My take on Disney's nursing room

[Faerieshadow]

I did actually use their nursing room when we were there this weekend. I must admit that part of me was just curious to see what it looked like, although the main reasons were to get out of the sun for a few minutes and give ds a good snuggle session as he was getting cranky. They had a sign on the door that said "For nursing moms "only" - keep door closed at all times." I thought that was a bit much, good grief it is just nursing going on in there, not some huge deal. I mean, you don't see signs on the restroom saying "Peeing men - please keep door closed at all times" or anything. The room was ok, I guess, although it wasn't much bigger than a walk in closet. It had four rocking chairs in it. No one else was in there until ds was just finishing up, then a woman came in with her newborn to nurse. Ds was fascinated and kept dropping my boob to look, I think it unnerved her a bit. He hasn't seen anyone else nurse in quite some time.

Overall, I appreciated having a quiet place away from distraction and the sun to nurse ds, but couldn't they just have made a nice comfy sitting room with a couple couches, especially without all the fanfare of "Nursing moms only, keep door closed at all times"? A simple sign that said "Nursing room" would have sufficed, I think. But, what should I expect, they had it advertised on every pamphlet that it was sponsored by Nestle Good Start.

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by Faerieshadow

I mean, you don't see signs on the restroom saying "Peeing men - please keep door closed at all times" or anything.

: Haha!!!!!

[charmander]

There are some nursing moms, who, like me, aren't exactly comfortable NIP, so maybe it was for their comfort level? Although completely unecessary.

[Quagmire]

I think it's nice that they had a room for nursing moms, as long as they didn't send Mickey Mouse out into the park to herd all the moms who were nursing elsewhere to "be more comfortable in our private nursing room." There are some moms who are uncomfortable in public, and no doubt some unsuspecting dad or family barging in would make her uneasy, so maybe that's the deal with the warning.

[Faerieshadow]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

I think it's nice that they had a room for nursing moms, as long as they didn't send Mickey Mouse out into the park to herd all the moms who were nursing elsewhere to "be more comfortable in our private nursing room." There are some moms who are uncomfortable in public, and no doubt some unsuspecting dad or family barging in would make her uneasy, so maybe that's the deal with the warning.

I think it is great to have a room for nursing moms - like I said, I appreciated being able to take ds into a quiet, air conditioned spot. But it seemed like too much fanfare about what was going on in there and everyone must keep out. I don't mind NIP in the least, but I do like my privacy when peeing. However I'd be much more embarrassed if the door to the restroom said "Woman peeing - DO NOT ENTER" - we already know what is taking place in there, no need to advertise. Perhaps a sign that said "Nursing room" with a nice picture of a breastfeeding mama would get the idea across to unsuspecting people wandering around the baby changing station. Just my 2 cents, not worth much.

[Jane]

For nursing moms only? What about the babies?

[Joannarachel]

Originally Posted by Apricot

For nursing moms only? What about the babies?

:

I will nurse anywhere, or any time, but I do like the idea of having a room set apart that's reasonably comfortable, kwim?

Hey, if the sign encourages a mother who is sooo nervous about NIP to nurse rather than give a bottle of formula, I don't mind.

But a huuuuge eyeroll to Nestle :

[Avocado]

Dh and I go to Disneyland pretty often with and without dd and I use the nursing room- mostly to get out of the heat and to be somewhere quiet. I also nurse in the park, but sometimes it's nice to relax in that room. I like that they have a little room to pump in when I leave dd with grandma for the day; It has a curtain and a little table and a plug. The most recent time when I was nursing dd, there was another mother nursing her dc, and her older dd (she looked about 6 or 7) was looking for her and softly calling her name... well, she pulled back the curtain that leads into the nursing room, and one of the women who worked there got very mad at her and said something like "you are not to go in that room" and I was closest to the door and I said "I don't mind" (we were the only two in there)... the woman who worked there shot me a mean look and said even louder to the little girl "you need to wait outside" and she pulled the curtain closed right in her face. The other nursing mother looked distraught. I felt bad and I was so annoyed. Also, yes, above the entrance I think there is a big Nestle sign. :

[Ellien C]

i wonder if maybe they had trouble with bunches of people "hangin' out in the room, eating lunch or whatever and that's why they put the signs up?

I could see a room with 4 rocking chairs becoming very popular with teenagers or kids.

[Faerieshadow]

True, but the nursing room was inside the baby changing station. The only other people that would typically be walking past the room to even know it wsa there would be other parents, I would think. I could see kids running in to check it out, though. It was just so strange somehow - the entrance door slid across, and they also had an exit only door - that narrowly missed hitting the end table for the comfy couches right outside. It was a pretty tight squeeze out the door. Not that that is relevant lol..

[Belle]

Originally Posted by Avocado

Dh and I go to Disneyland pretty often with and without dd and I use the nursing room- mostly to get out of the heat and to be somewhere quiet. I also nurse in the park, but sometimes it's nice to relax in that room. I like that they have a little room to pump in when I leave dd with grandma for the day; It has a curtain and a little table and a plug. The most recent time when I was nursing dd, there was another mother nursing her dc, and her older dd (she looked about 6 or 7) was looking for her and softly calling her name... well, she pulled back the curtain that leads into the nursing room, and one of the women who worked there got very mad at her and said something like "you are not to go in that room" and I was closest to the door and I said "I don't mind" (we were the only two in there)... the woman who worked there shot me a mean look and said even louder to the little girl "you need to wait outside" and she pulled the curtain closed right in her face. The other nursing mother looked distraught. I felt bad and I was so annoyed. Also, yes, above the entrance I think there is a big Nestle sign. :

Now that's not appropriate. I wouldn't want my older children just wandering around while I was nursing behind a curtain. I'd want to be able to keep an eye on them to.

Besides, how did the woman working there know that the older dd wasn't a nursing child too?

[tsfairy]

Originally Posted by Ellien C

i wonder if maybe they had trouble with bunches of people "hangin' out in the room, eating lunch or whatever and that's why they put the signs up?

I could see a room with 4 rocking chairs becoming very popular with teenagers or kids.

The nursing room at our local mall had to be totally revamped not long after the mall opened. At one time it had nice comfy couches and a door that closed. Then apparently some teenagers took advantage of the space in an extremely inappropriate manner ... and now it's a room with two benches (albeit somewhat comfortable benches, as benches go) and no door.:

Perhaps they are trying to discourage this sort of behavior?

[Shelsi]

What about ffing moms? Don't they deserve a nice place to sit and rock their baby while they are eating? I had to ff ds after 4.5 mos (long sad story) and I always went into nursing rooms to sit and give him his bottle so we could have some peace and quiet together...especially at places like amusement parks. I just think it's sad that they assume a ffing mom wouldn't want a comfy place to sit and feed her child.

[writermommy]

Is this disney land or disney world? I liked the nursing room at disney world. I lived in FL and we went to disney often. (That's all people want to do when they visit from out of state) I thought the room was very comfortable. We went once in January when dd #2 was about 9 months old. It was pretty cold that day and I appreciated a warm place to sit and rock while I nursed her. At that age, she was very easily distracted, especially in the park. To be honest, I didn't notice a sign on the door, but that was 5 years ago. We are going back in December and I'll probably use the room to nurse baby #4, who will be about 5 months old at that time. I don't have a problem NIP, but a nice, quiet place to take a break is great. I'll be looking for signs this time!

[veganf]

Originally Posted by Avocado

Dh and I go to Disneyland pretty often with and without dd and I use the nursing room- mostly to get out of the heat and to be somewhere quiet. I also nurse in the park, but sometimes it's nice to relax in that room. I like that they have a little room to pump in when I leave dd with grandma for the day; It has a curtain and a little table and a plug. The most recent time when I was nursing dd, there was another mother nursing her dc, and her older dd (she looked about 6 or 7) was looking for her and softly calling her name... well, she pulled back the curtain that leads into the nursing room, and one of the women who worked there got very mad at her and said something like "you are not to go in that room" and I was closest to the door and I said "I don't mind" (we were the only two in there)... the woman who worked there shot me a mean look and said even louder to the little girl "you need to wait outside" and she pulled the curtain closed right in her face. The other nursing mother looked distraught. I felt bad and I was so annoyed. Also, yes, above the entrance I think there is a big Nestle sign. :

Now if only the older little girl were still nursing...that've gotten the employee REALLY frazzled!!

[cuqui]

Maybe it said 'nursing mom only' to keep bottlefeeding moms out. Just a thought, maybe they don't want everyone woman feeding their children in there taking up all the rockers. Imagine you walked in and there were 4 moms bottlefeeding their babies, and you had to wait for a rocker to free up...

Or maybe they want to keep dad out. You know maybe dads would want to keep their partners company while they nurse the baby. A man in the room could make other nursing moms uncomfortable. Sometimes you need to really spell things out for people.

I think it's great that they have these rooms. I NIP, but I might go in there to get out of the sun.

[whateverdidiwants]

We took dd to Epcot when she was 8 weeks old and I made it a point to nurse openly and often all over the place - I especially enjoyed the pavilion that's sponsored by Monsanto. Not one employee batted an eye at us.

[mama_at_home]

I would personally have appreciated the strict rules and sign of breastfeeding moms only. We have a very nice, comfy nursing moms room at church with a TV to watch the service. This one lady would come in there all the time to sit and watch the service because it was too loud in the sanctuary. It drove me crazy! I think there are a ton of people who would take advantage of a nursing moms room at a place like Disneyland and ruin it for the nursing moms. I would have also appreciated the "keep door closed at all times" sign too, because I appreciated a quiet place to nurse where my babies are not distracted. If someone's kids were running in and out, leaving the door open, that would be annoying. I proudly NIP, have nursed every place imaginable but if my babies are over stimulated and refuse to nurse in a busy place, I appreciate a quiet place designated for breastfeeding moms.

[Faerieshadow]

It was at Disney World. I think the room's dimensions bothered me a bit because I'm slightly claustrophobic. And the fact that the entrance door slid away like a closet door immediately put that analogy in my head, even though the door was a sliding door probably to avoid whacking the person in the nearest rocking chair each time it opened - but again, with a little more space that could have been avoided.

To the FF question, there were comfy couches within the baby station but not in the nursing room that were being used for that purpose.


And Nancymom, yes, the quiet was wonderful. Maybe if it wasn't so blatantly advertised to be sponsored by a formula company I wouldn't have such negative thoughts about the signs, but it just felt (to me) like a way to make a big deal about nursing being something so private that "no one" can see.

[mama_at_home]

Oh that would have bothered me, too, about the formula companies advertising the nursing room. Poor dh would never hear the end of it if we took a trip there. He gets the brunt of all my venting.