and I know I've done a bloody stupid thing but - changing a wet nappy in public

[booradley]

I feel so stupid and I know I'm in the wrong but I changed DD nappy in the cafe area of a farm park today. It was 4.30 and there was no-one around, the nearest people were sitting 15 feet away and the baby changing station was occupied. I knew that it was just a wet one and that she had on dungarees so no part of her body or the used nappy would touch the table so I changed her.
A member of staff came up to me late and said that a doctor had seen me do it and he is going to report the park to the dept of health.
I know the staff member was freaked out but when I asked what this would mean she said they would probably get closed down.

I know its a bloody stupid thing to have done and I feel a complete mug but does anyone have any idea what's going to happen?
I figured the best scenario would be a get a snotty letter from park telling me off but the worst, well I have a vivid imagination and I'm thinking all kinds of stuff - does anyone have any ideas.

ps - yes I know it was a bloody stupid thing to do.

Don't worry, they won't get closed down and it's not an imprisonable offence!!
It IS pretty gross, however, to change a nappy on a table in an eating area, and I'd have been pretty pissed off had I been a customer.

windy!!!the nerve!

They are pulling your leg or at worst scaremongering. Seriously, the chances are you will get a snotty letter and that will be that.

Don't panic.

And yes, it was a minging thing to do but hey - nobody's perfect

i'm with smugcolditz here - load of tosh made up by the member of staff

if a doctor had seen you and thought badly of it, he would have said to you directly...

don't give it another thought!!

Riven - personally would put two chairs together if there was NOWHERE else to do it, or on the backseat of the car

don't worry dear
what about all those toddlers being potty trained and weeing themselves
what about all the men who go to the toilet and don't wash their hands
what about the ladies with dodgy pelvic floors and no Tena lady - what happens when they sneeze?
honestly, there is wee everywhere

was it table outside....if yes, do they all have special forcefields to stop bird shit from falling on them ???

don't worry about it, it prob wasn't your best choice of nappy changing ares but I very much doubt they'll be any follow up.

I would do it in the back of the car
or on the grass
on a park bench or on my lap
or anywhere really
I am pretty quick now, though, at nappy changing
now dd2 is in pullups I just whip them down

I normally change mine on me lap, but I have quite long legs so can lay them up iyswim.

AFAIC, If a bum needs changing, it gets changed, a table can wipe clean, an uncomfortable baby, that could possibly get nappy rash needs changing, I would avoid table if at all possible though.

OP, don't worry, and if you're ever worried about being caught short again, invest in some dettol travel spray, then you can spray down the table and make it cleaner than it probably was before.

I'm with Harpsi. It is no big deal at all. A babies wee isn't dirty. Anyway isn't urine sterile? And children frequently puke over tables etc. Now that does have germs in it imo. I would be more concerned about that (though obv sympathetic to poor parents and child.......
Please forget about it.

Vanilla - it was acutallu at a farm cafe (what is it with these places) that DS spectacularly puked ALL OVER the high chair. I asked for some disinfectant and wiped it up and put the highchair back - made me feel uncomfortable though, think I would have chucked it out myself!

They can't do anything to you. Bear in mind that just-trained toddlers shit in cafes on occasion, and no one puts them or their parents in prison. The staff member was just having a hissy fit because he/she is young, silly and self-righteous - and probably didn't want to have to do any extra cleaning.

I think most probably nothing will happen.

Oh your poor ds Smooth. It is awful when that happens! I am shocked at the amount of children puking in cafe's/restaurants I have witnessed. I always feel so sorry for them and esp the parents....

This child did not wee on the table....a wet nappy was taken off, bottom wiped and a new one put on. Where is the shocking filth in that?? A pooey nappy would be a totally different scenario I agree, but a wet one???

Hi booradley. I agree with some other posters - this is nothing to beat yourself up about.
For goodness sake, we all make mistakes, or think better of things after the event, and i am amazed by the tone of some of the posters.
Often when out i see people so involved in conversations that they are not watching their very young children at all.
The worst that could happen in this scenario is that the waitress has to very thoroughly clean the table.
Only the other day i read a thread on MN where a father had.............but no, i won't go there. All i am saying is that this is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
You, booradley, would be welcome round to my imperfect, probably not immaculately clean but very real family house anytime......
More fizzy wine for me now. Cheers!

LOL at "The doctor is going to report the park to the department of health." I'd like to hear that phone call.

And why would you get a "nasty letter?" from ANYONE. I hope you didn't give them your address!!

I am somewhat that you all think it is acceptable to change your baby on a table in a cafe. I think it is pretty disgusting TBH and I thought I had low standards. But OP realises she was wrong so would just say chalk it up to experience - you are only human etc. And the toddler who shits in a cafe rarely does it on the table I would have thought.

When ds was having his six week check he weed on my hunky gp, who said it happened more often than you'd think - doctors know wee isn't too awful, so forget that bit. When I was in the supermarket yesterday the small girl at the next checkout weed all over the floor, the man with the mop came and mopped it. I assume the tables in a farm cafe are easy to wipe?

I have changed dds wet nappy very discreet though in the pram but would not do it on a table as am paranoid about paedos.

Would not change ds though as he wees at me every time!!

I agree bozza. The OP said there was a baby changing facility, it was just occupied. Can't see what's wrong with just waiting a few minutes. What do you do if there's a queue for the ladies lav - drop your knickers and piss on the floor???
Places where there aren't facilities for babies/disabled are a completely different matter (though I would still have used car seat/ floor rather than cafe table). But when the facility is there and you can't be bothered to use it, I can understand people being pretty hacked off.

Animals licking their arses and then licking kids' hands at a farm park is a pretty disgusting thought too bozza.

That's why they invented soap and cleaning stuff I s'pose....

At least you have the choice to let an animal lick your hand. You don't have a lot of choice about watching a nappy being changed if you're having your cuppa and a slice of cake in the same room

I agree, PuppyMonkey. And not just in farms. What about pet dogs who do the same, and in fact often lick kids' faces. Dogs also defecate in parks etc. where children play which is pretty nasty. But no, I don't do that either.
I know this is getting pretty extreme, but to be honest I would sooner eat at a table where a child's wet nappy had been changed and the table then cleaned, than picnic where a dog had s--t.
Perhaps those pet owners should be reported?