Maybe everybody knows about this secret room at Mirdif City Centre. Maybe nobody does. But it is the best gift a mall has ever given to me.
Tucked behind a discreet sliding door (it blends in with the wall) in the women's restroom area near the food court at Mirdif City Centre is this room:
It's for nursing your baby, or changing his diaper, or having yourself a nice sit-down on a couch while your toddler plays with toys at his/her level.
It's also for going to the bathroom in the same cubicle as your child. For whatever reason (we've all been there).
Everywhere is big enough for a stroller. There are sinks in all the places you need them. There are garbage bins in all the places you need them. This room is exactly what you want when you are at the mall with a baby or small children. Christmas shopping day was today and this little oasis gave me just the breather I needed to get through it.
In the other restrooms at MCC, there are smaller nursing/changing/toilet rooms. They look like this (changing table out of frame to the left; toilet out of frame to the right):
Not as luxurious, but it gets the job done.
Mirdif City Centre is in Dubai. I don't know if they have a specific, universal goal for baby-friendly public spaces, but Sharjah does: Sharjah Baby Friendly. Considering some of the crazy places I have had to nurse babies in this world (including a maintenance shed at the Jordan River in Jordan, where I just prayed that a dude wouldn't walk in while I was there), I am so glad to have proper facilities every once in a while. The secret room at MCC is my favorite.
Tucked behind a discreet sliding door (it blends in with the wall) in the women's restroom area near the food court at Mirdif City Centre is this room:
It's for nursing your baby, or changing his diaper, or having yourself a nice sit-down on a couch while your toddler plays with toys at his/her level.
It's also for going to the bathroom in the same cubicle as your child. For whatever reason (we've all been there).
Everywhere is big enough for a stroller. There are sinks in all the places you need them. There are garbage bins in all the places you need them. This room is exactly what you want when you are at the mall with a baby or small children. Christmas shopping day was today and this little oasis gave me just the breather I needed to get through it.
In the other restrooms at MCC, there are smaller nursing/changing/toilet rooms. They look like this (changing table out of frame to the left; toilet out of frame to the right):
Mirdif City Centre is in Dubai. I don't know if they have a specific, universal goal for baby-friendly public spaces, but Sharjah does: Sharjah Baby Friendly. Considering some of the crazy places I have had to nurse babies in this world (including a maintenance shed at the Jordan River in Jordan, where I just prayed that a dude wouldn't walk in while I was there), I am so glad to have proper facilities every once in a while. The secret room at MCC is my favorite.