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Breastfeeding Woman Banished to IKEA Bathroom
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jul 23, 2009
Modified Jul 23, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jul 23, 2009
Modified Jul 23, 2009
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The big bad Big Box IKEA is the latest to ostracize breastfeeding moms from their establishment. One Brooklyn mom tells her recent story of being banished to the bathroom when she tried to feed her 6 1/2 month old something other than Swedish meatballs at the store:
On Wednesday I was in IKEA Red Hook in the middle of breastfeeding, fully covered, when I was told I had to stop doing "that" and go to the nearby family bathroom. The IKEA employee and security guards were extremely rude to us. I was hustled off to the bathroom and then had to wait because someone else was using it. I was humiliated, my daughter was upset from being interrupted in the middle of her feed. When eventually I gave up and headed for the car to finish feeding, the security guards who had seen the entire event insisted on checking my receipts. I'm putting together a formal complaint to IKEA. I was wondering if this has happened to anyone else?
This from an establishment selling reindeer meat during the holiday season. For the record, public breastfeeding is legal anytime and anywhere (here's a handy card to carry around from the NYCLU). We reached out to IKEA for a comment on this incident, but have yet to hear back. In March the Brooklyn Library made a public apology after one of their security guards scolded a woman for feeding her child in their branch.
Tagged
breastfeeding
ikea
lactivists
red hook
rights
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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