UK Baby facilities - I need your help please!

[leckershell]

Hi all

I'm back with another website idea. I thought about it before christmas but a last minute day out today has spurred me on to actually put it into action.

I would very much appreciate your help with this as it would benefit us all, and many others if I can get enough information.

Would you be able to let me know the names of shops, cafes, restaurants, shopping centres, retail parks, public toilets etc etc in your area (or any in UK!) that have or are...

*Breastfeeding friendly or have breastfeeding facilities or rooms
*Baby changing facilities (and where these are found)
*Bottle warming or other good baby/child feeding facilities
*Special kids meal offers? Such as free baby food, free kids meal if an adult buys a meal etc... (probably most likely to be local family friendly pubs, or supermarkets etc than chains, but any info appreciated)
*Soft play areas and creche facilities within supermarkets/shops? (Ie while parents have a meal or shop)
*Anywhere else with facilities you would recommend?

What would be best is specific info for your local town, or anywhere that you specifically know as opposed to saying "every tesco store" etc.

I'm hoping to gather it all up and make a UK wide site for people to see what is in the area they are visiting. You might think it's obvious, but I spent ages trekking around today (Lichfield, a half hour bus ride from me but I've not been there before with a baby) looking for a cafe that was pram and breastfeeding friendly, and the tourist information office weren't much help.

Any info you have would be appreciated, I don't need full shop addresses or anything unless you have them , just roughly where they are and I'll do the googling for them

Hope I get some replies!

Michelle x

ps- I've cleared this with Urchin

pps- There is a similar site here but it's a bit rubbish and in my area at least, it definately misses out a lot of places and doesn't help at all re: breastfeeding places. I think the PF girls could do a lot better if we pool together our knowledge

 

[Lou]

Excellent idea

I'll have a good think and I'll ask my other mummy friends at the playgroups I go to then let you know.

Well done you, that is going to be so handy for so many people. Especially if you can print out the information and take it out with you. For instance we go alot of diferent places in our campervan and if we want to eat out somewhere new or need good child facilities its a case of trial and error. With your site we can just go straight where we know is good on a day out and save time and messing around! The amount of times we've been out in a pub for example for a meal and when it somes the childrens meal looks rank and the highchair is dirty and the changing facilities are dirty

I'll get thinking for you hun.....

 

[emma28]

Hexham is awful for all that you have described, and it makes me very angry Lots of the shop doors are too narrow to fit your buggy through and have steps. Only Boots and woolworths have automatic doors. If you need to change a nappy there is only a plasctic fold down thing in the disabled toilet on the 2nd floor of the department shop, which you have to go through 2 heavy swing doors that open away from you to get to.

There are 100's of cafes in Hexham, we are very touristy in the summer and there is only one that is easily accessible ( even has a box of toys) but it is small and has no changing area.

Even the Weatherspoons is rubbish. The family area is downstairs, there is no lift or ramp and you have to ask at the bar for the key to the disabled toilet (which is up the stairs) but has the only plastic foldy down thing.
So you have to ask for help to get your buggy downstairs to where you wanna eat, then leave your baby to go to the bar to ask for the key...no children allowed at the bar...then go down the stairs to get your baby...blah blah it's shite, don't come to Hexham with your baby.

We do have a seperate softplay area that cost £4 for an hour and is the dirtiest place you could imagine.

It will be good to see if anywhere truely is baby friendly....

 

[zebrastripes]

This is probably the most small minded area in the UK,hardly anyone breastfeeds because over here,we don't bare any flesh in public,unless you're coming out of Lavery's at 2 in the morning in a mini skirt and halterneck..there's hardly any facilities it drives me mad

grrrr.......anyway...

I know of one or two places,I'll PM you.

 

[leckershell]

Well done you, that is going to be so handy for so many people. Especially if you can print out the information and take it out with you.

Yep thats the plan

Also I'm going to have a look at making it WAP friendly for mobile phones. Can't promise that cos I don't know how easy it is to do, but I'm looking into it

I'll put Tamworths on a reply in a bit (or tomorrow morning) just in case any of you are coming here for whatever reason

Rebekah, that's shocking that they treat breastfeeding so badly. I breastfed Ryan today in a glass windowed cafe in the middle of lunchtime rush... I was a bit nervous but nobody batted an eyelid

Oh my email is my lecker_shell at yahoo dot co dot uk .

Just in case you want to use that instead of reply.. or else my PM inbox will be full in no time

 

[zebrastripes]

)
*Anywhere else with facilities you would recommend?

Absolutly no where 8) I reccomend you steer well clear of this rock you will probably become part of a redneck satanic ritual involving tractors and sheep.

OMG Midna I didn't know you lived down the road from me!

 

[zebrastripes]

Well done you, that is going to be so handy for so many people. Especially if you can print out the information and take it out with you.

Yep thats the plan

Also I'm going to have a look at making it WAP friendly for mobile phones. Can't promise that cos I don't know how easy it is to do, but I'm looking into it

I'll put Tamworths on a reply in a bit (or tomorrow morning) just in case any of you are coming here for whatever reason

Rebekah, that's shocking that they treat breastfeeding so badly. I breastfed Ryan today in a glass windowed cafe in the middle of lunchtime rush... I was a bit nervous but nobody batted an eyelid

Oh my email is my lecker_shell at yahoo dot co dot uk .

Just in case you want to use that instead of reply.. or else my PM inbox will be full in no time

Lol,we've been too busy killing each other to worry about how we feed our kids,that's why we have the lowest bf statistics in the UK.

Sorry i already pmd you!

 

[Kylie1007]

I know I keep going on about Sure Start but they have been really pro-active with us new mums and I have got a list of breastfeeding friendly cafes down here. Maybe you could contact your local one and see if they have a similar thing?

 

[leckershell]

They've got one for here yeah, I've got the Tamworth breastfeeding places but was trying to sort out more places UK-wide

 

[Kylie1007]

I have a list of cafes down here in Brixham

 

[leckershell]

That would be awesome if it doesn't take you too long and you don't mind... x

 

[babsi]

What about an section on buses? I know that on some routes you have to fold the pushchair up which is something that for me just isn't feasable, maybe give a rough guide to which ones have 'buggy' spots.

Sorry, I just have no idea how people can manage doing that.

Also are you supposed to fold it up on trains or not, I have been on a train before and didn't fold it up and had the feeling I was supposed to with the amount of funny looks I got when people walked past.

What about lift access? Especially on the underground, going around London with a pushchair must be a nightmare.

I could spend all day listing Canada's fault but public transport isn't one of them.

 

[Riley's Mommy]

where i live is atrocious. (north Devon)

the ELC here is really bad, they have a line of stock running through a narrow shop, and getting around it with my pram (quinny buzz, fairly smallish) is hard. ppl with double buggies wouldnt have a chance.

but i think you want good dont you.

erm, i can really only think of bad, like sainsburys having a LOUD tannoy in the baby change, which made riley cry

 

[trixipaws]

only information i can add is that mcdonalds is pro-breastfeeding. my boyf works as a supply planner for them and used to be a restaurant manager he told me when i was preggas. iv popped one out in there a few times now lol! idk if u kno that already!

 

[Lou]

I just wanted to pick up on what people have said about access for buggies. Companies must ensure their premises are accessible to people with disabilities, as covered under Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, so really we shouldn't be having access problems with our buggies

Maybe thats something which could help you Michelle? If you know of a shop etc which isn't buggy friendly then chances are it also isn't wheelchair friendly which is now against the law. They must make 'reasonable adjustments' to allow access for wheelchairs.

 

[lisa&alex]

i only have bad things to report tbh.. tesco port talbot, port talbot aberavan shopping centre and asda swansea have feeding and changing rooms combined and the feeding chairs by a shitty nappy bin mayaswell feed in a toilet.. also aberavan shopping centres feeding room has a chair that asnaps back up to the wall like a folding bus chair how the hell ur supposed to feed on there!!!mothercare swansea have seperate feeding room with bottle warmer etc..

i continue to feed in the car lol...

 

[leckershell]

I just wanted to pick up on what people have said about access for buggies. Companies must ensure their premises are accessible to people with disabilities, as covered under Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, so really we shouldn't be having access problems with our buggies

Maybe thats something which could help you Michelle? If you know of a shop etc which isn't buggy friendly then chances are it also isn't wheelchair friendly which is now against the law. They must make 'reasonable adjustments' to allow access for wheelchairs.

I've thought about this as my stepdad is in a wheelchair, so I often think, if I can't get in, then he can't, and that's not allowed.

Wonder what the rule is on public transport? If I have to fold my pram down to get onto a bus with steps, what does a disabled person do..?

 

[Minxy]

In Birmingham the Pavillions baby room has seperate cubicles with comfy chairs for feeding but my favourite place for taking babies is House of Fraser.

Their baby change is huge with a feeding section but their cafe also has a bit at the back which is cordoned off with toys, great for a leisurely mummy coffee whilst the kids play/feed. It's never that busy

 

[trixipaws]

the trafford centre has a nice, clean, spacious baby-changing room. i think theres a BF room too but i didnt use it, i just did it in the changing room lol

 

[leckershell]

In case anyone does care about Tamworth/Lichfield/Brum...

Tamworth...

The babies r us on Ventura Park has now turned into a toys r us and lost the changing/feeding areas (I believe though not properly checked).

Mothercare has a changing and feeding section at the back of the store next to PixiFoto but I've not checked it out myself.

Asda has 1 baby changing room by the other toilets. The door is a bit of a tight squeeze but it's fine once your in and has free nappies in there. No feeding seat that I saw. In the cafe you get a free jar of baby food but I can't remember if you have to buy an adult meal or if you just get a free one with any other adult purchase. They have polystyrene containers (and lids) where you can put hot water in to heat up your bottle and the cafe is breastfeeding friendly.

In town, Roasters and Druckers are breastfeeding friendly (but not particularly discreetly located) cafe's.

Lichfield...

Three Spires cafe is breastfeeding friendly and has the NCT breastfeeding logo on the door. They're very helpful in there and there's plenty of space to maneuvre a pram around.

Birmingham...

Burger King Martineau Place won't give hot water to heat up bottles but say they can take the bottle away to heat up for you.

Debenhams cafe is nice, quiet and has bottle warmers and didn't mind when I breastfed. The changing room is v big and has a curtained off feeding room. Also there is a big "family toilet room" with 2 toilets in.

Bullring has 2 baby changing rooms on the ground floor. The orange one (on the left) is bigger whereas the green one (on the right) is a bit tight for space. Both have adult toilets in too, and disco lights above the changing mat to keep the baby occupied. The green room has a fold down seat for feeding but it's all quite cramped.