Yesterday we went to an amusement park with the kids and my 10 year old little brother. We had only been in the park for a short time (less than an hour) when dd got very fussy and unexpectedly wanted to eat. I was in line with ds at one of the kiddie rides and we'd been waiting his turn for probably about 20 minutes.
So, I started to nurse her right there in the line. I did not use a cover-up, but I had deliberately selected clothing for the day where I could nurse easily and to the best of my knowledge I wasn't baring any skin. It was obvious to people around me what I was doing, but you still couldn't see anything (just like when women use those nursing covers- you *know* what they're doing even though you can't actually see anything.) In general though, I'm just not one to cover-up while BFing. I just don't see it as necessary most of the time, unless it's for *my* comfort.
After a couple of minutes a teenage park employee came over and told me I could not BF in line and that I needed to go to their nursing room. I was stunned but managed to say something like, "Oh, thanks- I know you have a nursing room but I'm comfortable right here." The employee restated that I could NOT BF right there and that I needed to leave. This time I told her that according to state law I could indeed BF right there. She became flustered and said that she was going to have to call someone (security.) I was equally as flustered and said, "Okay, go ahead and call someone."
I could NOT believe this was happening to me! This is the kind of stuff that you read about happening to other people, not me! LONG(Ironically enough, in 3+ years of BFing I'd never had any comments at all until this week- one positive and now one negative. And just one day before this incident I'd read the article in the latest Mothering magazine about the mother who was asked to leave Pottery Barn while BFing, so that was also still fresh in my mind.)
As I stood there I was shaking, trembling, out of breath, heart pounding and nervous as hell. Some old UAV behind me along with two younger mothers with their kids started to make snide comments to me as well. In the meantime, I was worried we were going to get thrown out of the park even though rationally, I knew that I was legally protected.
My brother, who is autistic and has a hard enough time with his behavior in the first place, also started to freak out because he thought we were going to be thrown out.
A few minutes passed and then the employee came over to me and just said, "I'm sorry. There were just some people complaining, that's all..." I can only assume that when she called security that they told the employee that they couldn't legally make me stop.
We were there for another 10ish hours after that and dd BF probably 5-6 more times throughout the day. Still, I was extremely self-conscious and anxious every single time. I never did go to their nursing room, but I was even more careful than normal to make sure that nothing at all was showing, to throw a beach towel over my shoulder, etc. I was just really, really nervous even though I knew I had done nothing wrong.
(FWIW, I appreciate them having a nursing room and it's great to have as an option, but realistically speaking when a baby is screaming and we're in a line, I'm not going to leave the line and walk 30 minutes to the back of the park weaving through crowds with the screaming child in order to get to the designated room.)
At the end of the day, shortly before we left, I was approached by another mom who complimented my sling and we chatted about babywearing for a bit. She told me that her husband had also been in line with me earlier in the day and saw what happened. She wanted to let me know that both she and her dh were very proud and impressed that I stood up for myself!
I know that I don't need validation from anyone else, but at the same time this woman and her dh's kind words really made me feel much more at ease about the whole day!
So, I started to nurse her right there in the line. I did not use a cover-up, but I had deliberately selected clothing for the day where I could nurse easily and to the best of my knowledge I wasn't baring any skin. It was obvious to people around me what I was doing, but you still couldn't see anything (just like when women use those nursing covers- you *know* what they're doing even though you can't actually see anything.) In general though, I'm just not one to cover-up while BFing. I just don't see it as necessary most of the time, unless it's for *my* comfort.
After a couple of minutes a teenage park employee came over and told me I could not BF in line and that I needed to go to their nursing room. I was stunned but managed to say something like, "Oh, thanks- I know you have a nursing room but I'm comfortable right here." The employee restated that I could NOT BF right there and that I needed to leave. This time I told her that according to state law I could indeed BF right there. She became flustered and said that she was going to have to call someone (security.) I was equally as flustered and said, "Okay, go ahead and call someone."
I could NOT believe this was happening to me! This is the kind of stuff that you read about happening to other people, not me! LONG(Ironically enough, in 3+ years of BFing I'd never had any comments at all until this week- one positive and now one negative. And just one day before this incident I'd read the article in the latest Mothering magazine about the mother who was asked to leave Pottery Barn while BFing, so that was also still fresh in my mind.)
As I stood there I was shaking, trembling, out of breath, heart pounding and nervous as hell. Some old UAV behind me along with two younger mothers with their kids started to make snide comments to me as well. In the meantime, I was worried we were going to get thrown out of the park even though rationally, I knew that I was legally protected.
My brother, who is autistic and has a hard enough time with his behavior in the first place, also started to freak out because he thought we were going to be thrown out.
A few minutes passed and then the employee came over to me and just said, "I'm sorry. There were just some people complaining, that's all..." I can only assume that when she called security that they told the employee that they couldn't legally make me stop.
We were there for another 10ish hours after that and dd BF probably 5-6 more times throughout the day. Still, I was extremely self-conscious and anxious every single time. I never did go to their nursing room, but I was even more careful than normal to make sure that nothing at all was showing, to throw a beach towel over my shoulder, etc. I was just really, really nervous even though I knew I had done nothing wrong.
(FWIW, I appreciate them having a nursing room and it's great to have as an option, but realistically speaking when a baby is screaming and we're in a line, I'm not going to leave the line and walk 30 minutes to the back of the park weaving through crowds with the screaming child in order to get to the designated room.)
At the end of the day, shortly before we left, I was approached by another mom who complimented my sling and we chatted about babywearing for a bit. She told me that her husband had also been in line with me earlier in the day and saw what happened. She wanted to let me know that both she and her dh were very proud and impressed that I stood up for myself!
I know that I don't need validation from anyone else, but at the same time this woman and her dh's kind words really made me feel much more at ease about the whole day!
I'm sorry to hear that happened to you.
