. Ignore her.

Changing tables in bathrooms encourage good hygiene and when near to potty training allow for sit on the potty during the change,

For generations my family (both genders) have taken great pride in being able to change babies on their laps, no mat required. It's quite a skill, started by grandma who had five boys inc twins. No one has ever gotten sick from this.

Wish I had video I could send your aunt!

Suspect she's one of those that gets in a twist about the toilet spray range when flushing. I can't get worked up about it myself.

Odd.

My main concern is that a changing station in a toilet sometimes would mean people having to wait unnecessarily when the room is occupied. But as you have more than one toilet and presumably more than one changing station, that's unlikely to be a problem.

Ridiculous! Just ignore.

What you have described is what we have at the nursery where I work
The changing unit is in the staff toilet
Obviously it's only used for one purpose at once

Do you think she meant that it's not hygienic for the baby to be around adults poo and wee in case it catches something from them?

Bonkers either way, but I wonder if she worries about children being exposed to toilet germs?

Just ignore, your set-up sounds great. No need to change anything IMO.

How odd.

How rude of her as well.

🦇 💩.

I change babies on my lap/sofa/rug/bed. Wherever I happen to be! Have a box of supplies up and downstairs. I’ve only ever seen people on mumsnet take offence to this

She's utterly bonkers, and rude to have said that to you.

Your set up sounds perfect. What would she do if you lived in a bungalow and only had one bathroom? If you moved it upstairs, it would still be in a room which adults use too! What sort of house has a room entirely dedicated to baby changing? None that I have ever seen! She sounds completely bonkers.

It's brilliant you have the space..I actually thought about building one that folded down over the cistern as I couldn't change on the floor due to my back

She's bonkers...

It's much more hygienic to have it in the bathroom than the bedroom, provided you close the toilet seat when flushing (and I can't get too excited about that). You have easy access to a sink to wash hands after changing the nappy. If it's in the bedroom, you have to go to a bathroom to wash hands which can result in cross-contamination from your hands when opening doors etc.

We had ours in the upstairs bathroom. Our stairs aren't so massively long that it's a problem going upstairs to change the nappies.

Obviously, not everyone has a big enough bathroom to hold a changing station and you have to manage with the limitations of your environment but for me, first choice would be in the bathroom.