Mums & babes vs public loos!

Hi Folks,

Having a bit of a grumble today I'm afraid.

If you are a mum (or dad even in this case) and you are out and about with your little one in tow - or in front in a pushchair! - there are times when you simply have to nip to the loo - not your little one, but yourself.

I was out and about today and came across some relatively nice looking loos - it was labelled up as having a baby changing room etc. Excellent - I thought. I went in to find it was just a baby changing room. I went to the main loos only to find the pushchair wouldn't fit into a cubicle (well it would, but I wouldn't be able to shut the door!) So I went along to the Tourist information office next door and asked if they had a key to the disabled toilets. No use. I needed to pay £3 deposit for the key, which I would get back on return of the key. Pretty useless to me as I didn't have any change left on me as I'd used that in the car park!

I was told I could go to a couple of department stores as they had loos I could use.

I trundled off to one of these stores, and after a ride up 4 floors in the lift (which my littlen really doesn't like) we cut through the restaurant - down a long narrow corridor with a very sharp bend in it (I wouldn't like to have had one of those double pushchairs - as there would not be a chance in hell of one of those getting down that corridor or around the corner!), when I came across the most humungously spacious ladies loos i've every come across - only to find that the pushchair wouldn't fit into any of the cubicles. I double checked the baby room - once again - no loo for the parent!! What are we supposed to do!

In the end I simply had to go, and had to park my little one just outside my loo door - hoping to god that no-one came and took him away - sounds over protective but there are alot of strange people in this world that will stop at nothing.

I read a note in the comments book in this particular stores' baby changing room and they too had commented on what I have just mentioned - and someone else had criticized them for saying this as this was quite a good one by most people's accounts!

I am more and more amazed every time I go out, with pushchair and child, at just how unfriendly this country is to us mums with children. We, who probably make up the bulk of daytime customers in most of these stores - and who have put up with unnecessary problems just in order to spend a penny.

In other countries (Norway for one) is far more child friendly. Every disabled loo is available for mums/dads & babes, they are equiped with pull down changing pods etc., and you can go to the loo as well.

I'm sure if some of these big stores were to be a little more mum & child friendly, they would encourage more people to come to them. It really wouldn't take that much.

That's it for today, I thought I would share this one as it's been bugging me all day today, and most days when I go out.

Apologies to those that find this post annoying - but tough - you try being a mum with a pushchair & you need to have a pee!!!

Please come back soon :)

Pauline.