Brattflyer

It will be curious to see if opinions might change when it is one's own two month old infant that is about to be relegated to an airplane toilet seat during changing.

I have been there and done that, it is doable, and it is one of those discomforts you endure out of common courtesy. After you've done it a few times you come up with a strategy in advance based on the cofiguration of the particular type of lavatory you have to deal with. My child is now 8. We're flying BDL -MSP tomorrow. Each trip I do with her makes me grateful I no longer have to endure this.

Lpas

I agree. I haven't had personal experience with this either, but airport bathroooms are pretty unsanitary places. People are supposed to lay their newborns--who, as infants, already have weaker immune systems--on a disgusting, urine-covered toilet seat that's probably crawling with bacteria?

It was pretty bad form not to use a diaper pad and also to do this at meal time, but I have to admit that I've got a degree of sympathy for this mom. Airlines know some parents must fly with very young children. They need to be more child-friendly and offer real changing tables (I've personally never seen one). If they don't, they shouldn't be surprised when this type of thing happens.

[This message has been edited by Lpas (edited 08-21-2002).]

Track

I have very often noticed a changing table in the toilets on airplanes (usually Delta). They aren't immediately obvious, as they have to fit into a confined space (they are always folded against the wall and secured with a strap or something like that), but they're there, and I would expect anyone travelling with infants to be aware of them, or to ask the FA. In any case, changing an infant in the cabin is disgusting, without a changing pad is grotesque and at mealtime inexcusable.

hfly

Most long haul widebody aircraft have changing tables in at least one bathroom.

Personally I have once seen a woman do this mid-cabin and IMMEDIATELY called an F/A. The F/A immediately steered her to a lav with a changing table. The problem is that the people often do not know that they exist, but generally they do.

Punki

Babies are just nasty little critters. All of them--even you and I, when we were babies, probably didn't have any manners to speak of. Babies all scream, poop, pee and vomit whenever it strikes their fancy, without much regard to good taste. I have one child who has actually peed upon both a Roman Catholic and an Episcopalian Archbishop--at least there was some ecumenism going on there. I recall that he once even worked up to water a Rabbi, but the Rabbi was too clever for him and quickly passed him back to me before the big event.

I guess we can only wait until they (those nasty little babies) grow up enough to develop decent manners or else we'll just have to drown them when they are really little--before they start causing problems on airplanes and at fancy social events.

Actually baby changing isn't as big a problem as it could be, because even little tiny people are a little "anal retentive" and really do tend to wait until they are in a nice, quiet, relaxed, comfortable place to do their business, just like big people--travel day is often a day of rest in the potty department. Of course, sometimes they can't help it--often when they aren't feeling 100%, maybe even if they have a bit of an ear infection and have to take antibiotics, which have their own results. Lighten up folks.

As I was thinking about this I was really trying to figure out just exactly what terrible things that the adults who posted above thought might happen to them as a result of being in close proximity to baby poop. Nobody is asking them to help change the diapers are they?? Can't they just hold their nose for a minute or to and get past it?

Conversely, think of all the truly nasty germs that the poor little baby would be exposed to in the aircraft toilet. Now that is truly YUCKY!

Get a grip. Somebody changed your diapers once upon a time and if you are very, very lucky there will be somebody around who cares enough about you to manage that task should you happen to need that assistance down the line. What goes around, comes around, donchaknow.

[This message has been edited by Punki (edited 08-21-2002).]

classy

How ridiculous it is to think that the Lav is or maybe too dirty for the baby to be changed in!
Nothing could be further from the truth as a reason to subject the cabin passengers to that duty!

If anyone attempted that while I was onboard and nearby would be immediately informed to use the lavoratory and the FAs would be informed of the events! There is a time to be quiet and a time to be forceful.
Time for the Mother to be educated on the minimum expected during a flight. And it would be doing her a bigger favor, then she could imagine.

That would get my danders UP higher then the altitude at the time!

SMessier

Be that as it may, but this is not about the manners (or lack of) of the little ones, but rather of the parent who changes a diaper:
on a seat that will later be occupied by someone else without bothering to cover said seat and while meal service is beginning.

I'm all for getting a grip but this is a bit much.

JamesD10

This post got me thinking that from this point forward, I will check my seat for baby poop before I sit down. But that presents another problem...calling the flight attendant and announcing that there's poop on your seat. Was this on Seinfeld?

roberto99

It took me 2 days to come up with what I think is the best approach:

"Please wait while I find the lav with the diaper changing table for you so that you two can do that in the right place."

Aging sure has slowed me down....

2TallSeaFlyer

Seeing as I have a very recent experience with this issue, I think it's time for a reality check.

It is very difficult to change a baby in the lav without a changing table. Imagine that you are big to begin with (6'6) and then try to crouch down to the toilet seat upon which you have laid your changing pad. I could not do this without keeping the lav door open. Then, no matter how you lay the baby, the head is going to be hanging off the toilet seat, and brushing who knows what. Finally, I challenge anyone to try to properly wash their hands immediately after changing a baby with the "hold down the lever with one hand so that water comes out" type of sink while holding the baby. It's possible, but I certainly didn't feel that it did the job right.

Let's compare that with the alternative. A changing pad on the seat. More room and the baby stays put, albeit there may be some surrounding passenger discomfort (and there was). The in-cabin change won hands down.

Now, if there was a changing station on the plane, I wouldn't consider the in-cabin change. However, not every plane has one (we asked the FA's on every flight) and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Please have some consideration to those with baby's (and the diaper situation). It's not an ideal situation, but sometimes compromises must be made.

Comicwoman

Punki et al, the suggestion was the lid of the toilet, not the seat.

MatthewClement

From United's Website

Changing tables and diapers
There is a supply of diaper packs on our international flights if you need them, but it is always a good idea to bring your own supply of diapers. There are changing tables available on certain types of aircraft. Your flight attendant will direct you to the proper lavatory.

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In my experience, any international 3-class aircraft has changing tables, on United at least.

gottigotti

ok preparing for the flames....

maybe infants shouldn't fly.

My personal opinion is that baby changing, breast feeding, etc. should be done in private as it is something I do not want to see, espicially in business class.

TrojanHorse

Punki

?????

I am not particularly squeamish, heck I have even been known to kiss a FlyerTalker from time to time and God only knows where they have been, but let's face it, aircraft toilets are just plain dirty, germy places. They are too small, too heavily used by too many people and not particularly well cleaned during quick plane turns. Airplane toilets are once place where I am extremely careful not to touch anything directly, to carefully wash my hands and to use a paper towel afterward even for opening the door. I even carry sanitary hand wipes in my purse to reclean my hands after I get back to my seat. I wouldn't attempt to change a baby in an airplane toilet without a changing table to save my soul, so if I am every lucky enough to get a grandchild I will just have to "disgust" all of you by changing it in the place that I think is healthiest for the baby.

Of course, this is all academic because chances are better than good that my grandchild will be just like its parents and grandparents and wait until it is in a more relaxed atmosphere to conduct any such serious business.