What the Ideal Parents' Room Actually Looks Like

We have visited a lot of parents' rooms. Like, a lot, a lot.

Between our team’s collective experience using parents’ rooms, our founder Sarah’s work planning parents' rooms and researching for our database, we have spent more time than most people in the world thinking carefully about what makes a good parents' room, and what separates great parents' room design from the rest. In Australia, these spaces go by many names, including baby care rooms, parenting rooms and feeding rooms. Whatever it's called, this is our guide to what a great one looks like.

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The state of parents’ rooms design in Australia

Let's start with the honest picture.

The quality of parents’ rooms across Australian venues is wildly inconsistent. In the same shopping centre you can find a beautifully designed room with private feeding cubicles, a play area with a TV, child-size toilets, a milk warmer and a sink… then on the other side of the centre, a single fold-down change table bolted to the wall of the accessible bathroom with a broken safety strap and a stinky bin.

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The non-negotiables

These are the baseline. A room that doesn't have all of these isn't a parents’ room… It's a change table in a bathroom.

A change table

A fixed change table is preferred over the drop-down change tables because holding a wriggly, potentially poop-stained baby while trying to lower a change table is fun for no-one. There should be safety straps or sides to prevent a rolling baby from falling (always hold your baby regardless of this, though!) There should be a nappy bin and a spot for your bag within easy reach.

In a well-designed room, the change table is positioned to give the parent clear sightlines to the door and to other children in the room. It is not tucked in a corner where a parent has their back to everything.

A sink with hot and cold running water

This sounds basic. And yet the number of parents’ rooms we have visited where the sink only runs cold water, or doesn't drain properly, or has no soap dispenser (or simply doesn't exist) is remarkable. Paper towels or a hand dryer should be within reach of the sink.

A microwave

For warming water and baby food, a microwave is essential. It should be positioned at an accessible height and kept clean.

Comfortable seating with back support

Feeding a baby can take a long time. Comfortable chairs are an absolute must-have in every parents’ room. Ideally, there should be a power point and shelf/table to put down any of your things or pumping gear.

Pram-accessible entry

Many parents caring for children will have prams, and it is important to consider the size of the doorway and ease of door opening.

A parents’ room that requires you to fold your pram to enter or leave it outside is a parents' room with a fundamental design flaw. The door should be wide enough for a double pram, with plenty of clear space once you’re through the door. It should be push-to-open or have an automatic opener. Even just one step at an entry can be problematic for manoeuvring prams and could risk waking a sleeping baby!

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Parents room design features that separate good from excellent

These are the things that take a parents’ room from functional to amazing.

Private feeding cubicles

This is so important, and yet it is the one most often missing in basic parents' rooms.

A private feeding cubicle is a separate enclosed space within the parents' room, ideally with a snib-lock door. It allows parents to breastfeed, bottle-feed, pump or simply calm the baby in complete privacy while the rest of the room remains accessible to others. This is important for those who aren’t comfortable breastfeeding in public or those with FOMO babies who need the low-stimulation environment. A lock on the door can also give peace of mind that no one is going to accidentally pop in while you’re mid-feed and helps keep toddlers by your side.

The best cubicles we've seen have:

• A comfortable armchair or nursing chair with back support
• A side table at the right height
• A power point for electric breast pumps
• Soft, dimmable lighting
• A call button or mechanism to signal if assistance/security is needed

A play area for older siblings

Some form of entertainment or interactive activities in both the parenting room and private spaces to amuse a toddler can be super helpful. A gated play area with a TV, or wall-mounted activity or interactive screen can help keep older siblings contained and entertained.

Child-size toilets

Taking a toilet-training toddler out in public can be difficult for all involved. We have experienced our toddlers being afraid of the “big toilet” so child-size toilets are an amazing solution to this problem. Sarah is on a mission to have child-sized toilets / toilet seats in ALL child-focused venues.

A milk warmer or bottle warmer (as well as a microwave)

A dedicated bottle warmer or milk warmer is a step beyond a microwave as it heats evenly and safely without the risk of hot spots that make microwaving expressed breast milk inadvisable. A small detail that signals a venue has thought about this properly.

Adequate lighting

Bright overhead fluorescent lighting is the enemy of a calm baby. Warm, adjustable lighting is both physiologically and psychologically helpful. It signals that the room is a space for humans to relax in, not a storeroom with a change table added.

Cleanliness

Design cannot compensate for poor maintenance. The best-designed parents’ room becomes the worst if it isn't cleaned regularly and stocked consistently.

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How Pram About Can Help

When we verify a venue for the Pram About Town database, here's what we look for:

Change table: a dedicated change station in working order

Feeding room / Nursing chair: a private feeding cubicle with a curtain or door, comfortable seating and a power point; or, in smaller venues, a dedicated nursing chair in a comfortable, welcoming environment

Microwave: in working condition

Sink: hot and cold running water, suitable for equipment washing

Junior / child toilets: child-size toilet facilities within or adjacent to the parents' room

Gender neutral toilets: accessible, inclusive facilities

Play area: gated or clearly defined play space for toddlers, with entertainment

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A message to venue managers and developers

If you are designing or refurbishing a space that will be used by families (a shopping centre, an attraction, a pub, a museum, a sporting venue, a library, an airport) this section is for you.

A well-designed parents' room is not a cost. It is an investment in customer loyalty that pays returns for years. New parents are among the most community-oriented consumer groups that exist. They share recommendations constantly from parents’ groups, in Facebook communities, on Instagram, and now on Pram About Town. A venue that gets this right will be talked about. Positively. Repeatedly.

Get in touch with us if you need guidance, and once it’s built - we’ll verify it and make sure it’s on our map so everyone in our community knows where to find it.

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The best parents rooms in Australia: parents rooms that set the standard

These are the rooms we reference when we talk about what excellent looks like in Australia. All are in the Pram About Town database with full details.

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The bottom line

The ideal parents' room is not complicated to design. It requires a genuine commitment to understanding what parents actually need… not what is cheapest to install, not what ticks a minimum accessibility box, but what makes a family's visit to your venue genuinely manageable.

Private space to feed. Safe space to change. Something to keep the toddler occupied. Hot water and a microwave. Clean. Accessible. Open when you need it.

These things are not luxuries. They are the infrastructure of a society that genuinely supports families with young children. We are building the map to help parents find the venues that have got it right. We are also, quietly, building the case for why every venue should.

Find well-designed parents' rooms near you on Pram About Town - coming soon.

Join the waitlist →

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Pram About Town maps family-friendly venues across Australia — with confirmed details on parents' room quality, feeding rooms, change tables, pram access and everything else you need to know before you leave the house.