Calgary mom upset over lack of baby change tables in men’s restrooms

Changing a baby while on the go is never an easy task. While most mothers have access to changing tables in female restrooms, what about dads?

“Why are there no change tables for babies in men’s washrooms, why is it always in the women’s washrooms?” asks Sarah Gustafsson, a Calgary mom of two young children.

Gustafsson says she is infuriated because the absence of baby changing stations in men’s restrooms is putting undue pressure on mothers like her.

“I was out for dinner with my husband with my three-year-old and my seven-week baby, and I asked my husband if he wanted to go and change the baby’s diaper. He came back with the baby unchanged only to tell me that there were no change tables in the men’s washroom. So that really bothered me,” Gustafsson explained.

She says the issue is Canada-wide and not limited to Calgary, adding she’s found baby tables at family changing rooms in malls and inside men’s washrooms at some sporting facilities and the airport.

Yet, she found no baby changing tables inside the men’s restrooms at most of the Calgary restaurants and office buildings she’s been to.

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“If you are a man, you have to either hope that there’s an all-gender washroom that has one or find somewhere else I guess,” Calgary dad Isaac said.

“Not being able to change your kids diapers, I have been in that situation, so yes it’s tough, it’s very tough,” Eric James said.

“You are in the middle of a store and there are no change tables, then let’s do it here. What do you think? No. Then a changing table in the washroom next time is a better idea. If it’s not provided for me, I would change anywhere. I bet that would change the restaurant or building owners’ mind very quickly about providing change tables,” a soon-to-be first-time dad, Spencer, said.

Gustafsson says the struggle of trying to find a change table is not just a problem for dads, in fact she believes mothers have to carry the burden of changing a baby’s diaper all by themselves, sometimes even without a proper table.

“I was at my doctor’s office in downtown Calgary and I had to change my baby on the floor in the washroom because there was nothing in the washroom there — no tables and no changing pads. It’s high time something is done. Restaurants and buildings need to budget for this kind of stuff. It’s 2023 and it’s not just moms changing babies’ bums anymore.”