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 was in the liverpool jl recently, it does have 2 seperate areas marked breast/bottle. I didn't find the chairs very comfy so went and sat on a comfy sofa which was for sale :)

All respect to your friend Amy for actually bringing up a child with Lupus which can cause so many disabilities,especially the fatigue and exhaustion which go along with it. It must be really hard work. One thing I have learnt is to try my best from judging strangers as you never know their circumstances.

Cadmum your friends round like lovely people but i'm somewhat about their ill informed views about donor milk.

I don't know what they think ebm donors are, but i can tell them.

We are mothers of babies under one. We have passed required blood and lifestyle tests. We take the time, energy, milk and freezer space to express, often daily, and stash our milk till it is collected by one of the few milk banks in the uk.

We do this because it is known that donor milk, even pasturised, is better than formula.

Premies can die from NEC which is due to formula feeding.

The WHO recognise that for all babies (ie full term) donor milk is preferable to formula (bf being best, followed by mothers ebm, then donor ebm, then formula)

I wasn't aware that donor milk from milk banks (it needs no inverted commas ) was made available to adopted babies (though i believe it should eventualy be available for all babies).

Any mother who is lucky enough to have a choice, has the right to refuse ebm. I would hope that in that situation the pros and cons would be weighed up with help from a hcp. Your friends reasoning make it round like this discussion was lacking. Also it is recommended that all donor ebm, even from friends, be pasturised.

Thanks for the reminder about donor milk MoonFace. I didn't mean to offend. My friend lives in Canada. (I am also Canadian but currently living in Cambodia.) I should have mentioned that. I believe that my friend was offered donor milk due to her health issues (lupus) rather than because of the adoption itself.

I do understand that ebm is a far superior product when compared with formula but it is generally accepted that live immunological factors are killed during pasteurization. I admire your dedication and efforts. With ds1, I overproduced but was not aware of the bank's existence. With dd1, I was a regular donor. Too many moves and a breast abscess with ds2 ended my donor days.

I am sorry for going off on so many tangents. Maybe I should introduce my friends to MN and allow them to rant on their own behalves. I will consider myself blessed to be surrounded by mums who do breastfeed and try to remember that this is not the UK norm. I don't think that I will ever fully understand the judgment of others' informed parenting choices although I do understand that many are mislead by formula companies who suggest that their products are as good as breast milk.

What I originally set out to demonstrate was that even as a mum who exclusively breastfed her brood and actively encourages other women to do the same I fully understand why a bottle feeding room might be needed. I commend John Lewis for providing the facilities.

I also jumped to Fernie3's defense because she freely admitted that she was having trouble with breastfeeding and panic attacks but instead of finding support on this thread, she was told that she should be isolated in the breast feeding room without her dh just in case another mother might wander in needing privacy.

I freely admit that I enjoyed every minute that I was able to spend with my dh in our early parenting days and it never would have occurred to me that a father would be unwelcome in a breastfeeding room. I am hasty to point out that I never encountered another mother in such a room so maybe that is why I never considered a hypothetical mum's need for privacy.

Cadmum, Fernie did not mention her panic attacks when she described her dh sitting with her in the bf area. She described him sitting there because she did not feel he could stand outside and wait.

That was when she was questioned about it.

She then got support and understanding.

People cannot read people's minds :) If she had said she needed him beside her because of panic attacks then people's comments would have been different - though I think the consensus would still have been to think men should not sit in the bf area, because other people's sensitivities do matter. The person who does mind a man being there may not have the courage or confidence to ask him to go, anyway.

Tiktok I just didn't think about the message it was a stupid throwaway message i wish i had never even posted. I came on here to ask a few questions and saw this thread and for sime stupid reason i cant even remember now decided to comment while i pondered the best wording for my own post.

To clarify, I have used the john Lewis room 3 times, these are the only times i have ever fed my baby outside of my own home. She is nearly 4 months old. I get panic attacks while out - not because of feeding but because of being alone or in crowds ( yes both i know it's in insane). I take medication and don't go oit other than back and forth to the school for my older children. I now know that fathers are not supposed to go in the feeding room - I did not realise this before i just assumed it was ok.

Hey, Fernie, don't worry!

If anything, I was being (slightly) critical of Cadmum who was telling us off for focussing on you - and I needed to explain to Cadmum that we simply had not known the full story!

I hope things get better for you soon.

fernie please don't let this get to you. I don't think i would have thought not to bring dh in to a feeding room. Hey ho. We live and learn. Hope you manage to work out your problems.

Constructive criticism accepted.

I should have paid closer attention to the order of the posts...

If we are ever blessed with another baby, I will consider the feelings of other mums should I happen upon a breastfeeding room.

Fernie I am sorry if I have made you feel worse by drawing more attention to your post. I genuinely hope that you start to feel better and stronger over the coming days and weeks. It sounds as though you have a supportive dh who encourages your breastfeeding relationship with your dd.