A BRISBANE woman has been slammed after criticising a cafe’s response to her decision to change her baby’s nappy, twice, on one of its tables.
The new mother wrote a scathing Google review about Park Bench Espresso Bar in Bulimba for the reception received for changing her 12-week-old in front of dining customers.
The review, attributed to Stephanie Plahn, first praises the quality of the cafe’s coffee before taking aim at its owner Jocelyn Ridgway and other customers.
The diner said that after failing to locate a public rest room, she put a changing mat down on the cafe table and changed her 12-week-old baby.
“This was the only solution,†she said.
In the review, the woman goes on to say that a cafe worker had attempted to clear her table and tried to throw out her coffee while she was changing the baby, and gave her a “dirty look and made some comment†after the woman informed the waitress she hadn’t finished her coffee.
“I approached her (the manager) upon leaving and asked if she had a problem with my baby and I sitting there. She said in quite a critical tone, that she didn’t think it was appropriate to change my baby there,†the review states.
“To this woman and the 2 other customers who made comments regarding this. Mothers don’t need your judgment or criticism. We have enough pressure and stress we deal with on a daily basis. We rarely get the opportunity to get out and have a coffee amidst the long list of things we are doing for our families every single day.
“I am sorry (not sorry) you are so terribly offended by a tiny baby’s tiny little dirty nappy and that you think it necessary to criticise.â€
While the women may have been expecting a sympathetic response, comments on the review and elsewhere on social media have been largely critical of her decision to change her baby’s nappy in a public eating area.
One commenter Jenny Tully responded to the review saying she “couldn’t agree more†with the owner’s comments that the woman’s behaviour was not appropriate.
“People eat from these tables ... you can’t seriously think that it would be hygienic to change a child on a table that people eat from?†she wrote.
Other Google users said changing a baby while other people were trying to eat was a sign of a “self absorbed generationâ€, and that it showed “no respect for people aroundâ€.
The cafe owner herself fired back, replying directly to the unfavourable review with a stinging response.
“Thank you for your feedback Stephanie,†she wrote.
“I don’t think there is much more to say other than in the same way you don’t expect to have to feed your baby in a toilet, I don’t expect people to eat while a nappy is being changed.â€
Ms Ridgway told AAP the woman was at the coffee shop for two hours last Friday.
“She was there that long the baby did two poos,†Ms Ridgway said.
“There were people next to her. We had complaints from a group of older women who did not think it was that great.â€
Since Ms Ridgway shared the review on Facebook with friends, she’s said she’s had nothing but support.
“I know in my heart that that was not cool. It’s an etiquette thing. She won’t be back as a customer, that’s fine. I can’t afford to have customers like her anyway,†she said.