AITA for going into the ladies room?

A Redditor shares his experience of navigating a public restroom dilemma while out shopping with his 5-month-old son. After discovering that the men’s restroom lacked a changing table, he entered the ladies’ room to use the changing table there.

However, his actions caused an uproar when a woman confronted him, leading to a heated exchange. Now, he’s questioning whether his decision was justified or if he crossed a line. Read the full story below to see how the situation unfolded.

‘ AITA for going into the ladies room?’

I am a 31 yo man and was at a large store yesterday with my 5mo son when he did what babies do. I went over to the restrooms and saw that there wasn’t a family/companion restroom, just a men’s and women’s.

I went into the men’s room and saw there was a cubicle and a few urinals, but no changing table. The sink didn’t have a counter either.
I walked out and hunted down an employee to ask where the changing table was. She said it was in the bathroom, and I asked where, assuming there was a family/companion restroom on the other side of the store.

She took me back to where I just was. I asked if there was another bathroom, and she said no. I told her I was just in the bathroom and there was no changing table. She asked if I was sure and suggested I look again.

I was annoyed, but I went back in the men’s room. No changing table. When I came out the employee was gone. Keep in mind, my son has been in his poopy diaper this whole time. So I give up and head into the lady’s room which sure enough had a changing table. There was a woman in there washing her hands, and she said “wrong bathroom, buddy.”

I gestured to my son and said “no changing table in the men’s room.” She laughed and said “bro, that sucks.” Then she walked out. So I rush to change him, hoping to be done before anyone else walked in.

I’m almost done when a woman walks in and starts screaming at me. I tried to explain what I was doing, but she kept screaming “Get out! You can’t be here!” Then she ran out. I finished putting the diaper on and rushed out of the bathroom.

I saw the woman talking to an employee and decided to leave without my stuff. The employee tried to wave me down and stop me, but I rushed out to my car, buckled my son into his carseat and left.

My wife said I absolutely did the right thing, but my mom said I’m an i**ot and was 100% in the wrong. My sister won’t stop laughing at me and is no help at all. AITA?

Check out how the community responded:

SigSauerPower320 −  NTA. That store is 100% to blame for this. I wouldn’t be shocked if they’ve received complaints about this in the past and haven’t done anything about it. Your mom was way out of line. You needed to change your kid.

What’d she expect you to do, change him on the floor??? Drive home with him in a dirty diaper??? Your wife is right. You did the right thing and that lady was rude. Who does that?!? Screams at a father for changing his kid’s dirty diaper…..

CommercialUnit2 −  NTA. If anything you did wrong by rushing out as if you did something wrong. You should have told the employee that there’s no changing room in the men’s and that they should do something about that.

saucisse −  NTA A guy I went to high school with went on a one-man campaign to get changing tables installed in men’s rooms for circumstances just as this. Take up the mantle!

MiruTheSloth −  NTA. I’ve never felt threatened by a man changing a poopy diaper.
(Maybe I should feel threatened since they have the most dangerous weapon ever).

Gralb_the_muffin −  The McDonald’s I used to work at didn’t originally have a changing table in the mens room. (They did eventually get one when they remodeled)

Had guys come to me a few times before for this same reason and what I did was make sure the ladies room was empty, let the dude in and wait outside till he finished so i could let any women know the situation.

The employee should have done that or something like it rather than insisting you were wrong and ditching you.
The baby comes first so definitely NTA

Vixen7-9 −  NTA but that woman sure was. Not your fault the men’s room had no changing table. What does your mom suggest you should have done?

flystroker −  Absolutely NTA. But the woman that was screaming sure is.

VelkerSky −  NTA you have every right to find a clean and secure space to change your son even if it’s in a women’s bathroom. The store could easily get with the 21st century by installing a changing space in the men’s and chose not to so that’s on them.

Master27Blaster −  If I saw a man walk into the women’s bathroom with a baby, I wouldn’t even think twice. Stores need to be more open to the fact that dad’s change diapers too

LonelyWinter22 −  NTA the only thing wrong was running away, own up and say I had to change my son nappy lady and the bathroom was empty so get over it. Your mother is something else cause she should have been understanding.

Was the Redditor’s decision to use the women’s bathroom reasonable given the lack of proper facilities in the men’s room, or did he overstep in such a sensitive space? How would you have handled this situation?
Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!