I was mum-shamed for breastfeeding in a waterpark’s lazy river – now people are all saying the same thing
A MUM has told how she was “appalled” and felt forced to leave a waterpark for breastfeeding her 11-month-old son in the lazy river.
Tiffany Francis was nursing her tot to sleep in the water when a lifeguard told her to stop as a “courtesy to other guests”.
“Imagine all the bodily fluids being excreted into the water but they’re worried about breastmilk when the baby was latched,” the mum-of-two said.
“My breast was out of the water, and the milk was only going into baby’s mouth.
“But really it wasn’t even about him eating in the water, it was about it making other guests uncomfortable.”
Tiffany was at Rigby’s Water World in Georgia, US with her son, Landon, and four-year-old daughter, Olivia.
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Little Landon “likes motion to sleep” and “always nurses to sleep” at home, hence Tiffany’s idea to have him nod off in the water.
She claimed that a lifeguard came over and said: “Ma’am, you can’t breastfeed in the lazy river.”
Tiffany initially laughed as she thought it was a “joke in very poor taste”, but a quick call over the radio to another member of staff proved that the waterpark staff meant business.
The upset mum tried to challenge staff by speaking to the waterpark’s manager, who reiterated that “it’s as a courtesy to other people” to not breastfeed in the water.
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“He smartly said, ‘well it says no food or drinks in the water’,” Tiffany recalled.
“I asked. ‘so, my boobs aren’t allowed in the water?’”
She tried to wrangle a refund for her season pass but staff refused, leaving her out of pocket with a pass she doesn’t plan to use again.
“I left crying because I was told I couldn’t feed my child,” Tiffany said.
“It is against the law to tell a mother they can’t breastfeed their child - but sure, let’s worry about offending people by feeding a child.
“Somehow I made people uncomfortable by doing the most natural thing I could do for my child, while just trying to let him nap.
“Mind you, this was also at a waterpark where most people are wearing very little clothing but my son and I were offensive.
“I’m just so upset and appalled and wanted to give a heads up to all the other mums out there that this is how breastfeeding moms are treated at Rigby's Water World.”
Tiffany shared her experience in a lengthy Facebook post, which left other mum’s vowing to not step foot in the venue again.
"I say all of us breast feeding mums should go feed our kids in the lazy river," one suggested.
But the main piece of advice was for Tiffany to "lawyer up" thanks to the laws in her state, which stipulate "a mother may her baby in any location where the mother and baby are otherwise authorized to be".
"I think you have a lawsuit on your hands," one mum remarked.
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"Seek legal advice as soon as possible," another said.