"Mothers' Room" symbol--a bottle??

[purple_kangaroo]

DH and I went into a rather upscale department store at the mall the other day to use the restrooms. (I think it was Nordstrom's but I can't remember for sure now.)

They had a sign for the "Women's Lounge", and when you went in the first door there was a little area with a sofa and some chairs and two doors--one to the restrooms and the other across the hall to a room labeled "Mothers' Room". The Mothers' room had a few comfortable chairs, a side table, a changing table, and a sink--no toilets. Very nice.

But the symbol on the "Mothers' Room" sign was a baby bottle. That seemed rather odd to me: why not a picture of a mother nursing? Or even a nice little picture of a mother and child, or even just a baby? Why a bottle?

That made me start thinking--since when did a baby bottle become a widely-recognized symbol for babies? So many baby shower decorations, cards, giftwrap, etc. use pictures of baby bottles and/or pacifiers to communicate "baby". How sad.

[katheek77]

I don't think the bf/ing symbol is that widely recognized yet. I didn't know what it was until I came on here. I thought it was a mother/child symbol. I did know that a bottle = baby. Ultimately, whether we like it or not, most babies ARE bottle-fed. I'd love a more "neutral" image, like the bf'ing image.

As an aside, what I would LOVE to find are bottles with the breastfeeding symbols. I've pumped for 19.5 months (long story short- tubular breasts, supply issues, rejection of breast), and am proud of that. I'd love for people to know that DD gets BM in her bottles. Medela's say things like "breastfeeding is best", but it's very light, and you really have to look.

[Arwyn]

This is why Mothering Magazine held the contest that led to the creation of the International Breastfeeding Symbol.

You should send a letter to Nordstrom's letting them know about it and requesting they make the change!

[llamalluv]

They may not even know about the BF symbol. I've read other stories here where members sent a letter along with a copy of the International Breast Feeding Symbol to management, and it was ultimately used to replace the "bottle" symbols (or hung in a front window, etc)

[Hippie Mama in MI]

I vote for a cartoon boobie. And a cartoon baby curled up nursing it.