Parents Room at Sunnybank Plaza

Sunnybank is the unofficial Chinatown of Brisbane. The real one is in the city but Sunnybank is where a lot of Chinese like to live. All sorts of Chinese from various countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia hang out in this suburb. So you can imagine how lively and busy the local mall there is.

We went to a Chinese restaurant there for Yum Cha (or Dim Sum as some people call it) yesterday. Food was only so so but the line of people waiting to be seated overflowed outside. Aaron allowed me my two bites to eat and after that, we went off exploring.

I came across the parents room at the food court. It was a small one with only a single change table and two single chairs for feeding. There was the usual extra large restroom. There isn't much to say about this room really. It served its purpose but wasn't anywhere cosy that you'd like to spend too much time in. Also, the deodorizer was a little bit tooooo strong.

Parents Room at Indooroopilly Shopping Town

I've checked out another mall and the Parents Room there. The one they had at Indooroopilly was very big. The biggest so far with about 6 change tables and 3
feeding cubicles. They also had a gated area where you can leave your other children safely. And of course, it looks like the huge restroom I mentioned at DFS is in all parents rooms.

OK. So it was big. But that, and the fact that it exists, are the only good
points here. The place was not well lit. The furniture looked like used
office furniture that somebody was trying to get rid of. And, I think
their deodorizer was not working. I didn't really get a good feel from the place.

Still, if you need a quiet place, with hardly any distractions, to feed your baby, this place will do.

Parents Room at DFO Brisbane

I've found another very baby friendly mall. Its at the Direct Factory Outlet near the Brisbane International Airport. All the shopping is on one floor so there is no need to negotiate escalators or look for lifts. They also have the designated people-with-pram parking spots and a great Parent's Room. The sign just says Parents Room and I expected a change table and perhaps a chair in there. It was much more:

There were two cubicles with good rocking chairs for feeding your baby. Even includes foot rest.

A microwave for heating up food, milk or whatever. You're not supposed to use microwaves for babies but I suppose they couldn't put a stove in. Anyway, plenty of people use the microwave carefully. including me.

Two huge change tables with very very deep sinks next to them. I guess they know that some older kids need BIG CLEANS! Almost baths.

A GIGANTIC restroom cubicle that would fit two parents, the pram, and maybe 3 kids at once. Of course nobody would do that but thats just how big it was. Moms or Dads are allowed in there.

I think I'll keep up my review of parent friendly malls. Its something that I find myself searching the internet for when I go to a new place. Somebody out there might find it useful. Brisbane isn't all that big but so far, I've only gone to two of the malls; DFO and Toowong Village Shopping Center. Its hard to go out on a baby's schedule plus we love the outdoors here.