Public breastfeeding is completely legal in Kentucky, but don’t try telling that to the manager of the Johnny Rockets in Newport, where a nursing mother was given the boot for refusing to stop feeding her child when directed to do so by the manager.
According to the mom, she went out onto the Johny Rockets patio to feed her 6-month-old daughter. Minutes later, the manager told her she would have to do her breastfeeding out on a public bench.
But, per Kentucky law, a nursing mom can “breastfeed her baby or express breast milk in any public or private location.” The woman pointed this fact out to the manager, who told her she could do her feeding in the bathroom if she wanted.
The incident brought protesters to the Johnny Rockets with signs reading things like “Johnny Rockets is not a family restaurant” and “No, I will not feed my baby in your bathroom.”
Says the ticked-off mom:
I just want people to know there is a law, and whether or not they personally feel comfortable with breast-feeding in public, or whether they bottle-feed or breast-feed or however they choose to raise their families, there is a law that protects mothers’ rights to nurse in public.
Kentucky is one of 44 states with laws permitting breastfeeding in any public or private location. Additionally, the Bluegrass State is also one of 28 states that has a law declaring that breastfeeding can not be considered an act of public indecency.
For all the various state laws on breastfeeding, check out this helpful page.
Kentucky breast feeding mom asked to leave Johnny Rocket’s restaurant [KSDK.com]
Thanks to Angie for the tip!
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Wow, I just came from Fark and my mind was blown because they are being far more reasonable about this than many of the posters in this thread. Makes me wary the Apocalypse is coming.
I like that many women who demand (DEMAND I TELL YOU) breast-feeding rights are probably horrified by gays holding hands. After all, it’s unnatural for those particular two people who love each other to express emotions.
I don’t care much about breast feeding in public, though I will stare because I’m curious. It’s when the kid is older and screaming in a restaurant that I’m patronizing that I have a problem. There’s nothing like paying for a meal and a decent ambiance, only to have it ruined by a child shrieking at the top of his or her lungs. But, you know, parents > everyone else, right? Spechul Snowflake just can’t be expected to behave.
For the record the existence of a law does not make something right.
I think that an owner or manager of a private property (read jonny rockets) has the right to set there own rules of conduct on there own property. So i think they are full within there rights to say no best feeding.
However, i do think that is a stupid rule. If i didn’t already hate the restaurant i would stop eating there over this.
So it would be okay to not service Latinos or women or people in wheelchairs, if that’s what the owner wants? When you open a business, you accept that the laws require you to serve the public and you can’t arbitrarily decide to ignore it. If you want limitations on dealing with the public, open a private club.
I breast fed at johnny rockets in california a few months ago… just sayin’
Cvr p nd qt bng whn cnt.
Rll? Drppng th C-wrd. Kss yr mthr wth tht mth? knw y dn’t kss n wmn y pthtc bll f sht.
For the record, I totally support breastfeeding moms…with both hands, even,,,,
+10
‘m rdng fr t mn cmmnts tkng Jhnn Rckts sd. Thnks Cnsmrst, fr sppng m fth n hmnt nc mr. Ths s fckng hrd sshls, whn th kds nds t t y lt thm t. f fr sm rsn y’r grssd t b bbs nd kds tng thn y’r fckng dt, wst f flsh, nd blght n hmnt. Fck ff.
Just because it’s legal, doesn’t mean you can’t be courteous, right?
Sure you can tell other people to eff off, but I can totally get behind people at a restaurant wanting to eat their meal without having to look at some woman’s tit and I’m a chick.
I don’t find it sexual, but I can also imagine there are many people who would take advantage of the situation and get an eyeful. If I had a baby, I’d rather go to the bathroom than have people stare. There’s nothing shameful about it, but I wouldn’t breast feed in public.
I wish other women wouldn’t get so irate about this issue. She has her rights. But it seems to me the manager was trying to handle a delicate situation, and couldn’t make everyone happy.
Maybe I’ll feel different when/if I procreate, but until then I’d rather read http://stfuparents.tumblr.com/.
// I can totally get behind people at a restaurant wanting to eat their meal without having to look at some woman’s tit and I’m a chick.//
I can totally get behind people at a restaurant wanting to eat their meal without having to look at some ugly individual too, and I’m a formerly breastfeeding-in-public mother. But those uglies are out there, and nobody specified my right to only see what I like the look of, no matter how much my meal cost me.
And nobody is making anybody look. That old person whose particular method of chewing turns me off I just tend to look in another direction. If I have a problem with somebody’s “reasonable” behaviour (and yes, I’m one of those crazy folks who finds both bringing children into public AND feeding them to be “reasonable) then I deal with it without bitching to others to assert my apparently superior manners and standards.
//I don’t find it sexual, but I can also imagine there are many people who would take advantage of the situation and get an eyeful.//
Yeah, there are weirdos everywhere. Pervs of every predilection can be anywhere with camera phones and penises in their pants and drooling mouths. So far they’ve not stopped me running through parks, walking alone at night, sending my kids to school, taking the family to the public pool etc. OR breastfeeding the babies (in public too, no less) when they got hungry.
Good on her for standing up for herself and for others like her.
I can only imagine how powerful it must feel to actually get a woman – one feeding her baby no less – to get up, leave her table with fellow diners and potentially other children, take her infant and sit in a room dedicated to the passing of human waste (and returning oneself to one’s previously hygienic state) to feed her baby as she potentially listens to tinkles, squirts etc., of other patrons.
And if you did it because of some other “dissatisfied” customer, then by all means offer that other person (who, after all, has the problem) a different seat, a different table and/or remind them of the absolute banality that is breastfeeding.
I agree with Johnny Rockets here. I don’t want to see a woman breast feeding in front of me while I’m eating.
What kind of a “lady” would want to do that in front of anyone is beyond me.
You’re right … every nursing mother who likes to eat at a restaurant now and then AND keep her baby fed is a low-down, no-class hussy.
You do realize that most women can (and do) nurse without their entire breast hanging out, right? Most of the moms I know nurse so discreetly that half the time, people don’t even realize they ARE nursing their babies.
Fun fact, restaurants still reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, for any reason. Did they use this? No. They asked her to goto another area to breast feed her child. They didn’t demand it, they didn’t give her an ultimatum, they just asked her.
I used to work at a restaurant that had a sign that said we supported woman who wanted to breast feed. Not many did, the only time I remember anyone asking about it was them asking if they had a specific place they could do it in. My manager unlocked the banquet hall room and went up with her. 10 minutes later, she came back down and my manager locked back up. Why did she do this? Because she didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable while eating food.
You’re experience is just as much anyone else’s. And guess what, if something is happening that makes you uncomfortable, you politely ask if there is another way it can be done and say why. I had a teacher that once asked someone that was standing outside a restaurant if he would mind not smoking while she was waiting there with her daughter because of the risks of second hand smoke. She didn’t demand it, didn’t ask him to move, just asked if he’d mind. He butted out, she thanked him, and when she walked away after waiting for her w/e, he lit up again.
That is how this should have been handled. The woman shouldn’t of been such a womans right activist type crap and instead of throwing a fuss over the washroom, asked if she could perhaps use the managers office which would be a little cleaner or something similar to that, y’know, if she really cared. Instead, she took it personally and went out of her way to try and martyr herself.
Oh, and no, I’m not being sexist or misunderstanding, my mother is like this in a lot of ways. I just hate when people over-react to simple situations like morons when all that is needed is a deep breath to clear the head to actually realize what is being said.
(Disclaimer: All references to the Le Leche Legion to NOT correlate to the Le Leche Legue. The Le Leche Legion is the militant, evil, parody group I made up just because I’m clever and it made me laugh.(
And now for something (not so) completely different: I wholeheartedly think that nursing mothers ought to be allowed to feed their chittlins in public without intervention from ANYONE. That said I do have a few things to say that this story made me think about. There seems to be several militant breast feeders here, perhaps members of the Le Leche Legion? The ones who start feeding their children then stare at you, daring you to make eye contact with them or their breasts, wanting to start some commotion.
And here comes the hate; Why should breast feeders be given ANY special treatment when their condition is (usually) both temporary and VOLUNTARY. It’s not like you were born with a lifelong debilitating illness. OK girls, your kid has to be fed at least every two hours, a little less often as the child ages, and you’re not able to time your short trips so that you will not have to nurse while you’re out? I’ve had several litters of kittens and the mother would just flop in the floor where ever she was and nurse the kittehs. Do we not, as humans, have an IQ high enough to do some planning so far as feeding our children is concerned?
It seems there’s a ideology that allows the Le Leche Legion to both be offended by any objections to their nursing and (in their mind) to demonize any person or groups who questions their “right” to nurse where ever they happen to be, (you know when they “flop” in the floor like my Kitteh’s momma?)
And now for a question that has bothered me for a few years. Why is it called “breastmilk”? Does not all milk come from a breast, utter, etc? Why not just call it milk? While not a complete analogue, it’s mostly the same as what you get from a cow, a yak, chimpanzee. If you must differentiate, call it human milk.
That is all, go back to your work now.
Honest question here….why are so many people so nosy that they care what’s happening at another table. I mean occasionally, yeah, you can’t avoid it (e.g. a couple in the bar at O’Charley’s that did everything but jump up on the table and bone – that made for a funny evening), but otherwise, it’s usually pretty discreet. Really, do you find your companion so boring that you have to watch all the other tables in the restaurant? Honestly, folks, mind your own f’n business, eat your meal, and enjoy the company of the people at the table with you.
Yes. I think you are one of FOUR people who have said that. When did we as a society decide its ok to tell people how WE want them to live?
I don’t think this will get read, and all the better – there are so many fricken posts – I didn’t even read them all.
The FEW times I’ve seen a woman breast feeding in public, she had herself covered with a baby blanket. I think it was mostly to keep some semblance of decency. Natural or not, some people are just not comfortable with the idea of having any part of them flopped out (even an over weight tummy which more than a breast feeding boob, I’d like to see covered….) I kinna shudder when I see public breast feeding. I don’t care if it happened when I was a baby and I don’t ever plan on having kids to do it myself… just bodily fluids.. in the mouth… freak me out (yeah exactly what you’re thinking, boys, NO.)
I’m more annoyed by your screaming brats in the restaurant than I am with public breastfeeding.
Either… da law is da law… and some red neck, southern, honkeys like to blow something like this out of proportion.
STAY CLASSY SAN DIEGO!
And lawl at the guys being grossed out… and the chicks freaking out on them.
If they weren’t grossed out they wouldn’t be guys! They wouldn’t be the men that you love… I’m sure even the family men with children tend to “leave the room” when that crap is going on…
hell I WOULD BE FREAKED OUT IF A DUDE STARED AT ME DOING THAT!!! Think about that, bitches.
Peace.
Okay, the Huge Dump thing is a bad analogy, since it’s illegal. I withdraw the comment. But then I pose a hypothetical question for the breeders in the audience:
It’s 5 years on, and Junior has stopped drinking on tap. You’re out at Dennys, sitting across from Skinhead Nazi Punk me and a couple of friends. We’re not talking any louder than the guy discussing sports on the other side of you, but we’re talking about “Those Damn Niggers” and “I hate jews” and so on. The conversation is liberally sprinkled with enough blue language to make a sailor blush. Basically we’re saying a whole bunch of stuff you wouldn’t want “My lil’ precious” exposed to.
What do you do? We’re not being excessively loud – no more so than any other patron in the establishment. We’re not throwing stuff, we’re not getting up in your face about it. Do you make me leave?
I would tell my daughter that our first amendment gives you and your friends the right to be racist idiots. If you were loud enough I would probably directly tell you that I think your racism is wrong and small minded.
And you would then proceed to catch the meanest beatdown of your crappy life.
Oh my, I really don’t want to continue this little exercise in futility with you dear boy.
I assume you are a gamer in his early 30s who may or may not live with his parents (or be supported by them) While I am a mother, wife and general nice gal. I think we shall never see head to head on most any issue.
Let’s part ways dear Justin. I’ll go on with my lovely life and you go on with yours.
wld jst lk t tll y y mms t gt lf. Y knw yr chld’s fdng schdl. Y knw ppl r grssd t t sng yr d t. Y r jst sm hpp chck tht thnks vgn=pwr nd wnts t mk pnt. H hw bt nxt tm s y d t nd t mks m fl sck jst wlk vr nd frkng vmt n y nd yr dmn bb? Wht y thnk bt tht sgr tts?
children don’t actually eat on a schedule, but I think you know that already seeing as you are a tiny tiny child.
Vomiting on people (willfully) is against the law in some places and if you did that to me I’d sue your Dad (Since , again, YOU are a tiny tiny baby)
Yea because tiny babies can access the internet and type. I award you no points and we are all dumber for having listened to it.
Oh and my father is dead thanks for asking.
From your tone and approach to conversing with other human I’m fairly certain that though you have latent daddy issues you are as “over it” as you will ever be in regard to your father’s passing, my sympathies for your mother.
Why are so many people supporting the manager for breaking the law?
Manager, write an apology and give her coupons to stop the bad PR already!
I haven’t been to one of those in years. As a person who grew up as a Redskins fan, I can’t imagine giving my money to Daniel Snyder
I encourage you all to stop what you are doing and stare at the mother breastfeeding with a look of excitement on your face while panting slightly. Don’t stop until they leave. Maybe even move your head around as if you are trying to get a better angle on it. Women are so self conscious they will either leave or make a hilariously enraged scene looking like a jackass.
Either way, as George Bush would say “Mission Accomplished”.
Maybe if she was a little more attractive they wouldn’t have minded? Seriously, mother’s should be able to breast feed babies ANYWHERE.
I have no problem with people breastfeeding in public, just so long as they have no problem with me staring at them and watching them do it.
They have to right to breastfeed and I have the right to stare in public places. Don’t get angry at me for staring at you breastfeeding in public then I won’t get angry at you for breastfeeding in public.
Don’t these stores have a sign that says “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone?”
Not that I advocate what they did, but I’m just saying… They can refuse service to anyone.
It’s already been covered a bunch of times in this thread, but they really can’t refuse service to “anyone”. A number of laws — including the Kentucky law on breastfeeding – override their little sign.
Wow, such vitriol. A quick google search for “nipple confusion” brought up this site and these facts about it: http://www.breastfeeding.com/all_about/all_about_confusion.html
Anyway, sure bottle feeding can be good too, I know many women who bottle fed and their babies ended up fine. However, it is absolutely a woman’s right to decide which way she is most comfortable feeding her child.
Frankly, I’m glad that the law is the way it is so that women and their babies are protected from people like some of the commenters on this site.
My first son had nipple confusion, precisely BECAUSE I was so terrified of trying to nurse in public with him. I was so worried about what people would say or do or think … so I always pumped and brought a bottle … and by the time he was 2 1/2 months old, he screamed bloody murder whenever I tried to nurse him. I saw a LLL leader, a lactation consultant … nothing helped. I ended up exclusively pumping till he turned a year old. I wouldn’t wish that on ANYONE!
With my second, I decided other people’s opinions be damned … I’m nursing this baby when and where I need/want! I nursed him in church, in restaurants, in the mall, at the park … and not one single person ever said a blessed thing. (Well, I did get some smiles and positive comments … not one single dirty look, even!)
I live in Michigan, which I don’t consider a bastion of forward thinking, but I guess it’s better than wherever most of the commenters here live!
Here’s an outline of the situation:
1. Young babies have to breastfeed every few hours. So unless a mother wants to stay home all day everyday, she has only a tiny window to get out and about (for errands, for socialization, all those necessary things, etc.) Unless she brings her baby and feeds him when he’s hungry. Duh
2. The law says that breastfeeding cannot be considered an act of public indecency. This is just about the most hilarious statement I’ve ever read. I can’t believe this ever had to be decided in the first place.
3. Everyone used to be a baby, and everyone had a mother. So no one is removed from this situation.
4. I, as do most Americans, have a problem seeing someone breastfeed at a resturaunt.
I know, I know, after all I said about it being such a natural thing and all. It’s just that I, like most Americans, am so far removed from nature and natural things that this, the most natural thing of all, can be unpleasant.
5. That’s not a mother’s problem. THAT’S OUR PROBLEM. We are the ones that need to change, not mothers. Again… Duh!
So leave the poor girl alone.
Amen!
Words are escaping me right now…
Kentucky law explicitly allows a nursing mother to nurse her baby in any public location which she is otherwise allowed to be. Yes, a restaurant can refuse service for any reason but it must be a legal reason. A restaurant can’t refuse service due to a person’s race, gender, nationality and so on because the law designates those as “protected classes.” The Kentucky law similarly defines nursing mothers as a protected class, and goes further by immunizing them against indecent exposure. So no, the restaurant can’t ask her to leave because they would allow her to be there if nursing was not part of the equation.
Asking a nursing mother to feed her baby in the restroom is unreasonable and unsanitary. Do you typically eat in the same place you defecate? I thought not. Why should the baby have to then? Such a policy would be, in and of itself, discriminatory against the baby.
The notion that the mother should not leave her home until her baby is weaned is so preposterous that I will offer no further rebuttal. Furthermore, to expect that nursing mothers never nurse their babies outside the home is amazingly unreasonable and unrealistic. Infants have feeding needs that are simultaneously unpredictable and immediate in nature. In the same vein, bottle feeding is not a viable substitute, as breast-fed babies tend to not take well to bottles in general, and pumping and formula have costs and medical implications that render them not an appropriate forced substitution.
Any mother who is remotely competent at nursing has the ability (and supporting paraphernalia) to allow her to nurse while exposing little, if any, of herself to onlookers. Those yet to attain said competency generally seek privacy of their own accord.
The worst ones are the mothers who think the world evolves around them and their baby. They act like cavemen whipping out their breasts anywhere and everywhere without even covering up. I am convinced some of them do it just to be provocative. These women are simply disrespectful of their environment. They have to accept that not everyone think its appropriate. And it certainly isn’t ok to breastfeed in a restaurant. You go home to do that. The very least thing these women can do is to cover up.