Over-the-bathtub changing table - advice needed!

[vvt]

we're expecting our first one in july, and trying to make plans for the nursery in a small one-bedroom london flat!
my dad keeps going on about getting a changing table to place on top the bathtub, but there are barely any products, or mentions of this on the internet (i've only found one, italian made, that doesn't ship here - https://marikali.cy/products/cam-changing-station-idro-baby?variant=43686514032942)

is this something anyone's done? or is it better to just get a changing mat and a baby bath and try to be flexible?

we don't have a lot of space, or surfaces that are good for changing on, escape our bed, but i can make heads or tails of it.

thanks!

I would think that would be an almighty pain, imagine bending over the bath to change nappies!

Is it possible your dad meant one of those units that has a baby bath on a stand, with a changing mat on top? Like this https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/baby/bathing-and-changing/baby-changing-mats-and-bags/babylo-savannah-changer-metric-moon-and-stars/p/197219 ?
But even that isn't the most practical thing in a small flat with little space! I'd just get a flexible changing mat (maybe two so you can have one in bedroom and one in living room stored behind the sofa or whatever when not in use) and use the sink for baby baths.

You can get cot-top changers, could that be what he’s thinking of? A bath is a horrible height to be bending to for changing a baby.
If a cot top unit won’t work for you I’d get a normal change mat, keep it under the sofa and use it on the floor - baby can’t roll off the floor and hurt themselves while you hunt for a new pack of wipes or whatever.

Oh, and I never had a baby bath. We used the kitchen sink while DC were newborn, then an angelcare bath support in the bath once they were bigger.

thanks for the answers!
it's actually like a table you place on the tub, so shouldn't have to lean over too much - but i get your point.
funnily enough, because our hot water is much too hot and the tub is the only tap in the house where hot and cold are mixed, that's going to be the only place we can wash the little bugger anyways ...

I'd just change on the bed/sofa on a changing mat or get a over the cot changing table

Sounds like a right faff! Where would it go when you have a bath??

I had two cheap sponge change mats. One lived down beside the bedside table I'd put it onto the bed when changing overnight, and the other slid under the sofa and I used it to change dc on the living room floor. Sometimes dc would even just nap on it on the floor, with a blanket over the cool plastic.

Honestly, we had a cot top changer and a baby bath instead of filling a bath for a little one - ikea used to do a sizeable one which we used until dc were about 4 years old!

A bath top changing table just wouldn't feel safe. The only ones o can think of are the ones that go completely over a baby table with recessed bath. And they take up room!

Oh and for the bath, we had a little towelling ramp that just lay on the bottom of the bath, we had a couple of inches of warm water.

I have used an over the bath changing table in someone else's house. I would never buy one myself. With a freestanding changing table or a changing shelf on top of a chest of drawers you can get as close as you like to the changing area because your toes tuck under it. If it's over the bath there is no kickspace and your toes hit the bath panel. A small thing, but very uncomfortable for your posture.

We put the baby bath in the big bath for the first few weeks, but soon graduated to using the big bath itself. Put the baby bath in the big bath meant the baby could have a deep bath. IME newborns enjoy a deep bath, rather than a shallow sponge bath.

We never had a changing table. Just used a mat.

I always just change their nappies on the floor, so had a changing mat for upstairs and one for downstairs. If I had a c section then I would have changed them on the bed at first I think. If I was starting again I would just buy a “Baby Dam” which you use to make your bathtub smaller basically, as it takes up less room than a baby bath but once they have grown out of the baby bath you can use it for water play in the back garden.