Overall: Creepy. Basic. Nappy change, feed, rest, toilet.
Good Points: Clean change table. Nappy disposal bins. Sink, soap and hand dryer. Separate toilet with sink and soap. Chair for feeding. Ramp access to shopping centre. Undercover parking.
Bad Points: No signs for baby change facilities until you find the door yourself. Narrow hallway. Door to parent room doesn’t lock. Creepy blue lighting (it’s meant to prevent junkies from using the room, as the colour makes it tough to find a vein). No paper towel.
We were in North Ryde today, and didn’t feel like heading home just yet. We’ve been to Macquarie Centre a squillion times and have sussed out all the parent rooms there, plus we didn’t feel like battling for a carpark and so on. Instead we ended up at Cox’s Road.
There’s quite a few shops down here, and it’s a nice break from Mac Centre for people working in the area. Since we hadn’t checked out any parent rooms here yet, we thought we’d do it today. First stop, the Cox’s Road Shopping Centre.
It’s a nice little place, with just one floor of shops, all accessible from the street or by ramp from the undercover car park. There’s an IGA, florist, chemist, butcher, deli etc…all the stores you’d expect to find in a little shopping complex. These things are good, but our mission is finding the parent rooms or baby change area.
We found the hallway to the toilets, between the chemist and the deli. The sign only shows the male and female symbol. Before this parent room adventure we would have assumed that meant there wasn’t a parent room or baby change table down the hall, and would have left it at that. We’ve learnt to not believe what the signs say, alot of the time, and to go and check it out for ourselves……just in case. Ta dah!!! We found a parent room.
To get to the parent room, head to the end of the wide hallway, turn left (the only way you can go) and head down the narrow hallway to the door at the very end. You can’t miss it, it says ‘PARENT ROO’. The ‘M’ has done a bunk.
The narrow hallway and misspelt sign did not fill us with much enthusiasm, and we were not surprised at what we found on the other side of the door. Oh my goodness, the bright blue light inside the parent room is freaky!!!!! It’s like the old blue light at the butchers, back in the olden days, but it fills the entire room!! It’s definitely weird, and doesn’t exude a feeling of comfort at all.
The door to the parent room doesn’t lock, which is a minus. The blue lighting gives off creepy, interrogating feeling. Maybe it’s to make people get in and out of there as quickly as possible! There is a wall mounted fold out baby change table, plus a couple of nappy bins. The sink and soap are close by and there’s a single chair which can be used for resting shopping or for sitting down while feeding babies. Still the whole bit of not being able to lock the door while feeding, is a bit creepy.
On the far wall of the parent room is the door to the toilets. This door locks from the inside, but you’re not going to be wanting to feed your baby in there. Anyway, it too is filled with that odd blue lighting. It does, however, have it’s own sink, soap and hand dryer, so that’s something.
At the end of the day, there is a parent room here. You’ll probably only want to be in here super quick, because it’s not at all a comfy place to be in. You might not be able to get a pram down the hall and through the door way either. But if you do need to do a nappy change, or feed in privacy (and don’t mind the blue lighting) then head here.
I know!!! The blue lighting is like what you see in solariums!! Maybe it doubles as a tanning room! Just trying to come up with reasons for it, that’s all. Oh!! We just heard that the lighting apparently is a deterrent to junkies using the room. It’s meant to make it difficult to find a vein. So there you go.
Check out the gallery anyway, and make up your own mind.
