The adventure of changing diapers

When you hear the term "diaper change" you may think of all kinds of scatological images, the kind that no one would like to perceive. But you can also think of the love you feel for your baby, the one that endures everything.

I will always remember the first time I had to change my daughter's diaper. I was eating with a friend at a restaurant that had recently opened. Suddenly, Claudia began to cry and, carrying the typical changing bag, I took her to the bathroom. I was astonished when I noticed that the toilets had no diaper changing facilities. I thought: "Really? How haven't they taken into account that a baby changing table is a basic need in a restaurant, especially if it's a family restaurant?".

Next, those of us who are parents already know what a nuisance it is when a place doesn't have a baby changing station:

1. Take the child out of the restaurant with the stroller. 2. If the weather is bad, there's no choice but to get in the back seat of your car and do all sorts of stunts to make sure the back seat, stroller and baby's clothes don't end up stained. And if you don't have a car, you should go to another restaurant nearby or end up changing diapers at a bench. Since I had arrived by bus that day, I had no choice but to leave the restaurant and try my luck at another place nearby.

On another occasion, I was with my mother at the mall looking for a gift for her, when I suddenly needed to change my daughter. This time the fastening system of the diaper changing table was broken, with the danger that she could fall off with the movement. So, I had to move to the other end of the mall and try my luck in another restroom.

Also, I will never forget the time I had to change Claudia at an uncomfortable bench in the middle of the street, because the museum where we were did not have an approved diaper changing station. Yes, I'm talking about those changing tables that you intuitively feel are not going to support the weight of the baby or show any safety certification, such as the German GS safety mark or the American ASTM.

Finally, the most uncomfortable diaper change came during Christmas, during those frenzy shopping days. When, crazy me, I decided to go for a walk downtown to show my daughter Claudia the lights. I thought she was past the diaper stage, but I was wrong and had to change her from the waist down.

As an emergency measure, I remember we went into a big clothing store and I asked if I could change the child. What a shock when I noticed that there was no baby changing station in the men's toilets: "What century are we living in?" I thought. I didn't know what to do. In addition to having to buy her the spare clothes she needed, I had to ask a lady standing in line in the ladies' room to please ask the other women if I could come in and change my daughter.

These are just a few anecdotes (there are many more, I'm sure), which many parents can relate to, that reveal the "drama" that often exists when it comes to changing a baby outside home.

At Mediclinics, as manufacturers of solutions for the safety of babies and children, we will be happy if we help to raise awareness of this existing problem and promote the necessary presence of quality baby changing stations in public spaces and all kinds of outdoor facilities.