I told a mum of a newborn to go elsewhere to b/f her baby....

[MARGOsBeenPlayingWithMyNooNoo]

..as she was feeding her baby in the babychange area in M & S. I wasn't bossy or anything. There's a nice feeding room in Mothercare which isn't attached to a toilet and is calm and dark and has those lovely rocking chairs that all mum-to-bes have on their wish lists.

While I'm on the subject - I need to rant. Mothercare in Bluewater removed their nursing room in favour of a stock room.

I know that you have the right to feed anywhere but when you're new at it and need to go out, it's nice to know there are hygienic, quiet places to feed your baby.

I think if you just launched into telling her the alternative place to feed rather than throwing it into a conversation as an 'oh by the way' she may still have felt embarrassed and awkward. I would have, especially in the early days of being a new mum when I was supersensitive about pretty much everything with my hormones all over the place.

When my baby was crying for food I would just look for the quickest and most private place to feed him. I wouldn't have wanted to go out and find another shop.

I realise you were being helpful though. I'd probably recognise this after my initial feelings of

It could have been worse I know of mums that have been TOLD to go elsewhere like they are committing the ultimate sin for b/f their babies. It's such a shame that B/F is not that acceptable in public. No wonder I stopped it, I really admire those who can continue to b/f I couldn't carry on purely for this reason because I felt like I had to run home to feed dd.

Hope your're not beating yourself up about it or anything sounds like you approached it in the right way-credit to you for that!

mothercare have also removed their feeding/changing room in Lewisham to increase shop size for ELC. I bf on a bench in the middle of the shopping centre and got lots of 'looks'.

Also, mothercare and H&M have stopped doing any nursing tops in store except vests it seems. In fact local H&M does no maternity clothes at all now.

So not exactly encouraging bf then.

The mothercare in York has just put in a really nice big feeding room.

Iirc, John Lewis has an OK feeding room.

when the DSs were little, if I was in M/care or John Lewis I would always sit in one of the display chairs. Never occured to me to look for a room

or any dept store with a chair or sofa handy