Now that the holidays are over, I am willing to venture near a mall. Since I offered to buy lunch, the boys decided that they could be seen in public with their mother. (They also had gift cards that were begging to be used). During the course of our trip, I ventured into the ladies room and this is what I saw:
Okay, this isn't the nicest mall in our area and the bathroom was small so I originally thought that it was nice that they at least thought about providing a lounge area. However, once I got closer, I was infuriated by the sign shown below.
Okay, this isn't the nicest mall in our area and the bathroom was small so I originally thought that it was nice that they at least thought about providing a lounge area. However, once I got closer, I was infuriated by the sign shown below.
To be honest, I can barely stand to go to the bathroom in a public restroom. I sure as heck would never eat in a bathroom. That the management of the mall thought that they were being considerate providing a bench in the bathroom for a mother to feed her child astounds me. But then again, I don't think that they were trying to be considerate. At 5'6", I am just above average height, and I found the bench too high for comfort. Not only that , but the bench was not deep enough either. A nursing mother would not be able to find a comfortable position on this bench no matter how she tried to perch.
American society needs to come to grips with breast feeding. When did the oldest and most natural way to care for a child become something that needs to be hidden? When the boys were infants, our family chose to breastfeed. To be honest, it was more a choice of ease than anything else. While nursing, I refused to "retire" to another room to feed my children or smother my child under a blanket in the heat of a California (Eldest) or Florida (Youngest) summer. I couldn't tell you how many times I did the grocery shopping while feeding a boy. Unsuspecting grandparent types would ooh and aah over my babe in arms without any idea that said babe was noshing away. With practice and appropriate clothing, it is possible to nurse in public without anyone knowing what you are doing.
If the mall were truly trying to help nursing mothers, they would provide a playground for the mother's other children with comfortable seating for nursing.
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