Accessible bathroom stalls are not "family restrooms", amirite?

Actually, half the bathrooms I go to, the baby change table is in the disability-access toilet and we have to use it. A pram also doesn't fit in a usual public toilet stall so we have fun choices: pee with the door open, leave your child unsupervised outside in the pram, or grab the wriggling child onto your lap while you pee and desperately hope nobody is stealing your pram. I feel awful to use a disability stall but it's not a choice. People with disabilities, *and* parents are failed by this.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

At my workplace the changing table is outside of the stalls, and none of the parents I am bitching about had strollers. The kids were all walking on their own. Trust me, I wouldn't be mad about it if there were any good reason for it. There is a family restroom that rarely gets used, but it's hard for me to get in and out of because of how the door is.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

When you say an "accessible stall" does it just say those words or does it clearly look marked (e.g. Picture of person in wheelchair) as if it should only be used for ppl with mobility issues?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

When I say accessible stall I mean the only stall large enough for someone with a wheelchair or walker to get in and out of. They are rarely marked in any way.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

So you're saying they are completely entitled to use it and doing so makes complete logical sense. They are designed for when having more space might be helpful. Don't they have separate disabled toilets? This seems like more of a problem with the layout of the toilets than with people and their use of them.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

They have a separate family restroom that rarely gets used but is not accessible due to the door design.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

So they have a separate family restroom but not a disabled one? This really sounds like an issue specific to this one location. I'm used to the baby-changing being either in the ladies or the disabled toilet but not a separate "family restroom", a larger cubicle but no disabled toilet.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Architect here, yeah ADA guidelines did realize that was a problem and have amended code to restrict baby changing stations from being installed in individual bathroom stalls. Any time you see a baby changing station in a stall at this point, is because the property owner hasn't renovated the restroom in any meaningful way that requires a permit. That being said, changing stations can still be installed in single user ADA restrooms where occupancy loads don't exceed a certain threshold.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Accessible doesn't mean exclusively for.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

It's super inconsiderate to use the only accessible stall when all of the other stalls AND a family restroom are all available, especially when you know you're going to take longer because you're dealing with a toddler. A couple days a go I was about ten feet behind a mom and her kid walking towards the restrooms, and they walked past the empty family restroom and all of the empty other empty stalls and proceeded to spend at least five minutes in the only accessible stall. It's super inconsiderate.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

On the other hand, there's so rarely a disabled person present that it seems a waste not to use the big stall.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Why not just park in the disabled parking spaces too then while you're at it? Hardly anyone ever uses them anyway.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

There's a difference between handicap only and handicap accessible.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

They literally had to make it illegal to park in accessible spots without a placard because of entitled able-bodied people. Shocking that people might take advantage.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Multiple people typically cant fit in a normal sized stall together.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

A mom and a small kid easily can in most. I used to take my daughter into non accessible stalls all the time when she was that small.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

You must live some place with giant stalls.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Idk I lived in a different state when my daughter was little and it was never an issue. Plus when there's a line parents will take their little kids into the first stall that becomes available, yet somehow when there's no one else using the bathroom they suddenly can't fit. 😒

by Anonymous 2 years ago

100% of bathroom users use the availible stall that moat suits their needs. You could prove a point. Offer them 100 dollars to move a stall and then when they do pay them and say they could have used that stall in the first place. Or wait a couple of minutes

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Then why do parents with kids walk past the family restroom that is nearly always empty to use the only accessible stall? If they only took a few minutes I'd be a lot less irritated.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

You could ise that bathroom

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I can't. The door is heavy and on springs so it's very difficult for me to get in and out.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Sounds like its would be hard to use witn small kids especially with strollers or caring things

by Anonymous 2 years ago

These kinds of doors aren't typically an issue for an able bodied person, but are virtually impossible to get through on your own if you use a wheelchair or walker. I found this out when I couldn't get out of a Burger King once. If someone had a stroller, I'd let it go but that never been the case so far.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I have trouble fitting in a normal sized stall when I'm alone let alone when I have a little one with me. Maybe I just don't know how to use a toilet properly but banged elbows, hands, knees, or head have all happened. (Not every time, I'm not a total clod). It is not my fault there are not more toilets big enough for people to use. Complain to your boss. Until then, if I'm not forbidden from using it I'm going to use it - even when alone - because those tiny stalls are ridiculous. I have used regular sized ones, those are fine. But some bathrooms seem to have only extra small and one big one. Some desperate need to squeeze in one more stall I guess.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Yeah except when the accessible stall isn't available parent take their kids into the smaller ones all the time clearly there is space. I also don't have a "boss". I'm an independent contractor but I always work at the same locations.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

So this is a tough one for me. I'm disabled, and ultimately agree that the idea that accessible stalls are not reserved for disabled people is ridiculous. However, I can't really begrudge a mother using the stall for her kid because they literally put changing tables in disabled stalls. It's not really their fault.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

When the changing table is in the accessible stall I obviously don't have an issue with parents using it. My problem is when parents literally walk past the empty family restroom and changing table to use the accessible stall just because they want a little more space.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I didn't see your name on the stall, jennifer

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Do you not understand why the accessible bathroom stall is there and for whom?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Well, what do you expect people to do when there is no family bathroom and the only stall with either a changing table or floor space is the accessible stall?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

There is a family restroom where I work (that is not accessible to me because of the door) and the changing table is outside of the stalls, yet this is something I deal with regularly.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Well, yeah I'd say that's pretty inconsiderate then but this seems like a niche situation. Like I rarely see family restrooms as I go about my day. Most of the time when there is a changing table it's in the accessible stall.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I'm complaining about it because it happens all the time, niche situation or not, the number of parents I witness doing this is not small.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

You do realize that they usually put the baby changing station in the accessible bathroom right? So it naturally became the accessible/family room.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

If that's the case I'm not going to have an issue, but that's not the case where I work. They have a separate family restroom that usually sits empty, but parents still use the accessible stall when there's absolutely no reason for them to do so.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

In m area single person stalls are generally not large enough for a child and a caretaker and family restrooms are rare. Even in those cases where you could cram in two people, you have great difficulty entering/exiting and performing certain tasks, such as wiping. When family restrooms are present, they should be used, but otherwise there is enormous utility in the larger stall when the smaller ones work poorly. Sometimes you just have to wait because other people have needs to.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I have never seen parent wait for the accessible stall if it's being used, they just use the normal sized ones instead. The only people who wait are those who don't have any other options.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

It really depends on the stall size to begin with. At my job, your knees are almost touching the stall door lol

by Anonymous 2 years ago

That's not the case where I work.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

You know what the women's bathrooms where I work are probably bigger because there doesn't have to be space for the urinal

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Maybe so. I haven't gone into the men's room so I couldn't say. The normal sized stalls are pretty big, just not big enough for me to be able to get in and then turn around. I tried once.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

i used one to change pants at work once

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Okay? Does it take you ten minutes to change your pants? I changed clothes in normal sized stalls more than once back when I could still use them.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

usually takes like 10 seconds or less. my jeans ripped at the time and so i switched to sweatpants. i didn't want to hear walkie talkies in the bathroom. also i needed the space

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Then you're not the type of person I have a problem with. Carry on.

by Anonymous 2 years ago