Overall: A nice quiet place away from the noise of the food court. Feeding rooms are a bit small. Nappy change, feed, rest.
Good Points: Fairly easy to find. Quiet. Two private feeding cubicles. A bench in each feeding cubicle. The doors to the feeding cubicles lock from the inside for privacy. Sink, soap dispenser and paper towels. Clean and working microwave. Two change bays set in the bench, with nappy bins tucked underneath.
Bad Points: Feeding cubicles are very small. Furniture is quite worn and not terribly clean. Well worn grubby couch in the main room. The toilet was occupied for 10min+.
One Sunday a few weeks ago we took advantage of Cityrail’s Family FunDay Sunday tickets and took the train into the city. It’s a fab way to have a family outing that doesn’t cost much for transport. Got to love it! Anyway, we ended up in the city and had loads of fun seeing things from the wonderful perspective of a little one. They really do make the normally mundane things seem quite exciting.
For our lunch break we headed into the Food Court underneath Myer in Pitt St Mall. Of course, we looked around for parent room signs while we were there. If we can’t see the signs almost immediately, the opinion starts to drop right away. Thankfully we quickly saw the signs hanging from the ceiling throughout the centre, so that’s one tick.
The parent room is tucked behind the bottom of the big staircase that comes down from Myer street level, into the Food Court. Just head behind the stairs or escalators (whichever you take) when you reach the bottom, and you’ll find the male and female toilets as well as the parent room. The room is well sign posted so you can find it easily.
Getting inside the room is easy with the big button to push that activates the auto-sliding door. Oh how I love these doors! They make like so much easier when your arms are full or you have a pram in tow. The door is also partly frosted for additional privacy.
Inside the room, we found it to be pretty quiet. This was quite enjoyable after the constant noise of the Food Court. While the room is on the small side and could do with some TLC, it is quiet and has all the basics needed to have a break and look after the needs of little ones.
Opposite the door of the parent room, as you walk in, is the change bench. It has 2 change bays built in to the bench, with a sink in the middle and nappy bins underneath the bench. It’s always good to find nappy bins that are well out of reach of little hands. At the end of the bench is the soap dispenser and paper towels. This is another big plus! Having paper towels instead of a hand dryer not only means better hygiene but also keeps babies happier when getting changed. Many little ones hate the sound of the hand dryer blasting. It’s quite a shock to the little cherubs. Another tick!
There is a clean and working microwave in the room. Another tick! However, the sink on the change bench is the only one available to use for food prep. This presents some hygiene issues. Prepping baby food or bottles with the same sink used for cleaning up after changing nappies isn’t all that enticing. If parents don’t already bring it, this is definitely a room where it’s best t0 BYO antibacterial gel/wipes.
The couch in the main room is a vinyl covered creation. It’s tired and falling apart, but it’s a place to rest if you really need a break from the madness outside. Sometimes we just don’t care what condition the couches and chairs are in. Sometimes we just need to sit down for 5 minutes and have a rest (although we have encountered furniture in some parent rooms where we’ve opted to push through the exhaustion and keep going rather than sit down for a minute).
For parents and babies wanting to feed in private, there are 2 little private feeding cubicles in this parent room. One on either side of the Child Toilet. We didn’t get to check out the toilet, even though we were in the room for 10+minutes. The door to the loo was locked and we couldn’t open it. There was no sound coming from inside, so who knows what the problem was. If you’re able to get into the toilet in here, please let us know if it’s actually child friendly. We had to use the cramped, busy female and male toilets instead. The noise from there did not make a happy little one at all. Anyway, back to the feeding cubicles!
Each little cubicle has a vinyl covered armchair and a little shelf attached to the wall where bags and bottles can be stored, up off the ground. The door locks from the inside, so you can ensure feeding time really is private. There may be a problem with getting a pram inside the cubicles though. It’d take something like a 3 pt turn to get a pram inside and then be able to shut the door. If someone has successfully managed to get a pram inside either cubicle and get back out again, please let us know. We’d love to know how you did it without pulling your hair out.
We’ve not done too many reviews on parent rooms to date in the city, but we definitely plan on doing more very soon. It really is a fun place to go on the weekends with little ones. We think so anyway 🙂
