Tom Daley: My public nappy change nightmare (in the women’s toilets)
New dad and superstar diver Tom calls for more access to changing facilities for dads, telling MFM: “We’re changing nappies as well!”
New dad and Olympic champ Tom Daley dives headfirst into nappy-changing duty… is what we really wanted to call this article, 'cos we love a good pun ?
Of course he does, though – he’s got a 3-month-old! Tom and hubby Dustin Lance Black share son Robbie Ray, and divvy up nappy duty pretty evenly between them.
“We alternate feeds throughout the day and then we alternate who does the night feed if there is one, and each time we try to co-ordinate with changes with feeds,” Tom tells MFM. “If I’m working or at the pool, Lance will be changing nappies.
“I feel like we do split it pretty evenly, but for some reason whenever I leave the house and Lance is with Robbie, he decides to do a poop explosion and Lance has to deal with the consequences,” he laughs.
It seems Lance gets the short end of the stick at home (LOL, someone always does, right?) – but both dads sometimes find themselves at a loss when it comes to changing in public.
“We’ve been to a couple of places where there’s been no changing places in the men’s toilets, and that comes with challenges,” he admits.
“If there’s no disabled toilet, then that makes it [difficult] because sometimes they have a changing table in there.”
Yep, Tom has found there’s a lack of places to do the nappy change for dads – even admitting he’s been in a few pretty awkward situations.
“We’ve never had to change him completely rogue - but there was one time where they didn’t have a changing table anywhere but in the women’s toilets.
“So they had to... not close the toilet, but they had a member of staff stand by the door saying, ‘there’s somebody changing a baby in there’ and not letting anyone in.
“I think it would be a massive thing if we could push for men to have the changing tables in the men’s toilets.”
Now, if you’re wondering why Tom Daley – probs best known for bringing home Bronze medals from the London and Rio Olympics – is suddenly talking a lot about nappies, well, it’s because he’s working with Pampers Pure to do exactly that.
“The fact they reached out to a dad to be an ambassador, as well as [a dad] in a same-sex couple… [it’s] really amazing to be included, and as a family.
“We’re trying to show that, you know, we’re changing nappies as well!"
For the record: here at MFM, we’re all for as many family-friendly, baby-friendly facilities in as many places as possible ✊
Images: Instagram/Tom Daley
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