Restaurateurs should act on the public demand for baby-changing accommodations in men’s restrooms.
August 28, 2019
Sponsored by Koala Kare
Many hands-on dads have faced a dispiriting moment in a public place with their children — the immediate need to change a diaper, but the lack of a baby changing table in the men’s restroom.
Often, these dads have been forced to change the child on a countertop or on the floor, an imperfect solution in terms of safety, sanitation and convenience. Last year, Donte Palmer, a Florida father, became the public face of the effort to get more changing tables in men’s rooms when he posted a social media photo of himself squatting in a public restroom changing his son’s diaper. His photo soon went viral, leading to his #SquatforChange movement and raising public and corporate consciousness about the issue.
Love The Change
In June, Pampers in partnership Koala Kare launched “Love The Change”, a 2-year campaign to identify high-need public locations and provide baby changing tables for installation in men’s restrooms. 9 out of 10 dads have gone into a public restroom that does not have a baby changing table, according to a survey of parents conducted for Pampers. The diaper brand plans to donate 5,000 changing stations to public facilities that have high usage by families, including parks and recreation centers, community centers and libraries, in Cincinnati, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit and other locales across the U.S. and Canada. The first 500 locations have already been identified and installation commenced.
Musician John Legend, a hands-on dad who has voiced his frustration about the diapering disparity, added his celebrity luster to the campaign. A few years prior, another father and social media influencer, actor Ashton Kutcher, spoke out in similar terms. Kutcher’s viral Facebook post bemoaning the lack of changing tables in men's restrooms fueled a petition drive that garnered over 50,000 signatures in less than a week calling for more men’s room changing accommodations.
Changing table legislation
Against this backdrop, legislation has been simmering in states and localities around the country. The BABIES (Bathrooms Accessible in Every Situation) Act was signed into law in 2016, requiring baby-changing accommodations in both male and female restrooms in publicly accessible federal buildings. Changing table legislation concerning a variety of other types of businesses has been debated in numerous states and local governments.
For example, in New York State this year a measure passed requiring all new or substantially renovated buildings that have bathrooms used by the public to make changing tables accessible to both men and women. Similarly, the Dallas City Council passed an ordinance this year that requires any newly built or renovated city-owned building, privately owned restaurant, theater or retail store to provide at least one "safe, sanitary and convenient diaper changing accommodation" in each restroom available for public use.
Arguably, addressing the issue is not only the right thing for operators to do but also a smart customer relations move. “We do a lot of social listening,” says Bonnie Yatkeman, brand manager at Koala Kare, the leading manufacturer of commercial baby changing tables. “We see customers calling out restaurants by name and sometimes by location for not having changing tables. It’s common for customers to talk about taking their business elsewhere. And their friends chime in, too.”
In chain restaurants, progress on this issue has been uneven, especially in franchise systems with multiple owners and business priorities.
Inconsistent response
“Some restaurants long ago understood that and acted on it, and there are others that haven’t even made it a consideration, with every other stance in between,” says Yatkeman.
McDonald’s, a long-time Koala Kare customer, recognized the importance of this “a long time ago,” says Yatkeman. “Changing tables are definitely part of a typical restroom in a McDonald’s, and in both restrooms.”
On the other hand, some major restaurant brands have simply ignored the issue of mens’ restroom changing tables. “There are chains that for the past decade have said this is not something they want to do,” says Yatkeman. “But it will get to the point where they don’t have a choice about it, because of customer expectation and the ability to take their business elsewhere.”
In at least one case, a restaurant brand has installed changing tables in its men’s rooms only after being publicly shamed by negative press coverage.
Thus there is an argument for operators to install changing tables in men’s restrooms before they are mandated by law. “Restaurants should do this because they welcome families and care about keeping them as customers,” says Yatkeman.
