to the woman 'feeding' her baby in m&S exeter this lunchtime yes YWBVU

[preciousmuch]

in case you're wondering... I wanted to change my babies nappies & feed them. When I knocked on the door your henchwoman opened it a crack then shut it in my face. A staff member also knocked on the door and through the doorcrack the henchwoman said 'she's feeding' and shut the door again.
I understand you might be a bit shy but come on... There's room in there for one to feed & one to change nappies you didn't need to be so secretive.
You were there for at least FM mins from what we could see. Do you not think it's a leetle bit selfish?
Or is it me being unreasonable expecting to be able to share a facility such as this?

Ooh I breastfed in the British Museum cafe (shared tables!) loads of times. No-one said a dickie bird to me.

What's this? Secret baby rooms in Exeter - what have I missed????

St Catherine's square, so you mean the doors on the corner bit where there are the buzzers and the name Sir MacApline or summat? Do you need to press one of the buzzers - is there a secret code to press? Or is it on the building on the other side, near the steps?

I can't picture the other one either - I know there is a little allyway behind the perfume shop but can't think where you mean.....will have to investigate!

OOooooh I feel a trip to Exeter might be on the cards tomorrow. Well, I need to start shopping for 'that event at the end of December that shall not be named' soon anyway.

If you change a nappy in public, it could be quite horrid for anyone else nearby. B/f - what's the worse that could happen to a passer-by? An accidental flash of tit? They'd see worse just walking past a newsagent. So I'd say the woman hogging the facilities where you could change a baby was in the wrong. But most of all, the member of staff was wrong not to suggest anywhere else you could go.

(Some of ds's nappies were stomach-churning enough for me dealing with them, I'm sure strong men would have fainted had they been subjected to the sight of me changing him...)

Am I the only one wondering what the people who answer the intercoms do the rest of the time? I've never met anyone who knows about the secret babychanging places and I can't believe they're that busy, do they spend all day sitting there waiting for the intercom to go?

My M&S has the daft tiny changing feeding room.

Feeding they score points as I never use the room for feeding as if I feed in the cafe I got free biscuits on the odd occassion staff noticed I was feeding.

Last time I got fed up of waiting I decided to change dd in her pram in the ladies. It was there I discovered they have a huge "make up" area away from the toilets with a large counter. Much easier to change her in there and pleasanter too.

One day everyone will feel comfortable and supported enough to feed wherever they like without fear of judgement, and feeding rooms will become redundant, and life will be that little bit nicer, and...

There are special rooms for bf'ing?

I've never heard of or seen a 'feeding room', and fed ds1 for 8/9 months and have been feeding ds2 for the past 5 months. I've been lucky with bf'ing though and just feed them wherever we've been.

I'll look out for them now.

Blast off - I only used them when dd was tiny, as much for my privacy as a change to get some peace and quiet. But then I realised that it was nicer to do it in a cafe or on a bench.

I've thought of another point, the feeding room in M&S doesn't have a lock so your toddler might have escaped when you were busy with the baby.

There are also nice facilities in Debenhams but its a bit of a trek from M&S.

this is why I LOVED my breastfeeding cover, only have once sat in one of those fucking rooms. NEVER again!!!!!

YABU to wait 40 minutes to feed and change your baby. It would not have taken you that long to find somewhere else.

Also first come, first served comes to mind. There's nothing you can do about it.

verylittlecarrot - I don't think feeding rooms are entirely about hiding away, sometimes it's just a bit cold for feeding outside. I've never had a problem feeding in a cafe but you do have to buy something to eat or drink for yourself so it can be an expensive option, feeding rooms are free.

I've never used one because, unless it's really cold, I'd rather be outside and I'm quite often in town to meet someone at a cafe anyway, but I don't think they wouldn't exist in a more bfing friendly world. In a world where everyone could afford to buy a coffee every time they needed to feed, maybe...

Precious? Very Much.

Get some compassion. And some perspective. It's located just below the underwear dept.

People shouldn't change their baby's in the vicinity of feeding baby's because you wouldn't shit at the dining table, wtf someone needs to tell my baby this, he's forever pooing as he sits in his high chair eating his broccoli

Admit to not reading all the thread, but has anyone mentioned that the baby or twins, could have needed to be fed by nasogastric tube and the parent didnt want everyone's stares and questions?

Ideal world is a room for nappies and a seperate lush, sofa filled room with a pile of clean toys for siblings and a water dispenser and a food machine and a.....

I want a hench woman too!!

It is annoying when people hog feeding/changing but part of that problem is the way they are designed. Has anyone been to Westfield London or Westfield Stratford and used their specially designed mother and baby rooms? They have several changing stations, several feeding cubicles, a play area with tv for older dcs, a family toilet (big enough for a double stroller) with two toilets inside and a sofa seating area. Plus bottle warmers microwave. It's excellent and prevents you having to wait. And makes a shopping trip with baby and toddler easier.

To be fair, I happily get my boob out to feed anywhere. But I do prefer a little privacy if it's available.

It's also worth bearing in mind that some struggle with BFing for various reasons and if you do the very last thing you would want is an audience to compound difficulties and add stress to an already stressful situation.