What doyou think of this sign in public bathroom?

[Janice in Canada]

What do you think of this?

This summer, we were visiting the Royal Tyrell Museum (dinosaur museum) in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. I slipped off to a small bathroom off a display (a two seater, very small room - obviously not the main bathroom, but still a public bathroom).

This sign was beside the stalls, between the stalls and the sink.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...throomsign.jpg

Interesting idea. I wish it had been worded a little differently.

I think they were trying to discourage moms from tieing up a bathroom while breastfeeding - plus the room was very small - the kind gets really congested if even a couple of people are waiting or using the sink.

I think this opens up ideas for a different kind of NIP/ public awareness campaign that we, or health authorities could undertake.

Janice

(Remember, this was in western Canada, where our initiation rates are over 90%, and lots of people with young babies at least, do breastfeed for a few months. And this was a museum that attracts families with children.)

[Tummy]

I saw a similar if not the same sign at Sea World just a couple months ago. When you walked into the main door of the restroom area there was a door to the left. In that door was a toilet, sink, rocking chair, and changing table and the sign. I was offended at first, but then thought how nice, it was air conditioned... walking all day in the hot sun with an infant/toddler, it might be nice to sit in a comfy rocker and breastfeed in the A/C. I told my husband that knowing the person I am I would probably pull the chair out of the restroom and park it outside the main door entrance and nurse right there on the sidewalk.

At least it is A/C with a comfy chair is the only good thing I have to say about it.. :LOL

[LianneM]

I have such mixed feelings about nursing rooms and such. Yeah, it's nice that there's a place, sure. But then I feel like they ONLY want you nursing there. There's a place at our church that is ok, but sometimes there are more mama/baby couples than chairs (which is a GREAT thing!) and it's a very small room and often too hot... anyway

I think I would like a sign that read something like, "Attention Nursing Mothers! Please feel free to nurse your baby wherever you feel comfortable. If you would like a private area, please ask __________" or "one is located at____________"

I know, it's a long shot :LOL I would be a big promoter of a place that put up a sign like that, though :LOL

[Village Mama]

I think its great that they are discouraging women from using the washrooms to nurse... at least they are providing a comfortable spot! But then again, I was never the type to like the idea of nursing somewhere "special"! Somthing about it still seems offensive... like they want to make sure we are tucked completely out of sight. But there are mothers who use the spots and are thankful for the privacy. So right on!

[Belle]

Personally I don't think it's a bad sign at all. It's not telling moms that they have to nurse in their private room. I'm perfectly comfortable NIP anywhere but not all nursing moms feel the same way. This way they're provided with a clean room to nurse their babies rather than trying to nurse in a bathroom stall.

[PancakeGoddess]

I like the sign. Obviously if I choose not to nurse there they need to leave me alone, but lots of new moms - even those who are budding lactivists - want a private spot to get a newborn latched on well.

Nothing is worse than a public place that doesn't even *acknowledge* the presence of children:
no changing table
high counters
no place to nurse
etc

[Sharlla]

I know that sometimes DS won't nurse if it's noisy or crowded. I've had to, even at a friend's house, find another room to take the baby to.

[JustVanessa]

I think rooms like that are great. I would nurse wherever I and ds felt the need, but he is at the age where he wants to watch everything going on. I can't count how many times he has tried to pull my nipple off because someone interesting walked in front of me :LOL
I sometimes do make use of spaces like this if ds is cranky and needs a feed with no distraction.

[Finch]

My child won't/wouldn't NIP. Rooms like that are a blessing to moms like me. I think it's great!

[Janice in Canada]

To clarify:
The room that this sign was posted in, was just a small bathroom. Not a nursing room.

Also I don't remember there being a specific nursing room advertised on the museum map - ie that the public could find and access by themselves.

So to use this private quiet space that they are talking about, you'd have to go all the way back to the entrance, wait your turn at the customer service desk, and ask to be taken to the room. (this is a very large museum, with many galleries, and a winding, twisting path - not easy to quickly navigate with a fussy child). I mean, who really wants to ask an employee to take them to the room? They didn't call it a nursing room - so I wonder if it will be employee lounge, conference room or office? I much prefer something you can find yourself.

While I am glad they are acknowledging our existence, I think their first objective with the sign, is to not have the bathroom tied up. I just wish they had said something like:

Breastfeeding moms
You are welcome to breastfeed anywhere in the musuem - please find a comfortable spot and go ahead!.
If you require a quiet, private spot, there is a nursing room available *here*(show map or tell where it is). If you require assistance, please do not hesitate to ask any museum employee.



I will be writing to them to thank them for recognizing us, and suggest how they can *better* serve us.

Janice

[Tummy]

Originally Posted by Janice in Canada

To clarify:
The room that this sign was posted in, was just a small bathroom. Not a nursing room.

Breastfeeding moms
You are welcome to breastfeed anywhere in the musuem - please find a comfortable spot and go ahead!.
If you require a quiet, private spot, there is a nursing room available *here*(show map or tell where it is). If you require assistance, please do not hesitate to ask any museum employee.
Janice

ROCK ON!!!!

I like that, I hope on day here in the near future this will be a beautiful welcoming sign that will be seen by millions at public places as this!

[Storm Bride]

I'm not sure about the phrasing, but I like that it was up in the bathroom. It seems to me as if they were really only trying to make someone who was already avoiding NIP aware that there is somewhere more comfortable than the can! This is a good thing, imo. If it were up in the main part of the museum, it would annoy me more.

I don't care for "special" nursing areas, but I would use them in the first couple of weeks...I'm always uncomfortable NIP at the very beginning. I feel like I'm publicly demonstrating my incompetency when I can't get my baby latched.

[Meiri]

I like you ideas to modify their sign Janice. Then they need to follow up by putting some benches and chairs around the place, for anyone, including nursing moms, to use.

I agree that having to go all the way back to the desk when you've already found your private if germfilled "haven" makes it less likely that moms with hungry crying babies are not likely to take them up on the "offer" as it currently stands.

If I ran a place where families came, my sign would say something about the restrooms not being certified for food service, please come out to a chair in the fresher air.

Or maybe that we have only enough stalls for their proper use of elimination...please don't tie them up by doing things that are more healthily done elsewhere.

[Momtwice]

My knee jerk reaction to that sign is to want to nurse very explicitly in public. And I was always very shy about NIP when I was nursing.

[~Nikki~]

The sign as it is doesn't really bother me. After all, it's most likely the shy mothers that are resorting to feeding their children in the washroom, anyway. They're the ones that will benefit from seeing that sign, and will benefit from discovering the mystical nursing room (for future visits, because I can't imagine anyone would want to tromp around a museum with a screaming, hungry baby).

I like your modifications though, Janice. It'd be great to get signs up like this in every public washroom.