Refused breastfeeding in a store

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So I went out for the day with 9mo DS. Thinking I'd just be gone a few hours, so could feed him when I got home. So wore a very feeding-unfriendly dress. Covered chin to knee with no openings.

As it turned out he wouldn't nap so instead of getting public transport home I walked in an effort to get a pram nap. Didn't work either.

On the way I picked up an item I'd ordered from a naice clothes shop chain, on Kings Rd where I was the only customer in the store. I spent £££ on the item and asked the lady if she minded if I quickly popped into one of the change rooms to feed the baby as he was probably dehydrated by this time. She said no, it was a health and safety issue. English wasn't her first language so I repeated myself slightly differently to ensure I was understood... I'd just be taking my dress off on the change room and sitting on the stool... she said no, not possible, but there is a Starbucks two doors down, I should try there.
As I wasn't keen to remove my dress in Starbucks, I carried on home as quickly as possible in order to get some milk into him (I had offered him water a number of times but he's not very keen on that yet).

Before I make any kind of official complaint... I ask you all, was IBU to do this? What are the legal rights of people to bf in a shop? I could obviously have pretended I was tying on a dress, taken baby in there and done it anyway...
And surely it's not actually a healthy and safety thing... folks get up to all sorts in dressing cubicles.

OrangeBird69, also congratulations for breastfeeding your 22 month old.

NoProblem. What would the right word be then. I'm trying draw a positive by showing something similar but slightly different.

Urg a point not a positive

Princess, I'm still bfing my 22mo and have never been 'caught out'. If ds is with me, I wear suitable attire. It's not difficult

Well done you! Have we got a medal? Maybe the OP was sick of wearing bf friendly shit, she didn't plan to get caught out. It doesn't matter. It's not actually about her or punishing her. The point of being bf friendly is so the child gets fed. It's a bit not being an asshole and telling a baby it can wait. We need to be more friendly to BF women, we have one of the worst bf rates in the world for a reason. Stop punishing women for not being martyrd ti the cause

The thing is IC that it really isn't similar but slightly different. That would indeed be an analogy.

Someone feeling ill and needing to sit down or receive first aid is not comparable to a woman wanting to bf in private.

If someone was feeling ill in a shop they'd be highly unlikely to ask to go and sit in the changing room! That would be a bit odd

I'd have returned the outfit as soon as she told me no too.

I'd have just said "in which case I just need to try this on before I leave in case it doesn't fit" and taken my outfit to the changing room and fed the baby.

So your unhappy with the example.

How about an older person who need a rest for a minute?

The point I'm making is the OP wasn't allowed to room a space in the shop when other people would have been allowed. she was even a customer.

Would it not be an insurance issue? If you are using the changing rooms for something other than its intended purpose and something happened surely the staff member could be liable if she has given you permission?

Maybe that's where she was coming from?

Can't believe I'm actually engaging with this but still:

1. You wouldn't sit a poorly person out of sight in a changing room.

1. Being ill or frail due to age is not protected in law unlike breastfeeding that is.

However, in this particular situation nothing unlawful happened. Nothing at all. The shop didn't stop her breastfeeding, they stopped her using a changing room for a purpose other than trying on clothes from that shop. That's all.

The point of the law is to stop women having to jump through hoops and be able to feed thier babies.

Most spaces aren't actually designed for breastfeeding. That doesn't mean they aren't suitable.

I don't know why you didn't just grab some stuff to try and just get on with it

Breastfeeding is protected by The Equality Act 2010. No store has the right to refuse to allow you to breastfeed.

Chapter 2, section 17, 4
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/17

How about an older person who need a rest for a minute?

have I entered the Twilight Zone

Why would an older person want to sit in the changing room of a random shop for a rest? These scenarios simply aren't working for me I'm afraid.

The OP had every right to feed her baby in the shop. The OP did not have the right to request a private place to do so.

Isn't the idea behind the law to stop breastfeeding woman being treated unfavourable? I've provided a couple of examples where I'd think a shop assistant would let people use a change room to show that not letting a breastfeeding woman use them would be unfavourable.

That's not to say thier aren't situations where it's reasonable to not allow a woman to breastfeed.

Just that in this situation I think other customers would haven alllowed to sit in the changing room for a few minutes.

She wasn't refused the right to breastfeed though DJ, she wanted the shop to provide a private space for her to do so - completely different.

Sorry, badly worded. The OP does have the right to ask for a private place to feed but the shop/café/etc. does not have a legal duty to comply with that request.

have you never been shipping with someone that needed a sit down for a minute or two?

Cake - you're too polite! Bollocks to asking next time

Shopping. Shipping would be a whole different thing.

I've provided a couple of examples where I'd think a shop assistant would let people use a change room to show that not letting a breastfeeding woman use them would be unfavourable

You really think a shop assistant would let an ill or elderly person sit in the changing room if they asked?

DJ that information you have supplied seems to suggest that the shop didnt do anything wrong here then as I cant imagine they'd allow anyone else to sit in the changing rooms either.

Like I say imagine a fixture/fitting fell onto the OP while bfing, surely any insurance would be void because OP wasnt using it as a changing room?

So she wasn't saying that you couldn't breastfeed in the shop, she was saying you can not do it in the changing room that are there for customers to try clothes on? Hmmm perhaps don't wear breastfeeding unfriendly clothes when going out and about then you could of just sat on a bench or fed baby whist walking around the shop?

yeah I do because I assume most shop assistant arent jobsworths and in general try to be kind and helpful.

When I worked in a clothes shop there's no way we would have sat an elderly person who needed to sit down in the changing room - what if they took a turn for the worst and we had sat them somewhere inaccessible. We'd get a chair from the staff room and put it out of the way by the menswear tills (there was an alcove there and staff could keep an eye on them)