Why does John Lewis have a "Bottle Feeding" area?

[LittleAmy]

The John Lewis resturant has a "Parents Room" and inside there is a "Breast Feeding Area" and a "Bottle Feeding Area". Each area is the same size with two chairs and a table. I can understand the need for a breastfeeding area, as some mums feel uncomfortable getting their breasts out in public because we live in a society that has sexualised breasts. But I don't understand why John Lewis has created a "Bottle Feeding Area". We live in a FF culture.

I'm sure there's an obvious answer to this that I can't see because I'm sleep deprived

I know. Oddly that was one of the few times I fed in there. Usually I went, and do again now with DD2, to the espresso bar, and nobody has batted an eyelid in there at breastfeeding.

What is cheering, IMO, is that the feeding room in John Lewis is next to the nappy change and I have noticed that it is very busy these days, which suggests women are breastfeeding.

right i am going to check out JL now :o

Never mind the breastfeeding room, Stealth, go to the cafe and ask for their high tea. It's on one of those dainty plate stacker things and you can bf while filling your face with cake, tea and sandwiches cut into triangles

hmm...
give me coffee and chocoloate cake and I'm there :o
Are you local too? Or is this a generic JL thing?

It's generic I think. They have it in both Southampton and Nottingham so hopefully everywhere else too...

Here in NZ the malls have the most amazing facilities defiantly a model that JL could follow. The rooms have push button entry doors (easy for prams) and are marked as Parents rooms, Dads welcome. They then have little closed off play areas for older kids, microwaves, bottle warmers etc. They also have cubicles with sofa's, clocks and curtains. So you can hide away, or chat to other mums. They were a life saver in the early days as I am really shy.

When we came back to the UK I was quite shocked at how hard it was to find anywhere. I got really annoyed in JL Newcastle as some tosser kept propping the door to the room open with a chair. I wondered if the breastfeeding area was further from the door and more private?

My worst experience was at Singapore Zoo en route. My OH had to stop an American teacher bringing an entire class of kids into the room to fill their water bottles! She just held the door open and did them one by one instead.

Hmm, seeing as half this thread seem to have been in the feeding room in JL Newcastle, am now wondering if it's only been busy as has been filled with Mumsnetters...

Stealth - they do high tea in the Newcastle one too....

Maybe we need a local Mumsnetter meet up there....

The breastfeeding facilities in Westfield in London are lovely - you get a whole room to yourself, so if your partner wants to come in, no problem

I wish there were a JL anywhere near me. Oh well, will have to make do with a comfy chair in Starbucks.

We had access to a hospitality suite at Brands Hatch 2 weeks ago, and this was the first time DH has been with me when I've needed to feed in proper public (as opposed to the car). Because of the rain the suite was full, entirely composed of men and two 10year old boys. I just sat in a comfy corner and got on with feeding my boy and no-one, not even the 10year olds, so much as batted an eyelid. I think DH was really surprised that it was so easy. He's much more relaxed about me doing it now.

We had a great view of the racing too!

JL in bluewater also has 2 areas, one for BF and one for FF. I think this is a new policy because I'm sure that before the refit 6 months or so ago there was only a BF area. I think the inclusion of a FF area is a good thing.
I use the facilities if I don't want to stop for food because it's nicer than BF on bench on a busy concourse. Otherwise the JL cafe is great for high tea and BF also recently my NCT group went for lunch at Santa Fe and they accomodated all 5 of us and our buggies with no fuss and I felt very comfortable BF there.

Chocaholica - if you walk through the changing area then turn left you will see the bottle feeding area. It is in the opposite direction to the breastfeeding area. Although when the BF area is full I've seen BFing mums spill out and use the bottle feeding area. I wonder if a FF mum would complain if she saw that?

"Hmm, seeing as half this thread seem to have been in the feeding room in JL Newcastle, am now wondering if it's only been busy as has been filled with Mumsnetters..."

hahahaha!

JL Newcastle Meet!! - in the boob room

Think there are 2 parents rooms in Newcastle JL now.
I've only used the one next to Nursery / Children's clothes, which has a curtained off breastfeeding area at one end, bottle warmer next to change mats & chairs along the walls for feeding. I think when they opened the newer cafe upstairs a couple of years ago they put another parents room in up there, is this the location of the bottlefeeding area?

Why chocaholia what a good idea! high tea in Newcastle excellent.

I wish we had a JL in Leeds too :(

Yes duckymum

ffs....

Aha it becomes clear. There are two breastfeeding areas in JL, Newcastle. I've only seen the one on the first floor near the children's clothes, which is where I met the anti-breastfeeding man...

LittleAmy I only have five minutes to reply to your question. I am sorry if it is less than coherent.

Mum with adopted daughter was once told that formula would put holes in her dd's gut and that baby would suffer intestinal issues her entire life. She was also informed that her daughter's cold was likely down to being bottle fed and that she would be lucky to avoid allergies and asthma. Neither stranger knew that baby was adopted but they didn't take the time to ask either.

Mum with MS was told by her independent midwife that she was selfish for choosing to give her dd a bottle at night. When my friend explained that she was already going against her neurologists advice by breast feeding for six monthsand therefore risking life-long consequences by not taking her medication the midwife suggested that these consequences would pale in comparison to the impact of one bottle of formula per day. The health professional offering this advice knew that stress was a major factor in my friends ability to cope with the symptoms of her MS but she didn't stop there. She regaled her with horror stories about the evil of formula.

I wonder if anyone truly believes that formula would be more harmful than being an orphan?

In many circles, the tide has turned and it is not always to the benefit of mothers and babies. Maybe I just surround myself in new-age earth-mothers but I don't have a single friend who ff without a medical reason.

So, to summarise...

What most FF-ers would ideally appreciate is a quiet comfortable space, with bottle warming facilities, which is equally welcoming to all FF-ing carers, including men?

And most BF-ers would ideally appreciate a quiet comfortable space with drinking water available, but that was female-only, and essentially more private?

I ask only because I didn't initially see why FF-ers and BF-ers would be kept separate, where facilities were provided. And I had assumed without thinking that all FF-ers would be women, but of course that's not the case.

(I only mention the drinking water NOT because I think FF-ers should be deliberately parched! just because I know as a BF-er that it leaves me thirsty, and as a physical process, there's a lot of liquid leaving my body, which isn't the same for FF-ers. Obviously under my benign dictatorship, a range of free and tasty beverages would be available to all....)

It all sounds lovely barkfox. :)

i had no idea that JL had a feeding area at all let alone separate ones for FF and BFers. Oh the hours i spent in starbucks/costas etc trying to get my lookyloo to take her damn bottle when she would much rather flirt with all and sundry walking past.

What about mums who use a breast pump?
I know Sugarplum and when they do that it takes forever for them to finish the damm thing!

Cadmum - Where those comments made by strangers?? In what context? (p.s. you can BF as an adoptive mum).

littleamy The comments to my friend who adopted her daughter were from strangers and the occasional acquaintance. Several comments have been made at mother-baby groups and some come from out of the blue in public. (Is that relevant? The comments to my friend with MS were from her midwife but both of my friends find it agonizing to feel so judged.)

I didn't mention it before because this is only a thread and my posts could go on and on but my friend who adopted her daughter is unable to have her own children because she has lupus. Most of the time she doesn't weigh 90 lbs and she is 5' 9". I don't think she feels able to contemplate breast feeding.

It is precisely that kind of PS message that breaks her heart. I understand that it is well meaning but it is intrusive and not really anybody's business how she feeds her baby. She and her husband are educated and doing the best they can for their much loved daughter with the resources available to them. She gladly and graciously accepts all offers of breast milk from friends but opted not to accept donor milk from the 'bank' because: 1. It is pasteurized which she feels negates many of the health benefits. 2. She doesn't want to deny premies and unwell babies who might desperately need the bm. 2. She and her husband are not entirely convinced that it comes from healthy sources.