Mom kicked out of Florida restaurant for breastfeeding her baby under a blanket
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Every few months or so we see one of these stories: "Breastfeeding mom kicked out of restaurant/shopping mall/grocery store/airplane/swimming pool," usually because she refused to cover her child and spare all the shrinking violets stuck in that space with her the lurid site of a human nipple dripping with vile beast milk. "It's unsanitary!" someone usually shouts. "Breastfeeding mother!" screams another, a phrase akin to shouting fire in a crowded theater. But this story is a little different:
Simone Bertucci's family was celebrating her son's thirteenth birthday in a Houston's restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida. During the meal, the restaurant's manager interrupted the family's lively conversation, telling Simone she had to leave while she was nursing her baby---5-month-old Marcello, who was dining at her breast underneath a blanket! So apparently, at Houston's restaurants, you can't even breastfeed your kid under a blanket without upsetting the other customers. Perhaps this has something to do with South Florida, where the elderly population has increased the curmudgeon factor seventy fold in the last half century. Unaware that such an order is contrary to Florida laws on public breastfeeding, Bertucci was "shocked and humiliated," and her husband wanted to leave the restaurant, but instead she insisted on finding another place to breastfeed her son, opting for the baking-hot car in the parking lot.
"I want an apology, a public apology," Bertucci says. "If it happened to me, it's going to happen again and again." She contacted an attorney who encouraged her to document the incident in a police report. Glenn Viers, vice president and general counsel of the company that owns Houston's, sent Bertucci an apologetic letter that said, "We mishandled the situation and we very much regret it," Viers said. "I can't un-ring a bell. I've got three kids and my wife breastfed. Stuff happens. We're human, we make mistakes and we strive not to."
Simone Bertucci's family was celebrating her son's thirteenth birthday in a Houston's restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida. During the meal, the restaurant's manager interrupted the family's lively conversation, telling Simone she had to leave while she was nursing her baby---5-month-old Marcello, who was dining at her breast underneath a blanket! So apparently, at Houston's restaurants, you can't even breastfeed your kid under a blanket without upsetting the other customers. Perhaps this has something to do with South Florida, where the elderly population has increased the curmudgeon factor seventy fold in the last half century. Unaware that such an order is contrary to Florida laws on public breastfeeding, Bertucci was "shocked and humiliated," and her husband wanted to leave the restaurant, but instead she insisted on finding another place to breastfeed her son, opting for the baking-hot car in the parking lot.
"I want an apology, a public apology," Bertucci says. "If it happened to me, it's going to happen again and again." She contacted an attorney who encouraged her to document the incident in a police report. Glenn Viers, vice president and general counsel of the company that owns Houston's, sent Bertucci an apologetic letter that said, "We mishandled the situation and we very much regret it," Viers said. "I can't un-ring a bell. I've got three kids and my wife breastfed. Stuff happens. We're human, we make mistakes and we strive not to."












ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
4-23-2007 @ 9:51AM
nicolebarber said...Up until a while ago i was narrow minded about women who breast feed in public i am no longer that way that baby has a right to eat when he or she is hungry. I still get embarrassed when a women just pops it out but hey i can look away thats a choice i have nobody's forcing me to watch and as for my kids who see a women breastfeeding i explain about the beauty of it.wow It feels nice to grow up and mature thank you moms who breastfeed i am no longer ignorant
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4-23-2007 @ 7:27PM
travelmama said...Stories like this make my blood boil. I am expecting my second child in July and I feel like making it a point to go to these same places and breastfeed. The baby was under a blanket - which it didn't have to be, by the way - and they want to kick the woman out? But if I walked in there showing cleavage a la Lindsay Lohan, in a manner that is clearly more sexual than a baby drinking milk, THAT would be okay.
People in this country are so damn backwards.
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4-23-2007 @ 1:18PM
Jessica said...I am glad that this issue is getting so much publicity. Glad that women are being defended. BUT, don't we owe it to ourselves to learn what our rights are?
I* live in FL. I KNOW what Florida's laws are regarding breastfeeding. Just as I know what the laws are regarding car seats, day care, child abuse, and even the new law on leaving your child in the car.
No woman deserves to be discriminated against fro nursing her child, but I contend that the responsible thing to do would be for women to educate themselves on the laws in their state. if you really want to fight something, you first have to know what you're fighting.
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4-23-2007 @ 4:16PM
sam said...I would keep right on nursing & say, MOVE ME, beyotch!!
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4-23-2007 @ 9:26PM
SKL said...I agree with a previous poster that moms need to know to say "it is legal for me to breastfeed here, and it's illegal for you to try to stop me" when things like that happen.
Personally it amazes me. I hardly ever notice a woman is breastfeeding in public, unless for some reason I am zeroing in on her child's face (e.g., I am trying to get interaction or a photo of the child). Moms are usually pretty discreet (and I do think they shouldn't just "pop it out" in public which is not necessary to breastfeed - my personal preference). So what's the problem - we have reminded a few nosy people that women have boobs? Or that babies suck? I just don't get it.
I do want to say (for non-US readers out there) that this type of story is way the exception rather than the rule. It's not like everyone in the US has an allergic reaction to the idea of public breastfeeding. Most are just happy to see a mommy who is taking such good care of her child.
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4-23-2007 @ 11:48PM
Heather said...I would just say NO. I am not leaving, my child has a right to eat, I am covered, and not breaking any laws. If women would stand up to these managers things would change quick.
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4-25-2007 @ 7:22AM
Sandyone said...This one cracks me up. The kid was under a blanket. Isn't that what all those people want? "It's ok to breastfeed...just don't make me look at it." It's been pointed out before that a blanket just shouts out what's going on.
These people are *not* okay with breastfeeding anywhere in public. They like to pretend they are by putting restrictions on it, but even then, they just can't handle it.
NicoleBarber, good for you! It's nice to see that you were willing to learn something and admit it. Thanks!
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4-25-2007 @ 9:02AM
anonymous said...I work at the Houston's in question. Number 1: the woman was NEVER asked to leave the restaurant. Number 2: there was no blanket covering her, not that it makes what she was doing wrong. The bottom line is that the whole thing was a mistake made by someone who didn't know the law.
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4-25-2007 @ 10:22AM
Amanda said...I HAVE breastfed my baby at the dinner table in a crowded restaurant WITHOUT a blanket. The male waiter came to take our orders and he never even noticed what was going on! It's all about layers people! and hold the baby close! If I think I'm going to be in public and I might have to nurse I wear a stretchy tank top under a button up shirt so I can leave the top buttons buttoned and discreetly pull the tank down. My husband's friends have come over while I was nursing on the couch and they would come up and stroke the baby's head, thinking she was just sleeping. I had to inform them, no, she's eating, they were mortified of course that they might have glimpsed their buddies, wife's boob. I'm just saying, you can be more discreet about it and non-breastfeeding persons need to just get over themselves.
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5-09-2007 @ 12:42AM
shelley Nelson said...Meg Faure’s true breast feeding story at www.mybabysense.com
“Breastfeeding did not come easily to me but I felt it was something I wanted to pursue and eventually successfully fed all three of my babies. One week, my mother was in town visiting and we were eating out quite often. My third baby was three weeks old and so she was taken along and fed, well fed wherever she was when she needed a feed. It became a standing joke between my mom and I because on numerous occasions I would walk into a restaurant and the conversation would go something like this:
Meg: Could you give us a table in a quiet corner so I can feed my baby?
Maitre ‘d: No don’t worry you can feed her anywhere.
Meg: Oh great, thank you… I am breast feeding her
Maitre ‘d: Oh in that case, you can use the toilet.
I would promptly respond: When last did you eat lunch in a toilet?!?!”
COMPETITION
This month you can win a Baby Sense book and a Womb to world CD. Email us your stories and experiences about breastfeeding in public - good and bad, and we will choose the best one. Do you have a funny tale? Have you been asked to move elsewhere to feed your baby? Have you be welcomed and encouraged to feed your baby openly? We want to hear your experiences. www.mybabysense.com
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