Park staff said they were concerned about breast milk “getting into the water.”
A mother who was told not to breastfeed her baby in a water park's lazy river has taken to Facebook to claim she was discriminated against.
Tiffany Francis was at Rigby's Water World in Georgia, USA, when she decided to take her 11-month-old baby into the lazy river to try and put him to sleep because she believed the slow-moving water could Help him calm down.
Tiffany said this wasn't the first time she'd tried this method, and that her newborn son loved “moving to sleep.”
The new mom posted a lengthy post on Facebook, writing: “In all my years as a breastfeeding mother, I have never had a negative comment about breastfeeding made to me in public… I Got supportive comments from random people, but today is a different day.
She continued: “I went to Rigby Waterworld today with my family. My son is 11 months old and when his nap time came, like every time I come, I went to the lazy river to soothe him. He falls asleep. He loves exercise and sleeps well in the car or on a swing, so he'll also sleep in the lazy river. At home, he's always nursed to sleep. So he's locked in, lifeguard (Caleb) Told me “ma'am, you can't breastfeed in the lazy river”.
“I kind of laughed because I thought he was just making a really bad joke. Then he turned on the radio and had a lady come over and tell me I wasn't allowed. I tried to pull the baby out but when the baby was latched on He was latched on. I asked her if it was posted somewhere and she told me it was posted in the rules out front, so I left the lazy river and I went and read the rules.”
A subsequent conversation with the park manager, who explained to her that breastfeeding equated to their “no eating or drinking in the water” rule, left Tiffany feeling aggrieved and embarrassed.
“Of course, there are no instructions for children, other than that babies need to wear swim diapers (which he is),” she wrote.
“So I asked at the entrance to speak to the manager about it to see where I could see that was a rule and they sent me customer service so after explaining the situation to her she said she The water park manager can be contacted. The manager Steve Brown came over and told me that out of courtesy to others I couldn't feed my son so I asked if this was just a set rule since it wasn't posted anywhere?
“It was just a rule they decided to say. Then he smartly said, well, it says no food or drink in the water. I asked, so my breasts are off limits?”
Tiffany, a season ticket holder at the venue, subsequently requested a refund. “I asked for my season ticket back because I couldn't go there if I couldn't let my son take a nap while I was there and of course they said no. So I left because my son needed a nap and I wasn't allowed to Feed him to sleep.
“Imagine all the body fluids being excreted into the water, but when the baby latches on and they worry about the milk, my breasts come out of the water and the milk just goes into the baby's mouth. But actually, it's not even because he's in Eating in the water because it made other guests uncomfortable.
“I left crying because I was told I couldn't feed my baby, and by the way, it's illegal to tell mothers they can't breastfeed their baby. But of course we have to worry about offending someone by feeding our baby.”
Tiffany later explained that she saw many other mothers holding their babies in the pool and others wearing “offensive” clothing, so she felt she was being discriminated against as a breastfeeding mother.
“While still on the lazy river, I saw several other mothers sleeping with their children on their laps, with their heads resting on their mothers’ chests,” she noted.
“I'm in the same situation as them, my chest is not exposed. My son's face is hiding everything. So, without looking too closely, you'd think he just fell asleep on my chest. But somehow I feel for mine The child did the most natural thing I could do while just trying to get him to take a nap, which made people uncomfortable.
“Please note this was also at a water park and most people were wearing very little but my son and I were very offended. I am so upset and shocked and want to remind all other mums that this is what Rigby Water World treats Breastfeeding mommy way. Someone told me today that you can't bring snacks in for the baby either. I guess they'd rather the baby go hungry.”
Tiffany then ended her post by citing an excerpt from Georgia law regarding public breastfeeding.
“Breastfeeding an infant is an important and fundamental nurturing behavior that should be encouraged for the health of both mother and infant. Mothers can breastfeed wherever mother and infant are authorized to do so.”
After the incident attracted attention online, company owner Steve Rigby contacted Tiffany to apologize.
However, she found their apologies insincere, believing they were more a reaction to the online backlash and did not accept them.
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