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?

I think she is worried about adult bacteria infecting the babies things not the other way round. She may have seen how my 13 year old boy leaves a loo and it scares the bejesus out of her that his filth could go anywhere near the babies things...

Luckily you don't have my DS in your home. In which case it should be fine. Great setup!

Sooo jealous! YANBU.
i wish i had these facilities!!!
I have to change my 12 month old in the living room as we live in a small 2 bed flat. Its impossible to do unless hes drinking milk or juice. Otherwise you have to chase him round the living room/hall way to get a nappy on. The amount if times i have had to whack out the carpet cleaner is ridiculous, ive had to pick up poo (wet and hard) off the carpet and then steam clean. Its rank and if i had the room i would 100% change him in the bathroom.

Bonkers. At dd's, where there are two still in nappies and no space in downstairs loo, we nearly always change nappies on a sofa - changing mat is kept behind or under it. If anyone doesn't like it they are welcome to look away/leave the room. Luckily dd has very few, if any, finicky/batshit visitors.

I also have this arrangement, a changing table in the bathroom. It's not a large bathroom - we've had to shoehorn it in and slightly restricts access to the bath, but i love it. It's so handy to have immediate access to the sink when changing. I don't clean the toilet daily, though!

None of our bathrooms / toilets are big enough for a changing station (or changing mat on floor), but, if there’s space, it’s the ideal place for changing nappies.

You’re already in a space intended for dealing with bodily waste, so minimising the possible unhygienic spread of poo around the house (depending on how wiggly the baby or toddler is), and there’s a sink right there for washing hands in once the nappy is dealt with. Perfect.

I wouldn't keep nappies etc in there TBH unless they were in boxes or a cupboard. I wouldn't want germs from the toilet spraying all over the babies' changing table/nappies if somebody forgot to close the lid. It only takes one person with a tummy bug to spread it! But I guess if you Dettol the mat and around it before using, it's fine- I always use a Dettol wipe in public changing rooms.

It's lovely to have a downstairs loo with changing table, nappy bin etc for visitors. I just wouldn't use it to change my own baby unless I'd cleaned thoroughly after visitors.

@ZoopDragon the nappies, wipes, nappy sacks and other changing bits and bobs are in fabric storage boxes on the shelves of the unit. And we are a closed lid flushing household.

Any boys in my family know to clean up after themselves if they make a mess! Generations of women have toilet trained their sons to sit down, so there is hardly ever any stray wee on the seat.

I'm not worried about any bugs as the mat itself is wiped down before and after each use and the toilet is flushed while the lid is down. And nappy changing things are boxed away out of sight.

I feel a lot better knowing there are other people who have the same setup, I did feel a bit weird after her comment but you have all reassured me I'm not a weirdo, she's just interfering.

If it was a baby FEEDING station then I would say it's unhygienic but a place for changing a baby's bum and dealing with poo and wee? Sounds fantastic! The only reason I wouldn't have wanted one when I was last in need (my youngest is 14 now) was that I credited going up and down the stairs with helping me get back to pre baby size quickly.....