Now that I have another baby, I have been on the alert for more baby rooms again. I’m glad to say that facilities have improved enormously since my days of nursing Gavin in shopping mall baby rooms…
1. BSC now has three nursing rooms
- Mothercare on level 2, east wing
- Level 3, west wing
- Level 4, west wing
Mothercare has two cubicles – one purely for nursing and one that allows you to nurse and change diapers. The nursing room on level 3 of the west wing has an arm chair for nursing, a sink for washing up and some bench space for changing diapers. I didn’t check out level 4, which is the dedicated children’s area.
2. Pavilion finally got around to furnishing their baby rooms. When it was first completed, the only nursing room/baby changing room was one small and cramped room in Parkson. The other baby rooms in the complex were temporary hideouts for the cleaning crew.
Some time back, I took a peek and discovered that they are now nicely decked out complete with nursing arm chair, changing station, sink and attached toilet. The best thing about the toilet is that they have a child-size toilet perfect for potty training your toddler. Gavin liked it so much that he started asking me to take him to the toilets wherever we went and was always disappointed with the venues that did not have child-size toilets.
In terms of practicalities, I find that the setup in Pavilion is probably about as close as it is going to get to the ideal “family” room because it is the most complete. Aside from the usual practicalities of being able to change your child’s diapers and nurse your baby, there is an adjoining toilet if Mummy needs to go. In most other shopping malls, it is very inconvenient for a mother to go to the toilet if she’s the only one out with the baby – there is not enough room to wheel in the pram into the cubicle and there is no place to put baby if you want to take your baby into the cubicle. I doubt many mothers would feel comfortable leaving their baby in a public toilet even if they are just two steps away in a cubicle where they can’t see their baby. Additionally, the toilet is separated from the nursing station so you don’t have to feed your baby next to the toilet. Last but not least, they have the child-size toilet for a potty training toddler. Most other shopping malls are usually lacking various features which detract from their practicality.
The next most convenient would have to be The Gardens – purely because of the quantity of family rooms. There are usually three family rooms near the toilets. Each room has its own sink, toilet chair and changing station. They aren’t often used (except for the one on LG near Cold Storage), so they are usually fairly clean. If they weren’t kept clean, it would be quite unpleasant to nurse in there.
Then again, since I’m more experienced with the whole nursing thing, I find that I no longer need the nursing room because I can nurse on the go. With Gareth in the carrier, all I have to do is drape the nursing cover over his head, help him latch on and we’re good to go.