Dealing with endless dirty diapers definitely isn't the highlight of parenting. Although it isn't always awful, changing those gag-worthy "poonamis" can take a toll on Mom or Dad and leave them counting down the days until potty-training. But in this generation of on-demand services, if your kid has a blowout and you don't feel like dealing with it, there's now an app for that!
Childcare.co.uk originally posted about the service as an April Fools' joke, but people were seriously into it.
Childcare.co.uk is a UK-based online community that connects parents with childcare providers. As a funny post for April Fools' Day, the website posted about its "new" business, Nappy 999: "The world's first on-demand Uber-style nappy-changing service."
"We're always looking for new ways to make parents' lives easier — so today we're launching 'Nappy 999,' an Uber-style peer-to-peer service for nappy changing!" the Facebook post said. "We've seen a big rise in the demand for nappy changing help through our platform, and are now offering Nappy 999 responders for all your nappy-related emergencies. Available Anywhere, Anytime."
It turns out there's a market for professional diaper changers, and parents are actually willing to pay these strangers.
According to the website, the Facebook post was viewed over 400,000 times and they were "inundated with comments from people who thought it was genuinely a great idea."
After seeing this positive response, the company decided to turn the joke into a legitimate service. Over the last two weeks, hundreds of Nappy 999 responders with at least one year of diaper-changing experience have signed up.
"We knew we wanted to do something to mark April Fools' Day this year and do something that is quite obviously a joke but also fun, but we never anticipated it would take off quite like this, who would have thought that nappy changing is a genuine service that's in demand?" said Richard Conway, cofounder of Childcare.co.uk, according to the Daily Mail.
Now, it's a real service that will get parents diaper-changing backup within 10 minutes.
Although it's still growing, the goal is to have Nappy 999 first responders available anywhere in the UK within 10 minutes from the time parents put out a request. It will cost parents £5 ($7.16) per diaper change and also covers a new diaper and disposal of the soiled one.
Not everyone was into this idea, and some folks think parents need to suck it up and not let strangers near their baby's diaper.
"Who can't bring themselves to change a nappy(pad) to get a total stranger change your own child?! Which takes 2 mins and would wait 10 minutes for someone to turn up??" another user wrote.
But some others who've dealt with massive blowouts in public are all about this.
"Defo needed it an hour ago when my little angel exploded in a coffee shop," one parent commented.
"Needed this when my son exploded in a restaurant … I didn't think it was bad until I carried him to the toilet and discovered he has in fact seeped through his top and it was now all over mine!" another mom wrote. "So glad I had a jacket!"
"I would totally pay a fiver for someone to come and deal with a poonami!" another wrote.
Others admit that they'd pay if it included other services (like clipping baby's nails).
"I would definitely pay for this for 3am poops does the service extend to 3am full clothing and bed change after a massive sick!" one mom added.
Others see the humor in it and are getting a laugh -- whether they'd "Uber" a diaper change on not.
"My little one is currently like changing an octopus he wriggled around so much. I’d happily pay £5!!! " another mom added.
