changing table: necessary?

[Anonymous]

when buying nursery furniture, is a changing table really necessary??

[Anonymous]

Not as long as you have something high enough to change baby so you won't hurt your back. But .. you could also put a changing mat on your table, bed, couch. There are some changing tables that you can put on top of the bed/crib.
There are so many things that are not really necessary in my experience. I had the whole baby room ready for my first but I was too busy/tired/lazy to climb the stairs to change her so I managed just find on the couch. As long as you don't hurt your back!

[Anonymous]

not necessary but loved ours.-used to store diapers, wipes, etc and shelves for storage.

[Anonymous]

You have to have someplace that can get peed on and is the right height for your back. A bed is too low. It doesn't need to be an official changing table.

Ours was combined with a dresser. It is all about the height.

[Anonymous]

Changing on the floor with a mat/pad works, but if you have a c-section you won't be wanting to get down there either.

[Anonymous]

Heck no you don't need a changing table. We bought a regular dresser for my son's room and then just put a changing pad on top of that.

I'm so glad we didn't waste money on a changing table. After 4 months my son was so wiggly the only safe place to change him was on the floor.

[Anonymous]

Couldn't live without it. it's the perfect place to change diapers, can get peed on and pooped on and you just wash the cover. Ours also had a little side area where you could put a basket with wipes, etc. and had three small draws for storing diapers and wash clothes.
Also, you can remove the changing pad and use to display pictures when they get older and you don't need to change their diaper anymore.

[Anonymous]

If you have the space and the money, I think it would be nice to have. We are doing fine without it though. We use the top of one of our dressers with a changing pad on top and a basket type thing for diapers, purell, diaper rash cream, etc. I think what is essential is a dedicated place to change baby. You want all your stuff in one place.

[Anonymous]

It depends on if you are comfortable changing your child wherever in the house. On the changing table is the ONLY place in the house that I change my son's diaper, so we have used it thousands of times, he is now 2. I think it is gross to change your kids diaper on beds, floors, sofas or on coffee tables as I've seen so many parents do.

Mine is a changing table/dresser combo.

[Anonymous]

To pp: why is it gross to change your baby on a couch, bed or something else than a changing table?? It's not that you would do it without putting something on it to cover it first or that you would do it in the presence of others. I can't really understand anyway why you could talk about gross when it concerns your own child!

[Anonymous]

It's the one piece of nursery furniture we use consistently. I would recommend a dresser with a removable changing top.

[Anonymous]

I LOVE our changing table and I think there is something about having the baby at that height that is the perfect way to make eye contact and bond. Does that make sense? I feel like my son is so responsive to me when I have him on the table - sometimes we just play and talk and smile at eachother while he is on there. I have a big house and I have a table on the 2nd floor in his room as well as in our 1st florr 1/2 bath - laundry. This has been a huge help - don't have to run up and down stairs with him, etc. I think it is a must! When he grows out of it I plan to put it in a closet and use it for extra shelving. You can get them cheap at places like Ikea and Babys R Us. I think mine was only 75 dollars....

[Anonymous]

It's gross because you can get pee or poop on your couch/table/bed!! Can't count how many times there's been pee or poop after the diaper comes off and we have two girls! We couldn't live without ours - I like having one dedicated place for changing and storing things as many others mentioned. I also think it's more sanitary.

[Anonymous]

we got a vintage dresser that is more in the style of our decor. we're putting a pad on top, and a basket next to it to hold diapers and wipes. i think changing tables are kind of ugly and they will be useless once the baby is too old anyway. this way you get more bang for your buck.

[Anonymous]

I'd say no. Having a baby really requires so little but we have been bombarded with marketing to make us feel like we "need" things. First we used a regular table with a pad, then since we didn't wear shoes when baby was an infant and cleaned the floor often, we put a diaper cloth on the floor and changed her on top of that. Lickity split.