‘Let’s Fix This Problem’ Father’s Photo Highlights Need for Changing Tables In Men’s Bathrooms

A Florida man captured doing the tedious, and sometimes messy, task of changing a child’s diaper in a public restroom says it’s time fathers have changing tables, too.

Donte Palmer, a high school teacher in Jacksonville, shared a photo of himself struggling to change his infant son in a restaurant bathroom, sumo squatting against the wall so his child never touches the filthy floor.

Donte Palmer

Donte Palmer says the hilarious photo is just a snapshot of his daily routine with his three sons. (Instagram/@3boys_1goal)

“This is a serious post!!! What’s the deal with not having changing tables in men’s bathroom as if we don’t exist!!” Palmer captioned the Instagram photo. “Clearly, we do this often because look how comfortable my son is. It’s routine to him!!!!”

“Let’s fix this problem,” he added, jokingly calling on former footballer Colin Kaepernick to “drop a knee to this issue.”

Celebrity blog “The Shade Room” shared the hilarious photo on its page where it quickly went viral, as thousands of other dads could clearly relate to Palmer’s pain.

“This is huge! Been saying this forever. Nobody listens,” one man wrote.

“✊🏾 I’ve said this for yrs,” another dad chimed in. “My kids are older now, but I carried blankets and jackets on rd trips to lay on floors to change them. Annoying but … great memories!”

Mothers also felt Palmer’s frustration and pointed out that ladies’ rooms aren’t always equipped with changing stations either.

“We stopped going to the restaurants with no changing tables in the men’s (and sometimes women) restrooms,” one woman wrote. “We kneel with you, as my husband was a stay at home dad and encountered this way to often.”

In an interview with Yahoo Lifestyle, the doting dad said the photo is just a snapshot of his daily routine with his three sons, ages 12, 7, and 1.

“We had stopped at Texas Roadhouse for lunch and while my wife ordered food, my son Liam started fussing, so I knew it was time for a diaper change,” Palmer said. With help from his oldest son, Isaiah, whom Palmer dubbed his “diaper assistant,” the dad started the tricky process of changing his son in the men’s restroom.

“I usually lay Liam down on clothes I keep in the diaper bag or the bag itself, and Isaiah hands me wipes or throws out the dirty diaper,” Palmer told the news site, adding he was totally unaware his son had snapped the photo.

Looking at it later, Palmer said he thought it was funny and decided to post it online.

“People have commented that my wife is ‘lazy’ for not changing our baby’s diaper or that I could have changed him in the car, but why should I?” he said.

All jokes aside, Palmer said the lack of changing tables in men’s restrooms really speaks to how society views the roles of moms and dads.

“Many fathers are present caretakers but either we don’t get recognition or get too much credit for doing basic tasks,” he told Yahoo Lifestyle. “Why should I have to lay my son across my legs? That’s not cool.”

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