Tag: Hills District

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Baulkham Hills NSW

Norwest Marketown – 4 Century Cct, Baulkham Hills NSW

Overall: Very basic. Hard to find. Nappy change only.


Good Points: Big enough for a pram. Clean change table. No stairs.


Bad Points: No signs in the shopping centre to indicate there are any baby change facilities anywhere. No feeding cubicles, no play area, no food prep station. 

Behind this door hides the baby change table

Norwest Marketown, smack in the middle of the baby belt of Northwest Sydney and a relatively new business park. There’s a couple of Parents with Prams parking spaces available at the main front entrance of the shopping centre, but you have to be quick and early to get them. 
The shopping centre is all on ground level, which is the best part. No stairs mean an easier shopping experience for mums and bubs. Not knowing where or if there is a Parent Room though makes it an annoying shopping trip. But don’t worry, I’ve found it! 

Like most shopping centres, hanging from the ceiling are signs indicating Coles is this way and the male/female/disabled toilets are that way. But there’s NOTHING to let you know there’s a baby change area. Maybe centre management is not that fond of children or just didn’t give it a second thought. What would they prefer? Mums changing nappies on the tables in the food court? Or using the baby change table secretly located in the disabled bathroom? I think everyone would rather know where the change areas are, than have to find alternative means in the shopping centre. Us parents have enough to deal with when we’re out with our little ones, let alone having to figure out where the hidden baby change facilities are.

So where is it? Just head to the food court and in a far corner you’ll find a corridor leading to all the bathrooms. Head down here and on your left is the disabled bathroom. Open the door and ta-dah!!! You’ll find the baby change table. Hooray!! My sanity has been saved one more time.

There it is! One change table

Clean and functional


Tucked behind the door of the bathroom is the wall mounted fold out baby change table. It’s clean and usable, which is all you can ask for really.  Soap and sink are on the left hand side, which is nice and handy.

Nappy disposal bin plus hand-dryer

For hand drying, there’s the auto hand dryer or paper towels. The nappy disposal bin is on the wall opposite the change table, just underneath the hand dryer. Really, there’s nothing else to tell you about this place. There’s no food prep area or feeding space, but at least you now know you can change your little one’s bottom someplace other than the back of the car.



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Castle Hill NSW

The Hills Homemaker Hub – South Building, Level 1, Cnr Salisbury and Victoria Rd Castle Hill NSW

Reviewed by B


Overall: It’s okay as far as Parent Rooms go. But compared to the Parent Room across the road in the North Building, this is poor. But overall, it does the job. Nappy change, feed, rest and play.


Good Points: Bright interior. Comfy armchairs. Working microwave. Sinks and soap dispensers. Two private feeding cubicles. Big and little loo.


Bad Points: Smelly and dirty. Overflowing nappy bins just inside entrance. Microwave on same bench as nappy change bay. Sanitary bin next to little loo. No additional powerpoints.

Look for the hallway to the right of Domayne

A few weeks ago we were out at Castle Hill, yet again. We’d covered the Parent Room in the North Building of The Hills Homemaker Hub on a previous visit, so thought on this trip we’d check out the South Building. Based on what we found, it looks like the South Building was built first and has not seen much money since in terms of maintenance.

Entry to Parent Room

On Level 1, to the right of Domayne, is the hallway leading to the toilets and Parent Room. As you head down this hall, the Parent Room is on your left. Just press the big green button to the left and the door will slide open for you.

Overflowing nappy bins




The first thing to greet us as we entered the Parent Room was three overflowing nappy bins, against the wall on the right hand side. Lovely. And it didn’t improve further inside the room.

Microwave should be over here!

Nappy change bench

There are two bench/sink spaces in the room. One bench is flat with a sink and soap dispenser, the other has a nappy change groove in it plus sink and soap dispenser. Now which one would you expect to have a microwave attached to it? You would reasonably expect the one WITHOUT the nappy change bay to have the microwave. But Nooooo…..not in this place. The microwave is on the same bench that has the nappy change bay. Yuk yuk yuk!!!!! Soooo not hygienic at all.

Activity centres to entertain little ones

To keep little ones entertained, there’s two wall mounted activity centres in the main part of the room. Better than nothing, and will hopefully keep them distracted from the overflowing bins.

Private feeding cubicle

Couple of armchairs and table in each cubicle

There are two private feeding cubicles in this Parent Room. They’re comfortable enough, with a curtain providing privacy. Each cubicle has a couple of armchairs and a tiny side table. Neither of them has additional powerpoints.

The loos – big one and little one

The last thing to check was the toilets. Good to see there’s a big loo and little loo here, but the sanitary bin is between both loos instead of being against the wall next to the big toilet. This was probably the cleanest area of the entire Parent Room. 
Got to say, compared to the Parent Room in the North Building, this is really bad. Definitely not the worst ever seen, but compared to what’s across the street – it’s bad. 


Categories
Kellyville NSW

Kellyville Plaza – 50 Wrights Rd, Kellyville NSW

Reviewed by B


Overall: Tired and worn out, like many of us parents. Easy to find. Nappy change, feed and rest.


Good Points: Easy to find. No stairs. Two private feeding cubicles. Change table, nappy bin and armchair in each feeding cubicle. Extra armchairs and table in main area of the room. Microwave, two sinks. Little kids loo.


Bad Points: Armchairs are marked, worn and torn. No additional powerpoints. No papertowel. Needs a refurb, or at least a good detailing.

Follow the signs hanging from the ceiling

Keep following the signs…nearly there…

Haven’t been out to Kellyville in a long time. Castle Hill is about as far as we get most weeks, but on this occasion we thought we’d extend our circle a little further and check out what Kellyville shops have to offer.  First plus is the car park. It now has shade cover over most of the car spaces. Very good to see! 

Found it!

Push the door to enter

The shopping centre is all on one level which is very handy for those of us with prams. No stairs to navigate. Just wide walkways and ramps. To find the Parent Room, head inside the shopping centre and look for the signs hanging from the ceiling pointing you to the toilets and Parent Room. If you can’t see the sign, just head left once inside. Past the nail salon is the hallway where the toilets and Parent Room are located. Loads of signage along the way to help you find it.

The door to the Parent Room isn’t one of my favourites. The regular old style swing door where you need one hand to keep the door open and the other to push the pram inside. But that’s pretty common. We’ve been spoilt by refurbished/newer parent rooms with push button sliding doors…….they make life so much easier.

Little rest area

Inside the room to your right is a little rest area, complete with a couple of armchairs and a side table for your nappy bag. The armchairs are in need of some TLC. Tired, marked, and torn, they look as though they haven’t been cleaned in a long time. I would have like to have sat down for a minute but they really did look a bit grubby. The best part is the cute artwork by local children above the chairs. A big painting of kids handprints. Very cute.

Food prep and hand washing area

Clean and working microwave


Against the far wall is the food prep and hand washing area. There’s a clean and working microwave above the food prep sink. And another low height sink to the right of the microwave. This lower one seems to be for hand washing after using the toilet or changing nappies as it has a hand dryer next to it. However the soap dispenser is at the other end of the wall at the far end of the food prep bench. Not so handy over there.
But the area is clean and tidy.

One of the two feeding cubicles

Change table in each cubicle

On the left and right hand sides of the Parent Room are two private feeding cubicles. Each has a change table and nappy bin, plus an armchair so you can be comfortable while feeding your little one. Again the armchairs are in dire need of repair, or at least a detailed clean. Probably be better to chuck them out and get brand new ones! The change tables are clean and in good condition so that’s a plus.

Armchairs in desperate need of repair – or tossing out

Enough room for the pram

There’s one little toilet in here for little ones to use. The space is quite narrow, so it might be a tight squeeze if mum or dad need to be in there too for a helping hand. It’d probably be easier to keep the toilet door open so you have a little bit more room. 

Loo for the little ones

For a little shopping centre Parent Room, this isn’t too bad. It does need some TLC by way of new armchairs, paper towels, extra powerpoints and maybe some wall mounted activity centres. But for a quick nappy change, loo visit, rest and feed, it does the job.