IADFlyer123

{E}ver tried changing a toddler's diaper in a 738/739 first or economy lav changing table? Toddler's are longer than the table. I have and it is not easy. One can barely manoeuver in there, forget changing a diaper.

'mastering' the routine of changing a diaper. It's difficult to do it on steady ground with a squirming toddler, forget a plane lav!

I am not saying the mom was right or wrong, but if she used a changing pad, cleaned the seat with wipes and properly secured the diaper, it shouldn't be an issue. People strip down to their undies and change at their seats, haven't they mastered the act??? Can't they change in the lav??

chavala

IADFlyer123

Long haul wide body biz seats, changing between regular clothes and PJs and vice versa, during sleep time. Seen it on UA, LH, TK, NH and TG

MSPeconomist

USA_flyer

I've changed my daughter in several airplane lavatories, it can be done but you do have to be very on the ball as, iirc, there are no straps to secure the kid to the table.

mherdeg

Oh sure, I have changed a lap infant's wet diaper on my lap in UA seats, both Y and J.

This is a low-odor maneuver; the hygiene and risks are similar to changing the infant in a restaurant's dining/seating area.

This maneuver requires steely-eyed-missile-man skills -- even if you do everything right, there are still about two seconds of a loose-fire-hose situation. We happen to know that our infant has had a 0% failure rate in that situation with one exception when he was 3 days old, but your mileage may vary! Proceed with caution! If you wouldn't change the infant on your couch in a pinch, you shouldn't be trying it on a plane.

I always, always, always prefer the changing table -- no matter how cramped. It's possible to clean that area with enough wipes, and no one is going to try to eat off of any surface in there. AFAIK every UA aircraft in service now has at least one lav with a changing table. This was not always the case -- not too long ago some 757s lacked a changing table, but I think they have been retrofitted or retired (see Changing an Infant on a UA 757).

But the lap change is a fallback plan when the pilot has deployed the seatbelt sign for a long time (2+ hours) and when there are baby comfort/health risks; or in the more rare case when every changing-table lav is inop.

I will not lap-change a poop. It takes too much open-butt time to clean up and apply diaper cream. I will let our lap infant sit in his own poop for hours on a plane. Sorry, kid; but now you know what I feel like when we're parked in the LAX penalty box for an hour...

jgor

I do, I switch my pants to yoga pants that I use for sleeping. What's the big deal? All done in a flash and under the blanket.

rishib

Changing a diaper that hasn't been pooped in at the seat, as long as there's an absorbent leakproof pad underneath the baby in case of an accident, isn't really that much of an issue. Lavatory changing tables are really quite small - I couldn't put my 20 month old toddler on one now, and she's fairly small for her age. (I don't really worry about her having an accident during a diaper change - she's learned to pee only when a diaper is on, apparently, even while sleeping. Next step, potty training.) We got lucky on our last international trip (just a couple of weeks ago) - she waited til the layover at Frankfurt to poop. I wasn't looking forward to trying a diaper change in the lav otherwise.

HoustonConsultant

Fortunately the kids are out of diapers now, but I would venture to say I've changed over 1,000 diapers on a coach at home.

Three boys, 3+ years, at least a few diapers a day...easily over 1,000 diapers on a coach. I'm not hauling a kid upstairs into a room with a changing table just to change a diaper.

If you've never changed a diaper on a coach, I'm suspecting you've not changed a lot of diapers.

cmdinnyc

It's not really an infant that is the issue. Kids wear diapers until they're between 2 and 3 years old during the day. My youngest is 16 months old and 27 inches long. When we flew at the end of May I had to change her, and she could only fit with bent legs on the changing table. If she were a little longer, I would probably just change her on the seat, too.

And that's the thing about parenting... you just do what you have to do at a certain point. You're not going to leave a kid sitting in their own urine / feces screaming and getting a diaper rash any longer than you really have to. If that means changing a kid on a sidewalk, on the floor, in the back of a car or on the seat of a plane, at a certain point you're just going to get on with it. Because the alternative is usually worse.

HoustonConsultant

I'm going to suggest not filming some other person's child during a diaper change unless you want a visit from a not-so-friendly law enforcement agent who will be deeply interested in the contents of your phone and computer.

chavala

Thanks for the advice, I'll take my chances. My guess is the parent will stop and take their poopy kid into the lav where it belongs. And then I'll delete it before the coppers come : )

Edit to add. Come to think about it, it's a public place, so I wonder what law I'd be breaking. I think a good chance the cop would ask the parent why they didn't take the kid somewhere private if they didn't want anyone to see.

rishib

Diaper change = exposure of certain child body parts, the filming of which without parental consent is most certainly against federal law.

chavala

Don't show your child's body parts in public then. If you don't open a poopy diaper next to me you have nothing to worry about. Otherwise, I will do what I can to make your flight miserable as you are doing to me. The thought of it makes my stomach churn.
I don't even like fully clothed, nice smelling kids near me LOL

Superguy

And any one with the least bit of digital forensics expertise could pull that out. Deleted often does not mean what one thinks.

You won't be dealing with Barney Fife in that instance.