This dad is really pee’d off about baby change facilities – for good reason

Less than impressed with the options available to change his baby girl’s nappy, one dad has taken to Facebook to call for a change. 

Change it up

Dad-of-four Chris Mau is the gent at the centre of a now-viral post, and he’s had it up to the eye-teeth with the lack of baby change options for dads. After being forced to change his eight-month-old daughter, Kali, in inappropriate facilities for the umpteenth time, he reached his limit and pleaded for public places to do better.

Chris had walked downtown with his kids, and when Kali began fussing and was obviously uncomfortable, he was not going to let her sit in a dirty nappy. He popped into a restaurant with a play centre attached thinking they’d have exactly what he needed to sort things out.

And … nope. The mens’ room available to him had no change table or bench space – and there were no parents’ room facilities on hand. So he did the best he could with what he had and changed baby Kali in the men’s room, on a blanket on the floor.

It was the lesser of two evils, as far as he was concerned, but he was really unhappy to be put in that position in the first place.

“I was immediately frustrated with the ignorance of the facility and with Kali crying I had to make the hard choice between either making her wait until we found a facility that had a changing station, or ease her discomfort and change her in the bathroom anyway,” Chris wrote in a post on Love What Matters. “The condition of the bathroom was less than sanitary, but the crying of my children eats at the very fiber of my being and I had to help her.”

Later, he headed to Facebook to raise the issue.

“I’m getting pretty sick of having to change my daughter on a disgusting floor because the only changing table in the place is located in the women’s bathroom,” he posted. “It’s crazy to imagine I know but there are guys who take care of their kids too you asshats.”

“If it’s a public place with public restrooms in the generation of equality among genders and races then how about making sure us fathers can change our children’s diapers on a goddamn changing table like the mother’s can. Am I asking too much?”

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Conveniences for tiny humans, please!

People who read the post were keen to weigh in, supporting Chris and pointing out that babies need to be made more welcome everywhere – for everyone. Babies are so often treated as an inconvenience, and Chris is right, in this day and age we need to ensure parents’ facilities are available to anyone AND that babies are bettered catered for.

“I agree,” one woman wrote. “I had to stop at a gas station to change my daughter and even I had to change her on the floor! Cause no changing table… They need to be everywhere!

“This pissed me off like these restaurants are sexist. Mums aren’t the only people or parent to change diapers,” another follower wrote.

“This shit drives me crazy beyond belief and it’s everywhere,” a fellow dad agreed.

Making dads and babies welcome

It is crazy beyond belief – and we love this dad’s push for more accessible facilities for babies, whichever gender you may be. 

Chris is one of many dads who want clean and accessible public facilities so they can care for their kids. Ashton Kutcher notably raised the issue a few years ago, but it seems that even with a high profile push – and posts on this issue going viral – dads are still being left with impossible choices when they want to change their kids.

We most certainly need to do much better – as a community – and make dads and babies more welcome.