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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If women do not pump and their child isn't hungry for hours at a time, she may get engorged. This is VERY painful for women and can often send hormones to the brain to stop producing milk if it goes on for too long!
Pro-breastfeeding ppl here are so stubborn to even see the argument in front of them! Talk about illogical and irrational thinking! It's been stated countless times already that this is NOT an issue of breastfeeding. Let all the women breastfeed in public. Just cover-up. I give up! Talking to some ppl here is pointless because they are not comprehending the actual argument.
A BETTER analogy would be a man walking into a restaurant without a shirt. The restaurant has every right to ask him to put on a shirt. It's his right to go shirtless. BUT, the restaurant has a right to maintain order in its restaurant. Likewise, no one is prohibiting the woman from breastfeeding. The restaurant only ask that ppl do it with some modesty.
By the way, pumping does NOT mess up your cycle to produce milk! If anything, it creates a constant cycle where you can pump every 2-3 hours (as with your baby's feeding schedule). Thus, it continues the production of milk. If women do not pump and their child isn't hungry for hours at a time, she may get engorged. This is VERY painful for women and can often send hormones to the brain to stop producing milk if it goes on for too long!
Also, ppl......what does the right of breastfeeding have to do with asking someone to cover up while doing it?!?!? It's everyone's right to urinate when they have to. But, society asks that they use the restroom if need be. Refusing to use discretion and courtesy is just a show of stubborn-ness, selfishness, and disregard for others....which is pretty prevalent in America.
Sure, I could pump and give her a bottle to help out with the issue, but that won't bring me relief when I need it at the same time.
Here's the bottom line... Women have a right to breastfeed, and while the ideal thing would be for each woman to try to be discreet, it won't always happen. Then it's up to those around her to be able to deal with a woman feeding her child for just a short amount of time, then life can resume as normal.
Oh, and the last thing... I can't say the woman had an agenda simply because she was carrying around the state-law in her purse. If you frequent mother/parenting boards, you will see that this is actually rather common for breastfeeding mothers, as there's a chance they will be confronted when they do decide to nurse in public, whether they are discreet or not. Not everyone that carries around a written form of the law that allows them that right has an "agenda" or is out to prove a point... They just want to be able to know they are safe when feeding their baby.
With very few exceptions, breast feeding women do tend to be quite modest when feeding their baby. Most try to be out of the public eye as much as possible, and tend to just lift their shirt enough to allow the baby to latch on, and then being their shirt back down enough to cover the rest of the breast.
Even so, people still tend to get all crazy about the notion that there might be an exposed breast with a baby attached to it! The horror!
I mean really, do those of you against breast feeding in public really think that the goal of these mothers is to expose themselves to the world? Let's interject a little common sense into the discussion, people.
Sure, I could pump and give her a bottle to help out with the issue, but that won't bring me relief when I need it at the same time.
Here's the bottom line... Women have a right to breastfeed, and while the ideal thing would be for each woman to try to be discreet, it won't always happen. Then it's up to those around her to be able to deal with a woman feeding her child for just a short amount of time, then life can resume as normal.
Oh, and the last thing... I can't say the woman had an agenda simply because she was carrying around the state-law in her purse. If you frequent mother/parenting boards, you will see that this is actually rather common for breastfeeding mothers, as there's a chance they will be confronted when they do decide to nurse in public, whether they are discreet or not. Not everyone that carries around a written form of the law that allows them that right has an "agenda" or is out to prove a point... They just want to be able to know they are safe when feeding their baby.
To say that other ppl should be more understanding is VERY selfish and narcissistic. Other ppl can appreciate a woman's right to breastfeed. They don't have to deal with the sight of it. More importantly, since she chooses to breastfeed in public, she should have the burden of doing it responsibly and to not disturb those around her.
But alas, we live in a society of ME ME ME. So, it's understandable that ppl should think that the other ppl around them should deal with it instead of a compromise where both can do something that makes everyone comfortable.
This is getting very tedious though. We [pro-covering-up ppl] are getting tired of trying to reiterate the same thing. So, I'll just leave it at that.
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how people think it would be accepted if the next time I am in Applebees and some tart has her shirt open almost to her navel...with her boobage exposed and nearly falling out of her clothing...
can I ask the management to have her cover up or go eat in the bathroom because seeing her breasts so exposed violates my sense of modesty??
Do you think the manager will ask that patron to cover up? I think not...
I believe there is a double standard here...
women with their boobage exposed so as to tittallate is acceptable...
but a woman breastfeeding her child in public isn't acceptable, no one should have to be exposed to that!?!
same boobs...personally I'd much rather see a child being fed than a man's fantasy.
(well, at least in public)
how people think it would be accepted if the next time I am in Applebees and some tart has her shirt open almost to her navel...with her boobage exposed and nearly falling out of her clothing...
can I ask the management to have her cover up or go eat in the bathroom because seeing her breasts so exposed violates my sense of modesty??
Do you think the manager will ask that patron to cover up? I think not...
I believe there is a double standard here...
women with their boobage exposed so as to tittallate is acceptable...
but a woman breastfeeding her child in public isn't acceptable, no one should have to be exposed to that!?!
same boobs...personally I'd much rather see a child being fed than a man's fantasy.
(well, at least in public)
But, as stated here, we're going in circles. Comparing bare breasts while breastfeeding to women actually wearing sexy tops that cover their nipples (and most of their tops/breasts) is a bit off-base. It's like comparing full lower nudity (genitals ablaze) with women who wear super short skirts!
But, as stated here, we're going in circles. Comparing bare breasts while breastfeeding to women actually wearing sexy tops that cover their nipples (and most of their tops/breasts) is a bit off-base. It's like comparing full lower nudity (genitals ablaze) with women who wear super short skirts!
Note, I am a new parent of a 3 wk old and my wife is also breastfeeding. This issue affects me (and my family) directly. Yet, I still have the foresight, understanding, and sense of etiquette where we would not want to breastfeed in a public place. We don't even breastfeed openly in our own homes with guest and relatives present. My wife goes into another room.
Note, I am a new parent of a 3 wk old and my wife is also breastfeeding. This issue affects me (and my family) directly. Yet, I still have the foresight, understanding, and sense of etiquette where we would not want to breastfeed in a public place. We don't even breastfeed openly in our own homes with guest and relatives present. My wife goes into another room.
Also, you'd have to be staring at the woman to see anything anyway. Keep your eyes on your own business and you won't have a problem.
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Note, I am a new parent of a 3 wk old and my wife is also breastfeeding. This issue affects me (and my family) directly. Yet, I still have the foresight, understanding, and sense of etiquette where we would not want to breastfeed in a public place. We don't even breastfeed openly in our own homes with guest and relatives present. My wife goes into another room.
Isn't as bad as than this?
And maybe you could explain to me why Baby talk isn't in the pr0n section....seeing how obscene it is?