Ideas/thoughts for a breastfeeding zone please????

[EmeldaGrace]

Hi

I would really appreciate all of your valued feedback, on a breastfeeding chill out area that I'm organising.

Over various shows this summer, we were approached numerous times by new mums asking if they could use our display furniture for breastfeeding. This prompted us to do something about it.

The Emelda Grace, Yummy Mummies tent, will launch at Woburn Abbey Garden Show.

In 2019, we will be offering a space for mums, dads and babies to relax, refresh and restock before hitting the show once more.

What would you like to find inside a parent and toddler R and R space?
Would you want your partner or friend to accompany you or is this space only for you and your baby?
What would baby want inside the R and R space?

Any suggestions for daddy names for the area? Ie
Yummy Mummies, Tastic tots, ……Dishy daddies? Rad Dads?
Or something totally different –
Breastfeeding and kids chill out zone? Breastfeeding and family chill out zone?

Currently considering the different options below

A family friendly area with a breastfeeding area to one side – that mums can still see their other children playing
A family friendly area with a separated breastfeeding area – I know everyone
feels differently as to how comfortable they are breastfeeding in front of other dads etc
Nappy change area
Toilet
A childrens entertainer for the toddlers/older children – puppet show or story time
Face painter or balloon artist
Craft table
Neck massages
Healthy snacks
Tea, coffee, prosecco, baby bottle warming facilities

What would be most important for you at an all day event such as this?

Many thanks for any ideas!!!

Zoe
Emelda Grace

To be honest, if you started branding somewhere as a "breastfeeding zone" I'd probably have taken my business elsewhere as a matter of principle because I had a really shit time having to bottle feed my kids with some really crappy comments and intolerance towards it. There are others who feel like me in the world and who are possibly less confident in speaking out... up to you how you use that information but alienating potential customers seems a bit daft if you can avoid it.

I would have really appreciated a breast feeding area - I had a very fussy feeder so a sun lounger would have been fab as he liked to feed lying down. Also please let all the chairs have sturdy arms! I hated going to feeding/parent rooms and finding armless chairs - my baby was a chunk and it was so much more comfortable to be able to feed with the help of arm rests.

The one & only singular item I needed was a wide comfy chair to bf.
didn’t need any thing else.
Nothing else.
Simple.
Oh & really didn’t care if it was out in the general population or in privacy, I needed to do it so did it.

It seems that from what you say, the chairs were the only thing these women were asking you for.
It’s lovely that you want to do more but I don’t think that it’s necessary.

To be honest, if you started branding somewhere as a "breastfeeding zone" I'd probably have taken my business elsewhere as a matter of principle because I had a really shit time having to bottle feed my kids with some really crappy comments and intolerance towards it.

I'm sorry you had a horrible time of it, I really am but are you really saying that because you personally bottle-fed breastfeeding mums shouldn't be offered somewhere to sit?

I don't think you need to mention breastfeeding at all. If you say that about some people wanting more privacy it sounds like you are saying they should want more privacy. Why not just say, "Do have a seat if you'd like to feed your baby here".

While I personally don't need privacy to breastfeed I do think it's nice to offer women the option if at all possible. I was in the baby feeding room at Westfield Stratford recently and they had both private and more public seating and while I sat happily on the seats in the main room lots of women - including a lot in headscarves - headed straight for the private area, so I assume they did want that.

Bottle feeding parents need somewhere comfortable and quiet to feed their babies too OP

Just have your families zone and there could be a quiet area that has the feel of being more private where you might personally choose to go if you wanted privacy.

But then what happens if a dad goes and sits in that area? Again, I wouldn't care, but some women would end up going to the toilet in that scenario, which seems a shame.

Bottle feeding parents need somewhere comfortable and quiet to feed their babies too OP

She said there would be bottle warmers so clearly it would also cater to bottle feeding parents - but the privacy stuff obviously doesn't apply there.

If it’s labelled a breast feeding zone then bottled feeding parents aren’t likely to feel very welcome

I think she was talking about a larger family area and then a separate breastfeeding zone, wasn't she? That's what they have in things like the Westfield feeding room I mentioned upthread - the only real distinction is that dads don't go in the breastfeeding zone but obviously do in the main one.

These were the two options she mentioned:
A family friendly area with a breastfeeding area to one side – that mums can still see their other children playing
A family friendly area with a separated breastfeeding area – I know everyone
feels differently as to how comfortable they are breastfeeding in front of other dads etc

In both of those the breastfeeding zone is just part, not the whole thing, so bottle-feeding parents can use the rest of it

Ideally you’d have separate family cubicles. In the early days I needed DH to help me latch the twins.

This way bottle feeding mums can enjoy all the privacy they might need too without feeling unwelcome.

I agree that that would be the ideal. It uses up more space, which is probably why you don't see that arrangement that often, but it would be better.

I actually do think a segregated quiet area for breastfeeding is a good idea. Both myself and quite a few friends have had bf babies that need a quiet space or they are too distracted to feed then get overtired hungry and upset
So yes to w bit of segregation but for the reason above not because breastfeeding needs to be hidden away

Having comfy seating to feed in the family area and a quiet corner to bf if you need privacy/have an easily distracted 5 month old sounds like a great setup. I found it reasonably easy to latch DS on w/o support but knew friends who needed a comfy chair with arms and ideally some cushions in order to feed.

A water dispenser & somewhere to pop a glass of water within reach of the chair would be perfect!