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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I will be there! Oh yeah.. and mine are bigger than most!
I remember your pictures TR shared with us on the boat. Nice rack
She might have to go without for a while if she can't get a 36 ZZZ size when her milk gets here.
1) why would she bring a phamplet about the breast feeding law, that's not normal
2) just go in the car n do it if she get a complain
3) who the hell complain, who cares, just eat your food, it's just tits, not like she shit on the table and u have to look at it, whoever complained was a baby once, it's not like he/she never suck on any tits before.
4) if she was hotter they probably start a petition so hot moms are forced to breast feed in public.
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whoa!!!!, i didnt see that
LL???? (maybe they ARE spectacular)
I am glad that you have become an expert on bfing in the past 3 weeks.
Pumping can NOT take the place of the baby nursing, though. There are different hormones that a mother's brain/body release when pumping vs when her baby is nursing. If you don't supplement, your baby and their nursing schedule with provide the mother with the "perfect" balance of supply and demand - the newborn creates the "constant cycle" according to his or her needs, which change frequently. If anything, pumping messes with that. And what you pump has different nutrient levels than what the baby gets from straight nursing.
I was told by many sources though that breast pumps will often allow for more consistant stimulation. Double pumps can stimulate both breasts at the same level at the same time. With baby suckling/nursing, it's sometimes observed that one breast may be used more often. Hence, that breast will produce more milk.
Therefore, unless your baby nurses on a constant schedule and at a constant amount, it is often believed that pumping gives a more consistant stimulus for lactation. This is further bolstered by the fact that mothers can't control the amount of milk that the infant is actually swallowing/ingesting. So, they can't monitor their child's intake. With pumping and use of a bottle, you can measure to the exact ounce.
Note, how much milk the baby is actually suckling or how much milk you're pumping is VERY important because that amount will dictate how much the mother will continue to produce. So, both methods are good. But, in many ways, pumping is better.
Furthermore, the one downside to actual suckling compared to pumping is the increase instances of infection and nipple tenderness. The only downside to pumping is the cost and inconvenience of the use of bottles. However, the BIG advantage is that ppl other than the baby's mother can feed the baby. Hence, this can ease some of the mother's workload and allow her some needed rest. And for me, that's crucial!
When I was trying to breast feed I tried to pump it..and I used a manual pump (If I had been able to continue breastfeeding I would have invested in an electric one or whatever they're called). Holy cow...manual ones give your arms SUCH a workout...and it's very much in the jack off motion. I used to joke to my husband that "no wonder his arms have muscles"
Breastfeeding is not the SAME as nudity. It's not the same as whipping your dick out or a guy walking around topless. It serves an important, no-- a CRUCIAL, biological function for our species. As for choices, YOU might think a woman has choices, but YOU are not the person entitled to make that decision. The mother IS. And as far as I'm concerned, her imperative to feed her child trumps any quaint temporary "embarassment" you might suffer. You modesty hypocrits are only applying your outdated puritanical notions of "modesty." Why don't you people just mind your own business, eat your Applebees puke and STFU! YOU are the very reason that states are passing legislation requiring businesses 'tolerate' breastfeeding and YOU are the reason women have to carry around copies of the statutes in the first place.
BTW, if that had been my wife and I had been at the table, the headline would read "PATRON BEATS CRAP OUT OF APPLEBEE'S MANAGER"
*****
Nothing can drain you more efficiently than your baby, but the hospital-grade ones are considered the next-best thing. Pumping is hard, much of it is psychological and chemical; it's not just the physical sucking. A lot of the portable pumps have a picture insert so that you can stare at a photo of your baby while trying to pump. Some have to hold or smell a blanket or a sleeper. The mother really needs a quiet room as well.
A few of my friends went back to work with the intention of pumping at work and home so that they could BF for a year. All of them eventually quit after a few months and were disappointed (I say they were heroic).
This woman had a 7MO baby, I'd call her pretty experienced at that point, and I agree with previous posts, people really have to be watching you to catch a glimpse of nip. I'll reiterate that it's been my experience that just the idea of BFing offends people. I don't use blankets, but I have in the past, and when you use a blanket to cover your baby's face like that, well then there's only one thing you must be doing..... ew, BFing.
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