A dire need for changing tables for babies in Guyana

Jul 09, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

I am finding it increasingly frustrating and bewildering to be a relatively new Mommy in Guyana and wish to start documenting some parenting challenges so we can try to resolve and help younger parents in the future enjoy parenthood in our beautiful country.
The thought of staying home because you’re afraid your baby will need a diaper change may seem laughable but it is a real factor taken into account primarily because of the un-availability of public changing stations.
My husband and I have gotten pretty resourceful when it comes to finding places in Guyana to change our son. When he was an infant we could be seen doing diaper changes in the backseat of our vehicle or resourcefully having to utilise one of the small couches or chairs at various restaurants as we both tackled the job at hand, sometimes with a part of his body hanging off and being supported by my husband, but it was enough to keep him off the floor…. Using these spaces in a business, restaurant or establishment – benches, couches, chairs, tables – is really the better option but this can also draw some dirty looks from others, making an occasionally stressful experience all the worse.
After about a year of habitually mentioning to Senior staff of an international standard hotel, it remains baffling that the Marriott does not have a changing table in either the women or men’s restroom or at all in a separate family’s room. We returned the other day to celebrate Father’s Day and to our dismay our “make-shift” couch/changing table was otherwise taken with the unusually busy crowd. I was resigned to taking our now 2-year old son to the women’s bathroom and using a sliver of the counter next to the sink which was soaked with pipe water and hand shakings from previous occupants…. It’s certainly not somewhere you want to lay your child or the changing mat that’s going back into your bag, carrying strangers’ filth back to your home. Not to mention that with little boys, you have to shield yourself and be extra vigilant lest you get caught by a surprise spray.
A few days after this Marriott experience, a post went viral by a father running errands with his 1-year-old in the US and found himself in urgent need of a changing table. There wasn’t one in the men’s room, so he did what he had to do. He squatted. Think about the thigh strength alone one would need to balance for as long as it takes to change a diaper. A typical 1-year-old, who won’t be potty trained yet, will need, on average, about six diaper changes a day. Of course you won’t be changing that many while out at dinner, but as any parent knows, predicting how many of those will happen in a two- to four-hour span of time is like trying to bet on the West Indies cricket team emerging victorious (but that’s another blog all together).
Having to change a diaper in a washroom without these facilities for parents, while trying to evade all the horrors and germs hiding in your typical bathroom — is a Herculean feat. Most Guyanese parents aren’t looking to squeeze in a workout squat when they simply need to get a squirming restless toddler out of a poop-filled diaper and back into the supermarket, restaurant, movie theatre, museum, zoo, store or shopping mall. I wish to encourage all businesses or organisations to have their facilities have a changing table in BOTH restrooms. I know the entire idea of changing tables for men has taken longer to catch on, despite the fact that it’s 2019 and there are many fathers like my husband who can and does change diapers. Guyana needs to catch up with modern parenting.
Did you know that in 2016, President Obama signed into law a Bill called the Bathrooms Accessible in Every Situation (BABIES) Act which requires that changing stations that are “physically safe, sanitary and appropriate” be available in both women’s and men’s bathrooms in every bathroom of a public building. As we move forward and Guyana’s apparently on the brink of becoming a developed country, why can’t we think about something like this to change the Guyanese shopping and dining habits since parents with babies will then feel more comfortable going out with their children.
There are several washrooms with loads of space that could easily accommodate a changing table and even in small places it can be possible…. Just check out any plane’s washroom. Is it asking too much to drill a few holes and chuck a fold-down changing table so that our children can be changed hygienically? They deserve this and we need to speak out for their rights.

Sincerely,
Mommy V

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