Strange isn't it? If it were a sheep feeding its lamb in a farm park, everyone would think it was a lovely thing to see!

I can only support the remark already made for the UK. Breast-feeding is a healthy and natural thing. If park operators are confronted with visitors that are so sexually frustrated that they find breast-feeding obscene, the best solution is probably to direct these poor people to some form of therapy, counseling or psychiatric treatment. I do think that parks should provide facilities where mothers can breastfeed their babies in a safe and clean environment - and since there is no need for anyone to have diner in a toilet, these facilities should not be part of the so-called 'restrooms'...

BeWilderwood (Norfolk UK) have a lovely fenced play area for small children which includes a shaded area with bean bags next to a great food stand. Mums can relax with their babies (nursing discreetly), safe in the knowledge that their toddler is enjoying playing nearby. Maybe even grab a coffee. Well done BeWilderwood for thinking outside the box. No wonder they have so many happy, loyal customers.

Great post, thanks! Maybe you could do a follow up article about this?

Maybe it's just my European upbringing, but I think there is something seriously wrong with a society that idolates violence and promotes gun ownership and at the same time is shocked by the image of a mother breastfeeding her baby. Thanks to Karen for the tip from Bewilderwood, I will certainly recommend my clients this elegant solution.

We have, thankfully, pretty progressive laws right across the US promoting and protecting a woman's right to breastfeed in public spaces. The very fact that someone in a waterpark being troubled by the sight made the news shows how rare such occurrences are.

And it seems that the UK is not immune to the breast-feeding issue after all.....

One of our readers commented that maybe I should do a follow-up to my initial blog and I hope you will find these comments useful in your consideration of this issue. Interestingly enough, these comments tell me that the breast-feeding issue is more widespread internationally than what you were first lead to believe. Since my initial blog, I’m wondering if things in the U.K. have changed? This morning, July 4th, on Fox News, Kathryn Blundell Deputy Editor “Mother & Baby” magazine from the U.K. was a guest talking about her controversial article entitled “I formula fed. So what?” In the article, Ms. Blundell stated she found the fact of her baby feeding from her breast “well, a little creepy.” She received lots of negative comments for her opinion, a number of which actually chastised her for formula-feeding instead of breast-feeding. Ms. Blundell also got lots of responses from closet formula-feeders who felt they were seen a “bad” mothers for not breast-feeding.

And for our Canadians readers, you are not immune either. On July 02, Frank Etherington of TheRecord.com was commenting on the legs about a recent article on breast-feeding. His article said “On the endless debate about breastfeeding in public, the latest incident to attract excessive attention took place when Kristen Howard and her family showed up at Kitchener’s Lyle S. Hallman swimming pool one recent Sunday. When her hungry five-month-old son began to fuss, Howard got out of the water, sat at the edge of the pool and breast-fed her child.

She was approached by a lifeguard who said that because other swimmers were complaining Howard should cover herself while she fed her baby. Instead, an upset Howard left the pool with her husband and two children, thought carefully about her unfair treatment and then complained to the pool supervisor, city councillors and bureaucrats.

Howard was told by the supervisor the lifeguard took appropriate action following several complaints. She then received an apology from Mark Hildebrand, director of community programs and services, who agreed Howard had a basic right to breastfeed her baby on city property and, more to the point, said lifeguards will now be trained on more appropriate ways to handle such a situation. But that wasn’t the end of the story.

While numerous people wrote to this newspaper defending a mother’s right to breastfeed whenever and wherever necessary, others suggested she should go to a change room or cover herself in order to prevent the dreadful possibility a man or boy might actually see a bare breast.”

I guess the “feeding” frenzy for this issue continues on..

Breast-feeding situations at amusement facilities continue this summer as evidenced by this article:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/baltimoremomblog/2010/08/breastfeeding_in_public.html