changing diapers on a plane

[SLK1]

Change only in the bathroom, no where else! We eat and drink in those seats people! Nor do I want to look over and see (and smell) your child's diaper. Gross! Take the 3 seconds and go to the lavatory. I can't imagine thinking it is ok to do it anywhere else.

Ok, so under your way, you take your 18-month-old, 23 pound baby to change her. There is no changing table. Now what? Lay her on the sink? Lay her on the toilet cover? It doesn't work! Desperate times call for desperate measures, so the nearest seat is it. You people act like poop is being smeared on the walls and seat. First of all, you use a pad. Second, you use wipes. I have never ever witnessed someone take some poop from their hand and wipe it off on the seat. Besides, do you not think someone has already wiped a booger or snot or phlegm on your seat? If you don't like to see poop, turn your head - you're going to smell it either way.

 

[summerrluvv]

Ok, so under your way, you take your 18-month-old, 23 pound baby to change her. There is no changing table. Now what? Lay her on the sink? Lay her on the toilet cover? It doesn't work! Desperate times call for desperate measures, so the nearest seat is it. You people act like poop is being smeared on the walls and seat. First of all, you use a pad. Second, you use wipes. I have never ever witnessed someone take some poop from their hand and wipe it off on the seat. Besides, do you not think someone has already wiped a booger or snot or phlegm on your seat? If you don't like to see poop, turn your head - you're going to smell it either way.

You are missing the point. It's rude to expose someone sitting RIGHT next to you, elbow to elbow, to seeing your child's fecal matter. I'm sorry you don't see that as disgusting and I hope I never sit next to you on an airplane.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think it's fine to change when/where you can - although obviously not in a restaurant - and pretty much only if you're baby is really stinky and/or leaking.

If enough of us keep changing in the seats, the airlines will get the hint and simply install changing tables in the bathrooms.

What is the difference between a restaurant and a airline seat? We eat at both places. And I'm sure kids put boogers on the seats in restaurants too, so would that make it ok too to change a diaper at a restaurant table?

I would not smell you child's stinkey diaper if you just took the time to walk to the bathroom with them, and make do there. If you can change a child on your lap, why not sit on the toilet in the bathroom and do it there, where you can immediately wash? There is absolutely no excuse to change your child in the airline seat! Disgusting and rude!

 

[mdurette]

Wow - this thread is almost too funny. I have flown with my infant/toddler many times and never even thought about this! Always changed her right before the flight in the airport bathroom. But wow - never thought what I would do with a stinky diaper.

Now that I have thought about it:
1. If needed I would ask the flight attendant where he/she would recommend.

2. If I need to use one of those tiny bathrooms with no changing table then I would.....

Infant: make sure I have a couple old receiving blanket that I don't care if I throw away. Put the lid down on the toilet - make sure the blankets cover all areas and then change. I could also sit down myself and do on my lap.

Toddler: Again - put down the lid - have the kid stand up and do a standing change. (which by the way is what I do in any public place)

I do realize now that because I had to put my 2 cents in here I will be changing a diaper full next month high in the sky.

 

[SLK1]

What is the difference between a restaurant and a airline seat? We eat at both places. And I'm sure kids put boogers on the seats in restaurants too, so would that make it ok too to change a diaper at a restaurant table?

I would not smell you child's stinkey diaper if you just took the time to walk to the bathroom with them, and make do there. If you can change a child on your lap, why not sit on the toilet in the bathroom and do it there, where you can immediately wash? There is absolutely no excuse to change your child in the airline seat! Disgusting and rude!

I'd love to sit with you. My baby's poop is oh-so-cute.

 

[SLK1]

You are missing the point. It's rude to expose someone sitting RIGHT next to you, elbow to elbow, to seeing your child's fecal matter. I'm sorry you don't see that as disgusting and I hope I never sit next to you on an airplane.

And I'll sit with you too...perhaps a flight from FL to CA?

 

[shelby101301]

Toddlers are easy...you just stand them up in the bathroom and change them standing up. Little harder when they are poopy, but still doable. Hey, no one ever said flying with small children was fun, right?

However, I can't believe anyone would even remotely suggest putting an infant on the floor outside the bathroom. I am simply appalled as this has got to be the most dirty place on the plane. I wouldn't sit there as an adult, why would I lay my infant child there?

 

[NotUrsula]

Because it's the best and safest place to do so, and your kid is there because he's got excrement on the outside of his body. (Also, that floor is by far NOT the dirtiest place. That honor belongs to the toilet surface and walls INSIDE the lav, thanks to the combination of turbulence and men who try to whiz standing up in there.) We're not talking about putting your child down directly on the floor -- we are talking about using a changing pad (preferably a disposable one. I use CHUX when travelling; those are huge and absorbent, should a changing accident happen. There is plenty of room for my knees on it, too, when necessary.)

If you are trying to balance a child inside the lav (with no changing table)and turbulence hits, the odds of a bang on the head are pretty good; if you don't end up dropping him. Honestly, a dirty floor is the least of your problems when trying to manage dealing with a squirming child, a loaded diaper and a tiny sink that requires two hands to run water -- heck, the water isn't potable, either, but we wash out hands in it. That spot gives you the most room to maneuver and the most privacy.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'd love to sit with you. My baby's poop is oh-so-cute.

You really seem to think so, that is what is so scary. The place to change your baby's diaper is not at the seat, where other people are right next to you enjoying snacks. It is in the bathroom, where they have soap and water, and where the smell and mess is not being inflicted on others.

 

[SLK1]

You really seem to think so, that is what is so scary. The place to change your baby's diaper is not at the seat, where other people are right next to you enjoying snacks. It is in the bathroom, where they have soap and water, and where the smell and mess is not being inflicted on others.

Seriously, you're absolutely right. I would never, ever change my poopy baby near someone who was eating, or where anyone would be eating. I'm certainly not some neanderthal person and I'm not one of those "it's all about my baby" people. However, I do take issue with changing her on the floor right at the bathroom. I honestly can't think of anywhere grosser, save for the floor of the bathroom itself, which is actually too small, so it wouldn't work anyway.

You really gotta lighten up though - I was totally kidding (hard to tell on a message board I guess), but normally people who THINK their kids' sh*t don't stink, typically don't say it outright. And, just for the record, I hardly call eating a small bag of peanuts "enjoying snacks", and that's about the extent of it these days.

 

[Snow_White]

I can't believe anyone would suggest that a mom change her baby's diaper on the DISGUSTING FLOOR of an AIRPLANE. Nutso and quite gross.

 

[sunnyday123]

I can't believe anyone would suggest that a mom change her baby's diaper on the DISGUSTING FLOOR of an AIRPLANE. Nutso and quite gross.

I don't believe anyone did suggest that. Whenever you change a diaper, you would put something down, a blanket, pad, etc. No one said put the baby face down on the floor and let him lick the rug while you changed the diaper. How is the floor of an airplane anymore disgusting then the seat of one? You think no one puts their shoes on the seat?
The only nutso and gross suggestion is the one where people actually believe changing a kids diaper next to another person on a seat is fine. That is nuts and gross.

 

[RitaE]

people actually try to change diapers on the airplane seats? Oh God that is disgusting!!!

older children can be changed while they are standing up in the lavoratory. I've done it many times. Children who cannot stand can be changed by putting the toilet seat lid down and then putting the changing pad across the seat. Work quickly because it is not comfortable.

 

[mickeywho?]

If you can change a diaper on your lap while you sit in your seat you can change a diaper on your lap while you sit in the lav. If you have an issue you can complain to the airlines about lack of change table on the plane - they won't do anything about it otherwise.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Ok, so under your way, you take your 18-month-old, 23 pound baby to change her. There is no changing table. Now what? Lay her on the sink? Lay her on the toilet cover? It doesn't work! Desperate times call for desperate measures, so the nearest seat is it. You people act like poop is being smeared on the walls and seat. First of all, you use a pad.

If you are using a changing pad anyway - why NOT do it in back by the lav? What is your precious pookums going to get on her if she is on the changing pad?

To change a diaper in the seat is the epitome of rudeness.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Asked and answered. Then debated some more.

Now closed before it becomes a fight.