I’ve never really considered myself a “lactivist.” I honestly don’t care what a Mom feeds her baby, as long as she is feeding him or her. You could say I am Pro-Baby Feeder. I’ve been fortunate enough that breastfeeding was easy for Jackson & me, who knows- maybe that was God’s way of making up for his birth, regardless I’m pleased that we have made it this far. I was formula fed as a baby and was indifferent to it until I had my own child and wanted to try to give him what many say is best. Now that I’ve been a mother for almost a year, I cringe at the ignorant attitudes towards breastfeeding. I don’t feel as though breastfeeding in public is indecent, nor do I feel Mom’s should feel uncomfortable doing it. That is what breasts are there for, they weren’t made to be hanging out of skimpy bikinis on the cover of magazines. When I nursed in public , I showed way less boob than what you would find on display by 14 year old girls at the mall food court. I don’t have the need to nurse in public anymore because now that my son eats solids more often, he doesn’t get as hungry when were are out and about. You can bet though I would have no problem nursing him in public if he was hungry, which brings me to the point of this post.
I just received a text from my husband asking if I had read about the breastfeeding incident with Dunkin Donuts. Hold up, my beloved Dunkin Donuts had a breastfeeding incident? Say it ain’t so. I checked Facebook and sure enough, Dunkin Donuts issued this statement on Facebook:
“We have looked into the matter concerning 2 moms at a DD store in NJ & have confirmed an employee was responding to another customer’s complaint that wasn’t related to breastfeeding. None of the DD employees challenged the guests about breastfeeding & all DDs must comply w/ local, state & federal laws w/ regard to nursing mothers. Our top priority is always to provide an excellent experience for our guests.”
After reading more of the Dunkin Donuts page on Facebook, the Mom’s friend who was with her at Dunkin Donuts denied that was the case and the cops were called because of the breastfeeding (the nursing Mom wrote about her experience at the NJ Dunkin Donuts this morning here.) In my opinion, the employee probably was trying to keep their job by saying the incident had nothing to do with breastfeeding. Who knows though, I wasn’t there. All I know is it is sad that Moms have to be nervous about feeding their babies in public by the means our bodies had intended. I’m happy that we just got a Keurig machine and I won’t have to be stopping at Dunkin Donuts. I do realize that one employee can make a mistake and it can quickly tarnish a brand’s image, however there should be basic employee training in regards to the law & breastfeeding: Moms can feed their babies anywhere. The cops should have never been called and I hope Dunkin Donuts issues an apology. Until then, my personalized Dunkin Donuts gift card will be taking a sabbatical.
What do you think?
PS. I’m so proud of my husband bringing this to my attention!
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