AIBU is it ever OK to change a nappy on the sofa in a restaurant

[ByLuckyBear]

Husband and I went out to lunch to a popular chain restaurant. Quite a relaxed place, with a mixture of seating, including dining tables and chairs and sofas and coffee tables.

Sat down and started looking at the menu when husband nudged me and said "I think someone is changing a nappy on that sofa."

Sure enough, I turned around and the toddlers legs were up in the air whilst the adult changed the nappy in the full view of the whole restaurant. It was clear from the smell this was not just a wet nappy either.

As I went to order at the bar, I mentioned to the person serving that another customer seemed to be changing a nappy on the sofa. The member of staff let the person changing the nappy know thay they have changing facilities on the ground floor in the disabled toilet.

The person changing the nappy replied that the child had a "short life" and at this point I noticed that the pushchair with them had adaptations to indicate the child had additional needs.

AIBU to say that I still don't think that this meant a nappy should be changed on the sofa in a restaurant? Surely the child would benefit from a more sanitary nappy change with a little more dignity? Not to mention the hygeine and smell for customers!

No, I have a small child who is life limited and he deserves just as much dignity as the next person. I am guessing that although there were baby changing facilities in the accessible toilet they might not have been suitable for this toddler's needs, I know they aren't for us but I still wouldn't change him in public.

No, there isn’t a good reason. Even in the instance you described.

It’s very antisocial behaviour.

I have noticed that some change tables are weight limited to 10kg. My baby was over that before 1 year and absolutely not ready for stand up nappy changes so not sure what I would do in that situation (floor of the disabled loo I guess). No idea how people with much older kids who still need nappies and can’t stand would cope in that situation.

that said, pooey nappy on sofa on cafe is definitely not acceptable. Grim.

No I don't think its dignified for the child or pleasant for anyone else to smell at a restaurant.

But i imagine its hard if you have a child who has those needs but is too big for nappy mat. I still don't think it should he on a restaurant sofa though

I would not want to be smelling that whilst eating my lunch!
It’s also not hygienic for someone to be doing that and then not wash their hands, especially if they are then touching salt & pepper shakers, menus, door handles etc.

I don't see the link between the child having a life limiting condition and them being changed in a place where people are eating. It's gross for an adult to use a child's disability as an excuse for behaving badly like that.

Not fair on the child or anyone else. All children deserve dignity.

If it was a wee it really wouldn’t bother me.

It’s disgusting behaviour and should be called out every time, whether the child is unwell or not.

I have done it with a tiny baby with a wee but only because there was literally nowhere else. Otherwise, god no. Definitely not for a toddler

No.

No.

I think people completely lose sense of what is normal when they have children sometimes.

I have my own toddler and am fairly frequently surprised by eg children using a potty in pub.

Why couldn't she roll out a mat and change them on the floor of the baby changing bathroom? That's what I do with my toddler who is too big for the tables

That is disgusting! Poor child and poor customers. YANBU.

Remind me of my BIL and SIL changing pooey nappies less than 6 feet away from me trying to eat my Sunday roast!

It does raise the question though of why there are some few places that have suitable changing facilities for the most disabled in society.

No that’s disgusting weather a wee or a poo. My daughter used to work in a well known restaurant chain and someone charged their child nappy on the table 🤮

No

It is disgusting and entitled behaviour. I see it far too often (Costa seems to attract such parents even though they have baby changing facilities). A mum sat next to me and changed her baby's nappy on the table, then went into the loo with the changing facilities to bin the nappy.