To think that changing a child's nappy on an airline seat is antisocial?

Oh wow, I am slightly knocked back by this one so I will take a few points in order.
First one, no I dont think the mum was out of order at all, but she should have protected the seat. If the nappy had been full of faeces she would have been out of order. The sight of a tots bottom is not taboo
2. The lady in the restaurant should not have changed the baby on the table.
3. When a toddler needs to go, he needs to go so quickly the dad did well to think on his feet, disaster averted. Its only toddler wee! The Dad did right to guide him, otherwise misfires are common.
4. Polio vaccine is no longer live. Even in the old days we were talking about the faeces of little babies in the days after the 2mth 3 mth and 4mth jabs

I agree with Anya, lighten up everyone. Parents do a brilliant job flying with small children and minimising their stress. Plane toilets are horrible and no place to change a child unless a full nappy.
Doesnt anyone remember travelling with children? I do. I have volunteered to fly with three toddler grandchildren this year and am very realistic about how much fun it might not be

I do not think this is a big deal at all, or that the mother did anything wrong.

Wee is OK - my OH had to drink some when training as a doc - he's still here!

I was shoved right up by the wall in a row of four, and yes, we were near the loos - but the queue was about 20 long and we only had 15 mins to landing. DD's nappy and clothes were so wet from all the drinks I had given her to help with popping ears (and frankly to keep her quiet) that I just had to change her, so did it on my lap on her changing bag/mat and partly on OH's. I was horrified when I read that people use the drop down tables, because the airline do NOT clean them between every turnaround, as I had always supposed!

I dont know whether this story is true but was assured by a stewardess friend that it was.........A very demanding passenger and irritable, whining small baby which needed a nappy change (poo). The passenger called steward and imperiously demanded that he change the baby. The steward took smelly, wailing baby and with approval of another family, brought back their baby and said 'will this one do?'

Oh come on!

So this woman was travelling alone with two kids and was probably already feeling harassed due to the mix up with seats causing attention to be drawn to her. The drinks trolley was coming and her daughters nappy was wet, not pooey. She had to make a decision to either try to navigate the oncoming drinks trolley with a toddler and changing bag, possibly having to make more people stand up, and leave her other child alone with strangers, or decide to do a much quicker change on the seat.

She chose the latter. Yes she should have used the changing facilities provided. Yes she should have put something down on the chair first but we all make mistakes and travelling with two kids is never easy, she was probably feeling flustered and stressed.

It's lovely to know that you and your "appauled" husband were sat there hoicking up your judgey pants rather than offering to help. Poor woman.

Recently, I flew from the UK to New Zealand with my daughter and 19month old granddaughter. We had paid for a seat for the toddler as she is rather large (not fat! Just 35inches tall).
It was impossible to change her nappy in any of the aircrafts' toilets ( and we had six flights in all) as the changing tables were not long enough to accommodate her. So, instead, we had to change her on the seat as there was no other option. But I will say that we covered the seat with a 'travel' changing mat.

I wouldn't have been concerned at her changing baby, maybe flight was near taking off and she did it quickly. A changing mat or plastic bag would have been good. I think I would have been more concerned about my babys bare bottom on a seat that has seen hundreds of bottoms on it beforehand, of varying degrees of cleanliness....God bless the man for his patience in taking his seat.

I actually changed my babies nappy on my lap during a flight. She was 5 months old and this was 1976. I was travelling alone, and the man and woman sitting next to me suggested I changed her where I sat. I have no idea if they had changing facilities in the toilet at the time. I was so grateful for the support from that couple. They could see I was young and exhausted. I had been travelling for 15 hours.

I've been on flights where families with babies are given front middle 3 seats, against a dividing wall. Lot's of space in front with a sort of carrycot on the floor. So they have some privacy if Mum wants to feed or change nappy etc.
But maybe that was more of a long-haul flight, I don't think they provide it on eg Easyjet which is what I mainly use.

One of our doctors once told me that 'you'll never catch anything from urine' but he may have said that as we only had one sink in the place and all the urine samples went down it or sometimes lurked around for a bit and it was the same sink that I had to use to wash the cups etc .

I think it's a myth that fresh wee is sterile.

Just come back to this and I was interested to see that some people felt it was ok. The flight was quite short 60 min but had been delayed so I can understand someone not wanting to change a child in the time when the flight might be called. The mum did cause a lot of fuss because she had either booked seats on line so that her older child was sitting at a window and so was she with the toddler. There was then a kerfuffle because there was a man sitting at the aisle seat(this was a Friday night commuter flight) on both rows and a couple came along who had booked together and a steward sorted it out by moving one of the men behind so two men plus one 8 year old . I think the steward then thought oops there has been a fuss about lone children next to adults and shifted everyone around which is what drew attention to the family as we were taking off at this point . Then the drinks trolley and then the mum holding everyone up,passenger standing while the toddler was changed. She was certainly too big to change on the knee .
JBF I don't think children are allowed by doors. DH was definitely of the public health issue. Fresh wee is sterile isn't it ?it's when it's stale and the mum didn't use wipes or protect the seat. It was a bit like watching a disaster movie. And I'd read the inflight magazine ..... BA by the way

They should perhaps book seats by the door where you get plenty of leg room, and change baby on lap. Though child rolling off was always a problem on the rare occasion I tried that.

Talking about this to Husband today, he disagrees with me and thinks it's disgusting too. Planes should have proper changing rooms for babies.
Can't see that happening though.

Very inappropriate, unhygienic and definitely unacceptable. The plane staff should take a notice and stop him/her doing it on the seat.

With both of my GC I was told not to change their nappies for the six weeks after their immunisation. DIL was given information sheet from baby clinic.
You can now buy little terry cones that you pop over baby penis whilst changing nappy, prevents you getting shot in the eye.
Nappy changing in public is bad manners, we shouldn't have to experience those toxic nappies on a plane.

Quite a difference between breastfeeding and changing nappies in public!

One is nurturing, lovely milk going in and the other is waste products coming out that could well smell disgusting and carry bacteria.

We don't know that the little darling didn't have a quiet tinkle into the seat, do we? At the very least the mum should have got the new nappy ready first.

Hilda - reminds me of a part of the book Larn Yersel Geordie -
"It gans in one end and gans oot t'other" or something like that.

Putting my head on the block here - I think you've all been brainwashed

When was the article written?

I think that only applied when they used live vaccine.

That was the article I read. I'm not saying that there's much of a chance of anyone catching polio from a nappy though, just that there is a very remote chance that it could happen and therefore nappy changing should be done in a designated area.

Q. Why do you need to take care when changing a nappy after the polio vaccine?

The polio vaccine can be passed into your child’s nappy for up to six weeks after the vaccine is given. If someone who has not been immunised against polio changes your baby’s nappy, there is a risk that they could contract the virus. Therefore, you must wash your hands thoroughly to avoid this happening. Grandparents who may not have immunity can be particularly at risk. Parents are likely to have been vaccinated. However, if you think you or anyone in your family has not been vaccinated contact your doctor.

I totally agree HildaW, definitely opposing ends of the scale (and body )
Breastfeeding in public, discretely done is absolutely fine, changing nappies definitely not on in crowded public places IMO, changing baby's nappy in an aeroplane seat with people in close proximity isn't on.