Breastfeeding Room Sign
May 13, 2009 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under activism, breastfeeding photos, travel
I am not someone who believes that breastfeeding ought to be done in private. However, if an establishment is going to offer a quiet place for a mother to take her baby should she so choose, then this is the type of sign I like to see — this sign from Taipei, Taiwan, that calls it a “breastfeeding room” and does not use the image of a baby bottle. Sure, babies fed by bottle can use such a room too, but it is better not to make a bottle the universal symbol for feeding babies.
Photo courtesy of Acme
Wow…i’ve not seen bf rms (哺乳室： “bu ru shi”) in taipei b4. Where was this? What does the room look like inside?
Hi Sam,
Wish I could say I’ve been to Taipei! This picture came from flickr.com. My guess is that it is a sign at the airport.
I’ve been to Taipei, but not seen that. Haha – but I wasn’t breastfeding then either!
Your comment on not believing that breast feeding should be done in private got to me. I am an avid breast feeding mom and I do it wherever my kids need to be fed. So breastfeeding in public is no big deal for me. However, I do feel like I should make at least an effort to be private about feeding in public. Modesty is very important to me and I am trying to teach my daughter the same thing. If I breast feed with no cover and show everyone what I am doing, the whole modesty lesson is out the window.
I do not feed in the bathrooms. Who wants to eat in the bathroom?!?!?! I don’t so I don’t feed my kids there. I do go to the car or cover up so I am not exposing myself when I feed my children. I appreciate the effort other mothers go to as well. And a lot of times, most people don’t even know I am nursing when in public.
BTW, JCPenny’s has great dressing rooms for nursing and you don’t have to cover up at all when in private but yet you are still doing what you need to do and not stopping your daily activities just because you are breast feeding.
I think the post actually said that they were not someone who believes breastfeeding should be done in private. Unfortunately, there are many people who DO feel that way, which makes us breastfeeding moms a little wary. Also, for some like me, it makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable about breastfeeding in public, wondering who I may offend and if someone will have the gall to say something to me about it (not that it would make me stop, but who wants that kind of confrontation?)
Don’t misunderstand – I would NEVER retreat to the bathroom to breastfeed (I agree with KellyS, that’s just gross – and I’d never ask another diner to go to the bathroom to eat THEIR meal!) but I also have been known to sit in my car and breastfeed rather than stay in a public area (usually at the grocery store or someplace similar that didn’t have a convenient place anyway.)
I am well aware that others may be uncomfortable by my breastfeeding, so I always makes sure I am well covered. Besides, I don’t want to my breasts to be stared at any more than someone else wants to stare at me breastfeeding.
That being said, I think having a quiet place where breastfeeding moms can go and feed their babies – away from prying eyes and disgusted or disapproving glances – is a great idea. (And frankly, it would also protect us moms from those who aren’t upset by the practice but tend to ogle anyway.) Granted, some may see it as a way to “hide” the practice of breastfeeding, and maybe I’m too optimistic. But I choose to see it as a way to acknowledge a need and meet it. Way to go! Now if the practice would just catch on…
Yep, and I’m sure it would be cool to bottle-feed your kid in there too (surely there aren’t booby police in there). I think the reason it’s not called ‘kid feeding room’ or something more generic is that most people aren’t shy about whipping out a bottle in public and some people are a little shy about breastfeeding. I mean, breastfeeding in public, depending on the noise, can be an exercise of ‘find the nipple’ for the baby and having a quiet place to calm the baby can be great. Not sure ‘find the nipple’ would be as big a deal as the bottle nipple isn’t something you might wish others don’t see.