Rant! Lack of Baby Changing Tables at TJMaxx.

[akcire]

Okay, so I know the world is not perfect, but this just irritated me.

This evening I was out shopping with my 9 month old daughter and noticed an all too familiar odor coming from her hindquarters. So I grabbed the diaper bag and the baby and headed off to the bathroom. My husband was with me and volunteered to sacrifice his nose for the cause. He took the baby from me and went into the men's room. Less than 30 seconds later he came back. Not completely out of the question, in the past we have been to stores that had no changing table in the men's room. We once again pass the baby and I take her into the women's room. I can't even believe it. There are three stalls, two large enough for wheelchairs and not a changing table in sight. We left the bathroom hallway, and found the manager to be certain the changing tables were not in a "secret location". Nope they don't have any.

So now I am in a retailer, with a huge cart of clothes, and a baby with a dirty diaper. Since it is too cold to change her outside in our car, I changed her on a dog bed in the store. Yes, this is a new low for me as a mommy.

Honestly though, I think if you sell children's products and you make bathrooms available to customers you should have to provide changing tables. TJMaxx has a huge section of children's clothes and toys. I love that they want to sell me children's products, but don't want to provide basic facilities for children.

BTW--we left the entire cart of clothes and didn't buy anything.

 

[superme80]

Been there, done that, got the shirt. Fast food places are the worst! Ugh!

 

[S. C.]

Yup, none of the stores, etc had changing tables when my kids were babies. It was a pain, my kids are now 37yrs and 39yrs old.

You should call the manager and let him/her know you left the store with out buying the cart full of goods and why. Also write to corporate.

 

[SandrA9810]

I like that a lot of stores are putting in family bathrooms, especially malls. Neither parent should be left out of the parenting world. And is a father not supposed to spend time with their child??

I could imagine being there with my aunt. She'd make a huge stink about it with the managers.

Well I'm sure your daughter was happy for the new diaper. Although a low no one should do is leave a dirty diaper in any other place than a garbage can.

 

[kellyg403]

At least 'some' stores have them now. And more often then not, most of them do! When my children were babies baby changing tables were unheard of, except at your house!

We used to use the stroller, just flip the seat down and take care of business. We also did not have those creative baby carts in grocery stores, so strollers tended to go with us everywhere.

Years from now, your dd will have the luxury of family bathrooms and changing tables everywhere!

Kelly

 

[MichelleVW]

At least 'some' stores have them now. And more often then not, most of them do! When my children were babies baby changing tables were unheard of, except at your house!

We used to use the stroller, just flip the seat down and take care of business. We also did not have those creative baby carts in grocery stores, so strollers tended to go with us everywhere.

Years from now, your dd will have the luxury of family bathrooms and changing tables everywhere!

Kelly

Seriously....I remember changing my oldest DD in the small space by the sink, and even on the floor. No, we didn't put her ON the floor, but we had a changing pad that came in the diaper bag that we would change her on occasionally. There were very few places that actually had changing tables when my girls were little....you just had to be creative.

I think I would have had DH warm up the car rather than change her on a dog bed in the store...I wouldn't have wanted to buy that dog bed after you did that! Grossest thing I have ever seen though is people changing their babies on tables at restaurants.....EW!

 

[Uptown Girl]

Stores started putting changing tables in bathrooms around the time our youngest was a baby. I would never use them, yuck. I carried a changing pad and would change the babies on the floor somewhere in the store if necessary or I would just go to the car. A few seconds in the cold never hurt them.

 

[kellyg403]

Seriously....I remember changing my oldest DD in the small space by the sink, and even on the floor. No, we didn't put her ON the floor, but we had a changing pad that came in the diaper bag that we would change her on occasionally. There were very few places that actually had changing tables when my girls were little....you just had to be creative.

I think I would have had DH warm up the car rather than change her on a dog bed in the store...I wouldn't have wanted to buy that dog bed after you did that! Grossest thing I have ever seen though is people changing their babies on tables at restaurants.....EW!

I think thats what those spaces on the sink were for! Now, except for places like Walmart or Target, with multiple sinks, the sinks are pretty much free standing.

On a funny note, once my dh got totally yelled at by a lady for changing dd in the trunk of the car. He had put down a bunch of blankets and was changing her and an older lady just let him have it for doing that. He asked her what he was supposed to do, it was one of those atomic explosion diapers and he wasn't quite sure how big of a space he would need...

Times certainly have changed!

Kelly

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Men's rooms are the worst when it comes to changing tables. I don't know what it is about guys, but it seems 90% of the men's rooms I go into have had the changing table ripped off the wall, or busted up somehow. Really? This is civilized behavior?

They just put a new one up in the JCPenney at our Mall, and I marked the date it went in (12/20). I guarantee by New Year's some bonehead will have tore it off. I just don't get it.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Retailers are not required to provide changing tables. If they do, it's a courtesy.

If you don't like their facilities, you don't have to shop there.

The dog bed you used as a changing table--was that merchandise for sale? If so, I'll agree with you--that's pretty low.

 

[2Kds2K9]

First and foremost, retailers can't be everything to every customer. My kids are in their teens and I can only remember a hand full of stores that actually had changing tables in the bathroom. A secluded corner or even the stroller was the norm back then. I always had a blanket or changing pad for that purpose.

Secondly, I can't believe you used "merchandise" to change your child on. EWWWW. Now some unsuspecting customer is going to purchase that dog bed that you used to change your child on. Yuck.

Go ahead and call corporate to complain. Maybe they'll put a changing table in the restrooms. But remember that TJMAXX is a retailer that works hard on keeping their costs at a minimum and will continue to do so.

 

[laughinplace199]

You changed your baby in the middle of the store? On an item that the store is trying to sell? I"m sorry, but that's just gross.

Why couldn't you warm up the car and then change the baby in the car? I've changed many diapers in the back of my car when there were no other options.

 

[nathalee81]

Okay, so I know the world is not perfect, but this just irritated me.

This evening I was out shopping with my 9 month old daughter and noticed an all too familiar odor coming from her hindquarters. So I grabbed the diaper bag and the baby and headed off to the bathroom. My husband was with me and volunteered to sacrifice his nose for the cause. He took the baby from me and went into the men's room. Less than 30 seconds later he came back. Not completely out of the question, in the past we have been to stores that had no changing table in the men's room. We once again pass the baby and I take her into the women's room. I can't even believe it. There are three stalls, two large enough for wheelchairs and not a changing table in sight. We left the bathroom hallway, and found the manager to be certain the changing tables were not in a "secret location". Nope they don't have any.

So now I am in a retailer, with a huge cart of clothes, and a baby with a dirty diaper. Since it is too cold to change her outside in our car, I changed her on a dog bed in the store. Yes, this is a new low for me as a mommy.

Honestly though, I think if you sell children's products and you make bathrooms available to customers you should have to provide changing tables. TJMaxx has a huge section of children's clothes and toys. I love that they want to sell me children's products, but don't want to provide basic facilities for children.

BTW--we left the entire cart of clothes and didn't buy anything.

Sorry, I agree with others. You punished another customer who might end up with that dog bed, rather than the retailer.

I think I would have used the stroller, or left the store (and you did end up leaving the store anyway).

 

[Jennasis]

Sorry OP, this one falls completely on YOU.

1. Carry a small blanket or pad in your pad so YOU always have a mobile changing table. Stores are not required to provide anything (who hasn't been in a store with NO bathroom at all at some point??).

2. You changed your kid poopy diaper ON MERCHANDISE??? A new "low" is putting it mildly. Completely unacceptable, rude etc. If you had bought the dog bed I might be sympathetic, but in this case no.

The world does not revolve around you and your baby and is in no way required to provide you with everything you think you need. You are responsible for all of that. And then you left your cart full of stuff behind to prove what? Your indignance? Or were you so mortified that you had to defile merchandise that you just high-tailed it outta there?

Hopefully this is a lesson learned. Carry a blanket or changing pad. Be responsible for your own needs.

 

[nathalee81]

Sorry OP, this one falls completely on YOU.

1. Carry a small blanket or pad in your pad so YOU always have a mobile changing table. Stores are not required to provide anything (who hasn't been in a store with NO bathroom at all at some point??).

2. You changed your kid poopy diaper ON MERCHANDISE??? A new "low" is putting it mildly. Completely unacceptable, rude etc. If you had bought the dog bed I might be sympathetic, but in this case no.

The world does not revolve around you and your baby and is in no way required to provide you with everything you think you need. You are responsible for all of that. And then you left your cart full of stuff behind to prove what? Your indignance? Or were you so mortified that you had to defile merchandise that you just high-tailed it outta there?

Hopefully this is a lesson learned. Carry a blanket or changing pad. Be responsible for your own needs.

And, also, you left your cart behind and some poor person making minimum wage had to put all that stuff away during the height of the Christmas shopping season.

Once again, you didn't punish the retailer-just some poor person working in retail trying to get through the Christmas season.

 

[MIGrandma]

I don't remember changing tables in restrooms at all when my kids were little. And if they were there, I would never use them. Too many germs and some may not wipe them off when they're finished changing their child's diaper.

I would much prefer using the stroller, or taking my child back out to the car (warm it up for a few minutes if it's cold, or even if you do it in the cold the couple of minutes of cold air on the child's bottom is not going to hurt him/her).

Changing the diaper on a dog bed that the store is trying to sell? Gross!

And leaving a cart full of stuff in the store for a worker to have to deal with? Just plain rude.

 

[Kellydelly]

Why on earth didn't you just leave the store? It only takes 5 minutes or so for a car to warm up. With four kids I only utilized a bathroom changing table in public one time, I certainly never depended on them for every outing we took. What you decided to do was just nasty and innappropriate .

 

[Styx Fan]

With the exception of using the merchandise as a changing pad, I would have done the same thing as OP. While I don't expect stores to provide for my every need, I do expect certain things. And a large chain retailer like that, that provides dual restrooms, should have changing tables. Yes, you can change a baby in many places, but one of the those plastic changing tables is not asking a lot. Especially since they do sell a large amount of baby items, meaning folks with babies are their customers.

Yes, the baby could be taken to the car (something I have done), but I don't think the OP should have too. This wasn't a little boutique or a mom and pop operation.

Yes, some poor minimum wage worker had to replace all those items, but as they are paid hourly rather than salary, they were paid for the time to do this job. And by not purchasing the items you are hitting the store where it hurts. I would absolutely complain to corporate.

Now, using the merchandise to do the change....bad choice.

 

[mjkacmom]

I have to agree with the others - my oldest is 15, and back in the day, there were so many stores that didn't even have restrooms (or at least restrooms I knew about - after having kids, I found out that stores I assumed didn't have them, did have them). Why didn't you change her in the stroller? Again, my kids are older, but a store with a restroom, and a changing table, was a nice surprise, but not expected. Especially discount stores (there are no restrooms at the dollar stores here).

 

[Tinkermommy]

And, also, you left your cart behind and some poor person making minimum wage had to put all that stuff away during the height of the Christmas shopping season.

Once again, you didn't punish the retailer-just some poor person working in retail trying to get through the Christmas season.

ITA!

Our modern day conveniences have really spoiled us. I think of my grandmother who raised 10 children with none of what we have today.

I have two children. Sometimes stores don't have changing areas. Most of them are gross to begin with and I hated using them. I would have found an empty shopping cart, put down her changing pad and changed her in there by the restrooms.

When they were tiny, I have also sat on a toilet or chair and changed my babies on my lap.

I really dislike the attitude that just because someone has a child the world should accommodate them.

And leaving a cart load of clothes for someone to put back and using merchandise which you had no intenion of buying is .