Suggestions for a letter to Nationals ballpark

[spedteacher30]

Help!

My family accompanied me today to a baseball game at Nationals park in Washington DC. My team at work planned the event as a fun team-building activity. It would have been great, except that it was 100 degrees today. When we planned the trip in April, we had no idea it would be so hot!

My 27-month old still nurses, but for myriad reasons, I had decided not to nurse him in front of my coworkers while at the game. (Many of them know we are still nursing, but I didn't really need them to see evidence of it!)

Last night, my wife was checking out the website for the park, and came across the Nationals A to Z Guide. On it, they specifically say "Nursing mothers are invited to use any of several family restrooms."

Stupid me assumed that this meant that these restrooms had a baby-feeding area in addition to the actual toilet area. Given both the company I was with, and the extreme heat, when M asked to nurse, I jumped at the chance to find a quiet, cool spot to nurse him.

We headed to the family restroom, which turned out to be a concrete room that reeked of dirty bathroom smell. No exhaust fan, no window, no air conditioning, no separate room. No chair in which to nurse.

M and I quickly turned on our heels, and settled into a shady corner of the mezzanine to nurse. The entire time, I was worried that, given the statement on the website, an employee would come and tell me not to nurse in public. I must have looked a little nervous, because a very nice woman (thank you if you happen to be reading this!) came out of the family restroom with her 6-8 year old daughter and smiled and said, "I can't believe they didn't have an area in there for nursing." When I told her what the website said, she said, "Well, good for you! Keep doing what you are doing!"

So, what points should I make to the ballpark? No one *told* me to stop what I was doing. My ability to properly nourish my child was not compromised. But, I definitely did not feel welcome while in the park...

[SophieAnn]

I suggest you just stick with the facts.

Their website suggests that their restrooms are an appropriate place for nursing. Even if the restroom hadn't been dirty, smelly, hot and not well ventilated - it was not an appropriate place for nursing. Bathrooms are not a hygenic space and there was nowhere to sit comfortably, separate from the washrooms.

Your letter should then give suggestions on how they should remedy the situation. I would suggest to them they should either:
A) remove the wording suggesting nursing in the inappropriate (read: disgusting) family restrooms and replace that wording with the suggestion that moms are welcome to nurse anywhere they are comfortable.
B) provide an appropriate place for moms who wish to nurse privately - and you should tell them specifically what a nursing room should be. If this is a ballpark where a pro team plays then make sure to add the suggestion that a nursing room should include a tv monitor so moms don't miss too much of the game!

Sorry for the experience you had, but yay for the encouragement you got from the other mom!

[annekka]

I had a bad experience at an SF Giants game when my son was an infant -- same thing with the hot weather and no place to sit and nurse with reasonable shade/ventilation. I went into the food concourse area and saw a chair near the elevator to the club level, I guess a ballpark host sits there but no one was using it and it was in a shady spot. So I sat to nurse but then an usher came by and told me not to sit there. I asked if I could go to the first aid station to nurse and was told no flat-out, I could use the bathroom. Yeah right besides the fact it stinks and there's nowhere to sit but the toilets. So I just found a shady spot and sat on the cement, near the empty chair that I wasn't allowed to sit in.

Good for you for writing a letter, at the time I was annoyed but thought I was the one being unreasonable. I honestly believe for safety the ballparks need to provide some areas where infants (nursing or not)/elderly/infirmed can get out of the heat and sit in a shady place for awhile. There's a real danger of heat stroke.

[spedteacher30]

I really want to ask them to change the website to say, "Parents are welcome to feed their children in the family restrooms."

I'm sorry you had a bad experience too. I guess I am not surprised that it is a more common practice than just at Nationals park...

[dflanag2]

Hey, I live in Virginia, so although I hate baseball and have no interest in seeing the Nats play, I couldn't log out without writing to say I support your letter writing endeavor. It's a shame that a brand new 'green' stadium wouldn't have some appropriate accomodation for nursing mothers.

Welp, it bugged me enough I went to the Nationals site and sent a little email:

"Dear Nationals Stadium Staff:
It was brought to my attention that you instruct nursing mothers to breastfeed in your family restrooms. I think this invitation is short-sighted because a) there is nowhere for a nursing mother to sit down in the family restroom other than the toilet seat b) it is inappropriate for anyone, nursing child or other, to have to consume a meal in a public restroom and c) your statement implies that mothers are not welcome to feed their children anywhere else in the park. I hope that you can see that this is not a pro-breastfeeding policy and I hope that you change the information you have posted in your A to Z Guide, either stating that nursing mothers are welcome to feed their children anywhere in the stadium where they are permitted to be, and/or providing and appropriate location for mothers to breastfeed in a room other than a bathroom.
Sincerely,
[dflanag2]"

FWIW, I don't think they have any accomodations for anyone to get them out of the heat (except perhaps the first aid stations?), so I wouldn't expect that they would provide that for nursing mothers, but the message on the web site could be improved.

[tjsmama]

I had a very similar experience at a Reds game when DS was about 2 months old. DS was still so little, and my boobs were so enormous that I really wasn't comfortable NIP yet. Sweltering hot, steamy day, and the website said to use the family restrooms...which were not appropriate. Same as your experience, the only place to sit was on the toilet. The Reds website also said that nursing mothers could use the first aid stations, so we went there next. The guys there were very nice and accomodating but clearly had no idea that the website recommended the first aid station as a place for nursing mothers to go. They pulled a curtain for me, and I sat in a wheelchair (the only chair they had available) to nurse.

After the game, I sent a letter via the Reds website telling them how disappointed I was in their accommodations for nursing mothers and the fact that their really weren't any appropriate accommodations. Never got a response. I do regret now that I didn't follow up, but in the newborn haze, it's kind of impressive that I even got an initial letter sent out, let alone a follow-up.

Good luck to the OP, I hope you get a better response (or any!) than I did!

[justJen]

To reassure you, should you find yourself in a similar situation either at Nationals stadium or anywhere in the District, the “Child’s Right to Nurse, Human Rights Amendment Act” was voted into law by the National Congress on Dec 11, 2007. Details are at: 50 State Summary of Breastfeeding Laws

D.C. Code Ann. § 2-1402.81 et seq. provides that a woman shall have the right to breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, where she has the right to be with her child.

As a VA resident who frequently travels to MD, I'll be writing a note to Nationals stadium, too. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

[spedteacher30]

I am even more upset that the statement goes against DC law.

Thanks, Jen!

We're far enough from the metro area that I didn't know DC had a law.

[PJJ]

I tried...

to send them an email and their server was not working or something.
So, I will try to send a letter.
Thanks.
PJJ

[Belle]

Subbing.

I'm going to a Mariner game with my nursling next month. She'll be nine months old at the time. I wonder what the facilities are like at Safeco field in Seattle.

[jessica_lizette]

Originally Posted by Belle

Subbing.

I'm going to a Mariner game with my nursling next month. She'll be nine months old at the time. I wonder what the facilities are like at Safeco field in Seattle.

I looked this up a few weeks ago because we were planning on going to a game...Safeco's website has similar wording on their website about the family restrooms. We weren't able to go, so I don't know what it's actually like. Sounds like they just have chairs in the bathrooms.

This was all I could find about nursing:

Family Restrooms
For your convenience there are six family restrooms. Each provide private areas for you and your child and offer baby changing tables and chairs for nursing.

[justJen]

Originally Posted by spedteacher30

I am even more upset that the statement goes against DC law.
Thanks, Jen!
We're far enough from the metro area that I didn't know DC had a law.

To be fair, I should say that the D.C. law only passed in December 2007. Even the LLLI listing of breastfeeding "current legislation" doesn't include it yet. But it is in effect. I found the listing on the National Conference of State Legislators. Since LLLI didn't list it I wasn't entirely convinced, so when the highlighted link didn't work, I called and spoke directly with the office of Councilmember Jim Graham, who authored the bill. They verified that the legislation passed December 11th, 2007.

[SwanMom]

Originally Posted by Belle

Subbing.

I'm going to a Mariner game with my nursling next month. She'll be nine months old at the time. I wonder what the facilities are like at Safeco field in Seattle.

I just nursed in my seat and later at a table near the food options at Safeco. I did notice that they have a little kiddie playground in the park, though, and I'll bet there's a bench there for you to nurse on. It's a newer park, so there may be more seating options. Let us know how it goes.

[AuntNi]

Here's the wording from the St. Louis Cardinals website:

Nursing Mothers
A mother may nurse her child in any public location where she is otherwise authorized to be. Accordingly, all personnel should be aware that mothers are entitled to nurse their infants in Busch Stadium. If the mother requests private accommodations the mother and child should be escorted to a family restroom or First Aid.

The part about "any location where Mom is authorized to be" came about because of a huge stink when my DD was a baby. A nursing mother was reprimanded by an usher, after which she and LLL organized a publicity campaign which went on for weeks. Finally, Busch Stadium management trained all their staff to direct mothers who asked for privacy to the First Aid station, and to leave the others alone!

Re: the Family Restrooms, all I can say is EWWWW! I can barely stand to pee in the one at Busch. The last time we went to a game, DD had to pee as we were leaving. We had to stand in line behind all these 20-something guys, only one of whom offered to let us go ahead of him. When we got in there, the toilet was covered in urine - it was so awful!

[siobhang]

Originally Posted by justJen

office of Councilmember Jim Graham, who authored the bill. They verified that the legislation passed December 11th, 2007.

btw, I know the folks who got this passed - it was a bunch of folks from DC Urban Moms mailing list. The main leader is a gay dad lawyer who thought that not having an explicit law in DC protecting breastfeeding was a wrong which needed to be righted.

I think the Nats website definitely needs to be updated. I think they should just remove the entire reference to nursing mothers, or perhaps say something like "Nursing mothers are welcome to feed their babies at our ballpark wherever they feel most comfortable."

[siobhang]

My letter

My husband and I have visited the park this summer with our children and greatly enjoyed the experience, and we fully intend to return again soon.

However, I was surprised to learn that the Ballpark seems to have a policy of encouraging nursing mothers to go to family bathrooms to nurse their babies. You may be unaware that D.C. Code Ann. § 2-1402.81 et seq. provides that a woman shall have the right to breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, where she has the right to be with her child.

This law was signed on December 11, 2007.

I urge you to ensure your staff are aware of this law, as any indication that mothers MUST nurse in a private location may be considered illegal, and may result in either legal action or public protests.

In addition, if you are going to offer nursing mothers the choice of using family bathrooms for their comfort or privacy, please be aware that the bathrooms:

1. will then be used for at least 15-20 minutes per nursing session, preventing other families from using the bathroom.
2. must contain a clean/sterile area suitable for the consumption of food (as the baby is eating).
3. must contain a chair other than the toilet for the mother to sit on while nursing.

May I suggest an alternate location than a bathroom may be more appropriate. Other stadiums use first aid stations, for example. The location should include air conditioning, relative quiet/calm atmosphere, clean seats, and privacy for mothers who prefer to not nurse elsewhere in the stadium as the law protects their rights to do.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to review these suggestions.