You must admit it. When you go into a store or restaurant and they have a nice clean baby changing unit for you to use it is a real blessing. You can get your baby changed, cleaned up, and ready to go in a few minutes.

The funny thing is how often parents never think about having changing units in their own homes. You choose to change your baby in their bassinet or crib, instead of moving them over to a changing table. Do you have any idea how much trouble you are causing yourself?

Here is the big difference for your home. When you change your baby in the bassinet or crib you start a whole series of problems. First, you take baby wipes, powder, a clean diaper, and probably a diaper cream over to the bed. You put all of these items down in the bed, probably leaving behind a few chemicals on their sheets.

Now, you open the diaper. It is filled with urine or fecal matter. You start cleaning, and putting the dirty wipes into the diaper which you scooted off to the side. Are you sure you are not getting anything on the sheets?

Once you finish, you must throw away the diaper, pickup all the supplies, and put them away. Now go back and double check the sheet to make sure you did not leave anything behind, or get anything dirty. Whew, that was a lot of work.

When you have a baby changing unit at home, you pick up the baby, move them to the changing table, and the differences really begin. Now the wipes, powder, and all the other supplies are right there by your hands. You get busy, and open the diaper up. You do your cleanup job. You drop the diaper in the trash can right by the changing table. You put the baby back in bed. You are finished.

The three big differences? You saved time. You did not put any chemicals into their sleeping area. You did not get their sheets dirty while changing the diaper. Are those differences important to you? Of course they are. You want the cleanest bed possible for your baby. You want to save time during those changes. This is why it is difficult to understand why so many nurseries do not have a baby changing unit in them. It is probably because no one explained the need, and all the benefits. Now you know, are you going to have one in your nursery?

While you are thinking about this, pass the word along to your family. If your family has lots of little babies and toddlers, having a baby changing unit at the grandparents would be brilliant. You could all use the one table. You could keep shared supplies ready for action. You would know grandma and grandpa were prepared for baby sitting duty. It would be one more great addition for your entire family. With the low cost of many changing tables and units it would be a great gift for everyone.