Baby Afraid of Public Changing Tables

Yeah, 1 of mine did that too.
It was outright terror - like a phobia like she'd died by falling off a changing table in a past life or something! LOL

I didn't push it - it just wasn't worth it.

I would just have to find other places to change her, like inside the car, or even on the bathroom floor (I would put my coat down & put her on top of it).

S.
Mother of 6

My son has the same problem. He acts like he thinks it might fall. I have resorted to taking him back to the car to change him at times. If its really quick I can get away with the changing station in the bathroom. I don't have any suggestions... just sympathise with you. My son will be two in the fall and I hope to start potty training early sometime this summer... hopefully we won't have to do the public changing stations much longer! "This too shall pass!" :)

My daughter is the same way with the public restroom changing tables. What scares her is when the automatic toilets flush, they are very loud and it startles her. Especially if several of them are going off at once. I just talk to her and soothe her the whole time and tell her its okay and we get through it. She is almost 1 now and it doesn't bother her like it used too. Good Luck!!

Did you see the Dateline special on Baby Changing Tables? Okay, Dateline did an "investigation" on public restroom and changing tables. They swabbed 100 changing tables and 97 of them came back positive for seriously harmful bacteria! Extreme high levels of fecal matter. Do you ever disinfect them after you use it? NO, who really does. Restroom attendants are not required to either. Moral of the story, NEVER USE THEM! Use the stroller or something else! This certainly does not make you a horrible person for using them, because how are you really suppose to know!

i have 3 boys and none of them ever liked the changing tables in public restrooms. i dont know why but they didnt really seem to like any changing tables at all. even the one a friend gave me with my first one. he didnt like it so i never used one agian at home. i just do it as quickly as possible. good luck

My daughter went through this...you just have to wait it out. Eventually they get over it. Something about the hard surface, strange environment, and strangers I guess bothers them.

Does your daughter seem to have a favorite color yet? or favor a certain towel? Maybe you could change your daughter on a particular favorite colored towel at home, and bring this along with you when you're out and put it down on the public changing station before changing her?

I dont know a baby that does like the tables. The only way I get my son to use them is to put one of his blankets doubled up over the plastic table. I also sometimes just lay back his stroller seat and change him there.

Hope it helps.

S.

I don't have experience with this but recently was in a public restroom where there was a little one wailing her head off while being changed on one of the changers. I was talking to her mom and she said that it wasn't the changer but the loud flushing of the toilets that upset her. I know that doesn't help because you can't stop that noise but maybe try changing her when there aren't many in the restroom? I don't know, just a suggestion, good luck!

My girls also both freaked out but it was because of the toilets flushing. When they were pretty small (like up to 1 year) I would take the stroller in wherever I was and change them in the stroller. I just thought it was much cleaner than the changing tables in the bathrooms. Hope this helps.

My kids don't like the changing tables either. I'm not sure why but they don't. Maybe it's to high for them and they think they might fall. So I change them in the vehicle before I take them in to the store. Sometimes if they do need changed and I have to use the changing tables, they end up crying for a few minutes and it's over with.

J.

Hi J.,

My son was very afraid of the tables as well. Once he hit about 6 months old, he really started getting scared and would cry the whole time. I think it was because they don't feel too sturdy, they kind of sink with a kid on them - that may be transferrence though, I know I wouldn't want to be on one!

Anyway, I just got very good at changing him either (1) standing up or (2) laying down in either his stroller or in the large part of a shopping cart (just put down something to make the shopping cart feel a little softer, even a shirt will do, and then lay her down just like a changing table).

He never grew out of it, but it really wasn't a problem once I came up with alternatives. So, I would say to trust your little ones instincts that the changing table is not for her and then plan out a couple different options based on the "kind of diaper" she has :) No need for diaper changing to be tramautic in public, for either of you!!!

Good luck!

My 10-month old son, too, will cry on the changing table. I just change him as quickly as possible. Sometimes it helps if I give him something to hold in his hand--especially something unusual like a tube of lotion from my purse or an extra diaper.

J.,

My 22 month old son has the same issue with public changing tables and has had this issue for a long time now. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of advice that will help. If I happen to be with my mom or sisters I take them into the bathroom with me and have them talk to him while I change him as fast as I can. I think most of the changing tables don't feel secure to him. He doesn't like being changed on something that doesn't feel sturdy. Sometimes, I will rest the changing table on my leg. Try bending your knee and letting the table rest on your upper leg. That seems to help my son sometimes. I'm hoping that my son will either grow out of this fear, or he will be potty trained soon!

L.

I recommend using the stroller also.

Hello there. I have a 10 month old boy and he used to fuss everytime I changed him on a changing table too. Then I realized that his body was getting cold by laying on it. I use a blanket under him now. I should've done that to begin with anyways because of germs. Well, if you don't use a blanket underneath her, then this could be the reason too. If you do use a blanket under her, then it's gotta be something else. Could she be scared of heights? Maybe you ought to test that out different ways that you can think of. Maybe climb a tree. Ha ha! J/K. If nothing gets figured out, then you ought to tell a dr. or parenting teacher, if you see a Parents as Teacher. I will be praying that you can figure out what's causing her to be irritable on a changing table. If none of this helps, maybe you should just change her in a lay back stroller or in your car, or something. Sorry that you're having problems with this. Good luck!
T.

I am Experiencing the same with my 8 month old little boy..he is kind of frightened of falling down from the changing table and will cling on to his mama as soon as i lay him down..I don't really know what to do when he cries so badly. I had to comfort him a couple of times while changing, but what if it was a bad diaper?? Luckily it wasn't ..

I went through this with my oldest child. He is now 16, so it was a while ago. He got to the point that his whole body was stiff as a board while he was screaming his lungs out. I started changing him on a receiving blanket on the floor on the advice of our doctor. This worked great. He was afraid to be up in the air while I was changing him, he did not feel safe. Putting him on the floor was the position he was used to, and he was back in his comfort zone. I always carried a blanket that I didn't care if it got dirty when we went out. Hope this helps!

I don't think anyone mentioned store fitting rooms...just lay a blanket or something down on the floor and hopefully have a plastic bag to put the diaper in--then throw it away in a public trash can. I know, not the ideal, but I preferred the floor there compared to a dirty floor in a restroom. If not in a store, I'd suggest just changing her as fast as possible (and give her something to hold from your purse...keys, lotion, suglass case, anything "new" to her). That should help distract her from where she is!

i haven't had this problem but i wonder if you could try to use the back seat or trunk of the car? i have a friend that uses the trunk of her car - as long as it's not too full of strollers/etc, and you have a changing pad. the back seat has worked for us in a pinch but the incline makes it a little harder. with the weather getting nicer maybe you could do that instead (as long as you parked close!) and maybe by the time it gets colder again she will go longer between changings and you can avoid it altogether. hope that helps, good luck!

Hi J., my youngest who is 5 1/2, had a great fear of baby changing tables. They didn't have these when my two older children were babies, they are 15 1/2 and 19 1/2 so I don't know if they would have been afraid too. The only thing I could gather from this was that my son was afraid of falling off, even at a very young age. He would grab the side of what ever changing surface he was on and just hold on with a death grip and cry. My daughter and my youngest son were also afraid of the automatic toilet flushing sounds. I don't have any advice except to change that diaper fast or do it with the baby laying in the stroller. Those bathrooms are filthy so you should lay something down under the baby that won't be touching the baby until you can wash it. I still carry disinfecting wipes with me for any of my kids to use!
Good luck with it, hang in there!!
M.

Hello - It's not my babies that have the problem with the changing stations; it's me. I use the car or recline the stroller all the way back and use it.