The Clean Mother and Baby Room Hunt

divadee

Gadget Freaks post in the vent board got me thinking.

Where are the cleanest and best Mother and Baby rooms around the country in public places.

Feel free to add warnings of nasty ones as well.

ClickHere for gadget freaks original post

16011996

i always found mothercare exceptional.

Jay-Jay_4

The Trafford Centre in Manchester has a special Breastfeeding Room which is great It's quite small but it's clean and there are four chairs, sink, mirror and bin.

It makes a nice change to sitting in the nappy changing area which most places provide.

Boots have got a fantastic Breastfeeding policy too. They have notices up to say that basically if a woman wants to feed her baby 'in the middle of the store', someone should get her a chair, help with her bags and make her feel comfortable. Not that you would but it's nice to know that they feel it's important.

Counting_Pennies_2

I live in Reading, and John Lewis have a fantastic feeding room. One area for breast and another for bottle feeding, two separate (sound proof) toilets which have both a big and a little loo and a stack of changing tables and to finish off they also have a water machine to have a quick drink before heading off.

Debenhams in Reading also have a great changing room. The only downside is you have to ask permission for the key which I think is a little off.

On the reverse I am not keen on Marks and Spencers baby room, it crams you into a tiny corner at the back of the room, with the toilet cubical next to it. Not only do you get the noises from the users, you also get the smells (not pleasant), so literally you are feeding your child in a toilet!! Also having the air freshener sprayed in the feeding direction every 5 minutes very off putting.

Having said that the Marks and Spencer in Hedge End (off the M3) doesn't even have a room for feeding. When I asked I was told there was a seat in the disabled loo. Again I said I wasn't prepared to feed my child in the loo and I got a shrug.

Shame on M&S, they should do much better.

Yoga_Girl

My local Boots have just got rid of the Mother and Baby room - grrrrr!

I live in a small town so we don't have a lot of choice when it comes to changing babies.

ferryhamster

I've been breastfeeding my second daughter for 5 months now (breastfed my eldest for 22 months) and I'm so fed up with the lack of decent, clean facilities for changing and feeding babies that I have resorted to changing and feeding in the car in car parks when we are out and about (not exactly ideal). I cant believe that so many places think it's perfectly acceptable for a baby to eat in a filthy, stinking little room with a toilet in the corner!

I used the Trafford centre facilities on a recent holiday and agree that they are really good but they are not maintained/cleaned very well on busy days.

The best facilities I have come across are in John Lewis in Edinburgh. The toilet is in a seperate bit with a slow moving door to give you time to get your buggy through, and there is actually plenty space for your buggy. The changing area is spacious and even has toys to keep older children amused! It certainly gets my vote!

My advice to anyone who is disappointed with a changing/feeding room - dont buy anything from them. If enough of us do this hopefully they'll get the message.

loadsacash

I agree that the John Lewis in Edinburgh is great. There is also a Father and Baby room so dad can change nappies.

Boots on Princes Street has a mother and baby room, although it has no toilet for older children. Bothe Tesco and Sainsbury have small rooms to allow changing nappies and feeding. They will also give you a free nappy if you ask.

My son is now 4 and a half but when he was a baby I found that British Home Stores were a waste of time. There was no baby room and if you wanted to go to the toilet you had to carry the pram up several flights of stairs. I don't know if it is any better now.

divadee

I agree that the John Lewis in Edinburgh is great.  There is also a Father and Baby room so dad can change nappies.

Wow pat on the back for John Lewis never knew anywhere did father and baby rooms. Thats one thing that really used to irritate mr divadee that most of the time the nappy changing thing is in the ladies toilet.

16011996

i took my nephew out yesterday, can i just say that the debenhams one is lovely. smells nice and everything was fantastic.

Angelolly

I use the Trafford Centre a fair bit and have always been impressed with the breastfeeding facilities - I have also met some like-minded mums in there too (Poochy, we should meet up!!!)
Boots is usually quite good. I've never been in a John Lewis's as there aren't any close to me so I can't comment on that.
Mothercare in Blackburn has some chairs in the partitioned off toilets which is less than ideal. The changing facilities aren't bad but not always very clean.
ASDA are rubbish - I have complained time and time again and got nowhere with them.

CurryKing_2

ASDA are rubbish - I have complained time and time again and got nowhere with them

Thats interesting becasue the asda one here in Cambridge is quite good!

This is a great thread by the way

Neil