Joined Nov 2004
King Sheep
Forum Thread
Mom pushes Applebee's on breast-feeding
August 30, 2007 at
10:13 AM
Original article from Lexington Herald Leader [kentucky.com]
Mom pushes Applebee's on breast-feeding
WANTS CHANGE IN POLICY AFTER BEING TOLD TO COVER HERSELF
By Linda B. Blackford
[email protected]
Brooke Ryan nursed her 10-month-old son, Michael, at her home. She says her goal is to teach, not to be provocative. Photo by David Stephenson | Staff
David Stephenson | Staff
Brooke Ryan nursed her 10-month-old son, Michael, at her home. She says her goal is to teach, not to be provocative. Photo by David Stephenson | Staff
In June, Brooke Ryan walked into a Nicholasville Road Applebee's restaurant to celebrate an anniversary lunch with her children.
She walked out humiliated, in tears and without the lunch.
But the incident over breast-feeding her 7-month-old son at Applebee's has spurred the soft-spoken 34-year-old to start a public awareness campaign on the rights of breast-feeding women in Kentucky.
"On a small scale, I want Applebee's to change its policy," Ryan said. "On a large scale ... I want breast-feeding to be accepted."
The dispute with Applebee's began June 14. Ryan chose a booth in the back of the restaurant away from other customers. When her baby, Michael, got hungry, she began to nurse him discreetly, she said.
But a waitress came over and said that if she wanted to breast-feed, she had to cover the baby with a blanket. Ryan said it was so hot that she didn't have a blanket. The waitress then repeated her request. Ryan said she then asked to see the manager and handed him a copy of the 2006 Kentucky law that prohibits interference with a woman breast-feeding her baby in public.
The manager said he knew about the law but a customer had complained about indecent exposure, so she had to cover the baby with a blanket.
Ryan left as her food came, to nurse her baby in the car.
Her lawyer wrote a letter to Thomas & King, the company that operates Applebee's in Central Kentucky. They got no response. After a second letter, a Thomas & King lawyer said the restaurant chain would consider keeping blankets in the restaurant so that breast-feeding women could cover themselves.
"That's like telling Rosa Parks she still had to sit in the back of the bus, but we'll give her a blanket to make her more comfortable," Ryan said.
When contacted yesterday, Mike Scanlon, president of Thomas & King, said he didn't know about the incident. However, he called the Herald-Leader back to say that Applebee's had no policy against breast-feeding.
"It is perfectly legal to breast-feed in public and we support that," Scanlon said. "I'm not sure the manager said cover the baby's head, I think he said cover yourself modestly. This was by no means intended as interference, but a request to do it modestly, which I believe is an appropriate response."
Ryan says that as an experienced breast-feeder, she is extremely modest, and, in that instance, made sure that she was facing into the corner.
"Some women think it's fine to cover up with a blanket, but a woman shouldn't be forced to," said her husband, Michael Ryan.
Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, who sponsored the breast-feeding protection bill, agrees.
"She was not treated right under the new law," he said. "There should have been no comment made to her at all; the restaurant overstepped its boundaries. There's no way they can explain their way out of this."
Thirty-nine states, including Kentucky, allow women to breast-feed in any public or private location.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breast-feeding for about the first six months and support for breast-feeding for the first year and beyond as long as mutually desired by mother and child. But according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 11 percent of mothers meet the six-month mark. Thirty percent breast-feed exclusively for the first three months. Kentucky's rates are 7.5 percent and 25 percent, respectively, according to a 2007 report.
Scanlon suggested that Ryan had an "agenda."
"I note with interest that she had a copy of the statute with her," he said. "I'm glad to let this become a matter that we can all learn from."
But if all Ryan wanted going into Applebee's was an anniversary lunch, she may indeed have an agenda now.
August is World Breast-feeding Awareness Month, and Ryan has organized two related public events:
• A "Nurse-In" at the children's play area at Fayette Mall from 1-3 p.m. Saturday. Ryan says the mall is not a target, but has a place for kids to play.
• From noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 8, she is holding a "Nurse Out" with posters and breast-feeding in front of the Applebee's on Nicholasville Road.
She's also asking for a public apology from Applebee's and training for its employees about the rights of breast-feeding mothers. Some day, she says, she would like to see the international breast-feeding symbol of a mother and child in every restaurant that supports the practice.
"I'm not trying to be provocative," she said. "I want to teach."
Read comments from Kentucky.com [prospero.com]
Read comments from Fark.com [fark.com]
Reach Linda Blackford at (859) 231-1359 or [email protected].
EDIT: Added Polling Goodness!
Mom pushes Applebee's on breast-feeding
WANTS CHANGE IN POLICY AFTER BEING TOLD TO COVER HERSELF
By Linda B. Blackford
[email protected]
Brooke Ryan nursed her 10-month-old son, Michael, at her home. She says her goal is to teach, not to be provocative. Photo by David Stephenson | Staff
David Stephenson | Staff
Brooke Ryan nursed her 10-month-old son, Michael, at her home. She says her goal is to teach, not to be provocative. Photo by David Stephenson | Staff
In June, Brooke Ryan walked into a Nicholasville Road Applebee's restaurant to celebrate an anniversary lunch with her children.
She walked out humiliated, in tears and without the lunch.
But the incident over breast-feeding her 7-month-old son at Applebee's has spurred the soft-spoken 34-year-old to start a public awareness campaign on the rights of breast-feeding women in Kentucky.
"On a small scale, I want Applebee's to change its policy," Ryan said. "On a large scale ... I want breast-feeding to be accepted."
The dispute with Applebee's began June 14. Ryan chose a booth in the back of the restaurant away from other customers. When her baby, Michael, got hungry, she began to nurse him discreetly, she said.
But a waitress came over and said that if she wanted to breast-feed, she had to cover the baby with a blanket. Ryan said it was so hot that she didn't have a blanket. The waitress then repeated her request. Ryan said she then asked to see the manager and handed him a copy of the 2006 Kentucky law that prohibits interference with a woman breast-feeding her baby in public.
The manager said he knew about the law but a customer had complained about indecent exposure, so she had to cover the baby with a blanket.
Ryan left as her food came, to nurse her baby in the car.
Her lawyer wrote a letter to Thomas & King, the company that operates Applebee's in Central Kentucky. They got no response. After a second letter, a Thomas & King lawyer said the restaurant chain would consider keeping blankets in the restaurant so that breast-feeding women could cover themselves.
"That's like telling Rosa Parks she still had to sit in the back of the bus, but we'll give her a blanket to make her more comfortable," Ryan said.
When contacted yesterday, Mike Scanlon, president of Thomas & King, said he didn't know about the incident. However, he called the Herald-Leader back to say that Applebee's had no policy against breast-feeding.
"It is perfectly legal to breast-feed in public and we support that," Scanlon said. "I'm not sure the manager said cover the baby's head, I think he said cover yourself modestly. This was by no means intended as interference, but a request to do it modestly, which I believe is an appropriate response."
Ryan says that as an experienced breast-feeder, she is extremely modest, and, in that instance, made sure that she was facing into the corner.
"Some women think it's fine to cover up with a blanket, but a woman shouldn't be forced to," said her husband, Michael Ryan.
Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, who sponsored the breast-feeding protection bill, agrees.
"She was not treated right under the new law," he said. "There should have been no comment made to her at all; the restaurant overstepped its boundaries. There's no way they can explain their way out of this."
Thirty-nine states, including Kentucky, allow women to breast-feed in any public or private location.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breast-feeding for about the first six months and support for breast-feeding for the first year and beyond as long as mutually desired by mother and child. But according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 11 percent of mothers meet the six-month mark. Thirty percent breast-feed exclusively for the first three months. Kentucky's rates are 7.5 percent and 25 percent, respectively, according to a 2007 report.
Scanlon suggested that Ryan had an "agenda."
"I note with interest that she had a copy of the statute with her," he said. "I'm glad to let this become a matter that we can all learn from."
But if all Ryan wanted going into Applebee's was an anniversary lunch, she may indeed have an agenda now.
August is World Breast-feeding Awareness Month, and Ryan has organized two related public events:
• A "Nurse-In" at the children's play area at Fayette Mall from 1-3 p.m. Saturday. Ryan says the mall is not a target, but has a place for kids to play.
• From noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 8, she is holding a "Nurse Out" with posters and breast-feeding in front of the Applebee's on Nicholasville Road.
She's also asking for a public apology from Applebee's and training for its employees about the rights of breast-feeding mothers. Some day, she says, she would like to see the international breast-feeding symbol of a mother and child in every restaurant that supports the practice.
"I'm not trying to be provocative," she said. "I want to teach."
Read comments from Kentucky.com [prospero.com]
Read comments from Fark.com [fark.com]
Reach Linda Blackford at (859) 231-1359 or [email protected].
EDIT: Added Polling Goodness!
Community Wiki
Last Edited by JayVee7777
September 11, 2007
at
09:38 PM
MOST.BIASED.POLL.EVAH
hmmm, she prolly needed 2 or 3 blankets
http://media.heraldlea
hmmm, she prolly needed 2 or 3 blankets
http://media.heraldlea
525 Comments
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Edit: Darn you, Hathor!!! :shakes fist:
And yes, I did. And you know what? I lost weight that day!
My powers are beginning to frighten me.
Go eat your grilled cheese
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Also, not every baby will take a bottle. Not to mention that a bottle (even with breast milk) can cause nipple confusion in a baby.
I have a friend who physically cannot produce more than several drops of milk a day. She still nursed her baby, but she had to rely on supplemental feeding systems and donated breastmilk. Her first son was formula fed because she was unaware of the option and her second son was strictly breastmilk fed and nursed through donated breastmilk. She even was in a restaurant once (it may have been Bertucci's) and the waitress saw her breastfeeding her son and commented to her that she was so happy that she was nursing and asked her if she needed anything and that she would seat new customers a distance away from her. Needless to say, my friend goes back there all the time now if she goes out.
For those of you who don't think breastfeeding is the norm, it would be interesting to see you in every other part of the world where breastfeeding is EXPECTED of all mothers.
About your friend and her experience at a restaurant, that's nice and dandy. However, what if you were a restaurant owner (had no qualms about breastfeeding in public), but had patrons who were complaining to you about another patron doing it at the table next to them? What would you do?
I have lived in other conuntries where breast feeding is expected and feeding in public is routine, but the mothers are still very selective where they feed and don't make a public announcement.
I think here in the states so many people choose to push the limit, just to say I HAVE RIGHTS and there is nothing you can do about it with so many issues, with little regard to how it affects others.
In my breast feeding days, before it was popular to make it an issue, I fed in many a public places and no was really aware and those that were...just nodded and gave me a smile, because I had respect for those around me.
I'm eating Nachos. Just a few. I'm so ashamed
I have lived in other conuntries where breast feeding is expected and feeding in public is routine, but the mothers are still very selective where they feed and don't make a public announcement.
I think here in the states so many people choose to push the limit, just to say I HAVE RIGHTS and there is nothing you can do about it with so many issues, with little regard to how it affects others.
In my breast feeding days, before it was popular to make it an issue, I fed in many a public places and no was really aware and those that were...just nodded and gave me a smile, because I had respect for those around me.
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Now I have to give up my 90 calorie cottage cheese.
/VQ