Cora's Restaurant - Coquitlam, BC

Megan at CoquitlamMommy.ca has a great review of the baby friendliness of the new breakfast eatery Cora's Restaurant in Coquitlam which I have (with her permission of course!) borrowed. Thanks Megan!

We went to Cora this past weekend for a post swimming lesson lunch and it was great! I was happy to see how kid friendly it was. With ample space, highchairs and change tables in the bathroom, it was an easy place to bring my son. If you love breakfast (like I do) then you’ll love the food. They only serve breakfast and lunch (breakfast is served all day) but they have a great variety of food and a lot of great options for kids too. My son loved the fresh fruit and pancakes! They just opened in Coquitlam at 3025 Lougheed Hwy and are open everyday until 4pm. I would recommend it as a family friendly place to go for breakfast or lunch. I’ll be back there this weekend!

Chimo Pool, Burnaby

I took my son for the Parent & Tot swimming classes this past weekend and, having never been at the Chimo Pool before, was curious to see if it was baby friendly or not. I used the Women's only changeroom and was pleasantly surprised to see not only a change table fixed to the wall but also a fold down seat that resembled a carseat and had a five point harness on it. I used it to put my son in while I was getting changed so he wouldn't crawl around the change room and it worked like a charm. He just sat there swinging his chubby little legs and was just as happy as could be. My only complaint was that there was no family friendly washroom that I could see so when I needed to use the washroom the logistics of where to put my son became a bit of an issue. I didn't want to put him on the grimy washroom floor. I ended up waiting until I got home so a family friendly washroom would have been a plus.

New category addition

As all new moms know it can be hard to find a place that is both private enough and also comfortable enough to breastfeed in when out with your little ones. I remember friends telling me horror stories of having to sit in dirty, dingy restrooms and breastfeed with complete strangers walking by gawking at them. I'm embarassed to admit that I hadn't even thought about adding breastfeeding friendly as a category on this blog as well until someone on Baby Bells recommended it (thank you for that!). So on that note feel free to now send me any recommendations you have for establishments that make breastfeeding in public that much easier and maybe even relaxing.

The Olive Garden, Langley

April from Maple Ridge had this to say about the Olive Garden in Langley:

The Olive Garden in Langley has a change table in their washroom as well as neat little sling holders for carseats!!  They provided a parking spot for my stroller and my daughter was able to chill in her car seat at our table (at table height) while my mom and I enjoyed lunch.

Thanks April. Keep them coming!

The Bay, Coquitlam Center

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Bay at Coquitlam Centre has a gender neutral family room located on the second floor. It wasn't the cleanest washroom I've ever seen but there was ample room to change my son not only on the wall hanging change table but also on the counter tops. There was also a large enough washroom for mom and baby to fit into with a stroller or mom and a toddler who needs to be watched.

So I'm back at it...

After visiting a Delta Suites hotel in Vancouver and finding out to my dismay that they didn't have ONE single washroom with a change table I decided that I had to share it and re-start my blog. I find it completely ridiculous that a large hotel chain like the Delta would not have a place to change a baby. Not only did the front desk associate not seem at all concerned, she proceeded to recommend that I walk an extra five blocks to a competing hotel that may or may not have a change table. Ridiculous if you ask me!

My other review is of Cat's Social House on Granville Island. Now I know this restaurant doesn't scream baby friendly and isn't the normal haunt of families but you would think that being located on a tourist meca like the island might make them want to put in a change table. I was left to try to change my son in a very small crevice between two sinks, his poor little head repeatedly bumping into the soap dispenser.

Better late than never..

So I've fallen a bit behind on updating my blog. It's been a busy few weeks. So to get you up to date here are a few more recommendations/criticisms:

Earls - Port Coquitlam

Very accomodating in terms of being stroller friendly and highchair friendly but I was shocked at the change table situation. I took my son to the washroom to change him and after a quick look didn't see a change table out in the open. I then assumed it would be in the handicapped washroon which was occupied so I waited. A few minutes later, a staff member emerged and when asked if there was a change table in that stall she said no. Upon finding this out I just changed my son by the sinks which was made more difficult by the fact that there really wasn't that much room. Upon going back to the washroom later I noticed that there was in fact a table in the handicapped stall but it wasn't a change table. It was an actual TABLE!! No edges for security, no straps. Just a plain old table. Not very safe if you ask me and a sorry excuse for a change table.

Blenz - Pitt Meadows

I've ranted about Blenz before and I'll do it again. No highchairs, no change table. The highchairs I can get over but the change table situation is ridiculous seeing as how they have not one, not two, but THREE individual washrooms. Seriously. Can you not install at least one change table? So I had to use my stroller as a change table much to the annoyed glances of the two girls working behind the counter. Oh well.

Sorry again for the delay. As always feel free to send your recommendations to babyfriendlyrecommendations@gmail.com. There are only so many places I can go to so the more feedback the better!