'They'd rather babies go hungry.' I was kicked out of a park for breastfeeding

"They cited a rule about 'no food or drink', which apparently means no breastmilk for my baby..." the mum said in her viral rant. 

Tiffany was enjoying a day out at her local waterpark with her 11-month-old son when she was told she had to leave.

Apparently, you can't feed your child (the literal people these parks are designed for) in the pools area.

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"I guess they'd rather babies just go hungry"

She was nursing her little one in an area called 'the lazy river' - somewhere he likes to fall asleep in while he floats (sounds ideal, right?).

After he latched, a male lifeguard apparently called out to her, saying, "Ma’am you can’t breastfeed in the lazy river."

Initially, Tiffany thought it was a joke but he continued saying it over and over until she was forced to get out of the water.

The lifeguard was pointing to a sign that apparently showed that she wasn't allowed to breastfeed in the waterpark... only there was no rule explicitly saying this. 

The rule he was pointing to simply said you can't have food or drink near the water. 

After escalating this to his manager, the same rule was repeated again.

"He smartly said, well it says no food or drinks in the water. I asked, so my boobs aren’t allowed in the water?" she wrote in a Facebook post.

"I guess they'd rather babies just go hungry."

She then left the waterpark crying and asked for a season pass refund which was denied. 

Image: Facebook

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"Stop policing our bodies!"

Her post then racked up over 1.1k likes, 1k comments and over 900 shares. She then says she was "threatened" by the waterpark and, "asked to delete or edit her post"

People defended her right to breastfeed in public, saying: "Their feelings don't trump the law. You're allowed to breastfeed wherever you're legally allowed to be."

"People need to see mothers nursing," another said. "Stop policing our bodies!!"

"This is awful! People of all ages are urinating in the water and they’re worried about breastmilk?" pointed out someone else. 

Eventually, the waterpark's Vice President of Operations issued this statement: "After reviewing other cases on this subject and conducting a survey among other aquatic professionals. There were some good arguments for and some good arguments against allowing it. However, going forward, I will not prevent breastfeeding mothers from nursing their children in the pools.

"Even though it could be considered by many to not be the best practice, mothers have the right to breastfeed their child wherever they chose. It has always been common practice on the pool deck, but now it is allowed in the pool if a mother chooses.

"I would like to apologise to Tiffany for asking her to not breastfeed in the pool and, by that, not creating the best experience for her today. I will send a memo to our team to let them know about the change to this policy. I would like to thank those of you who conducted yourselves in a positive way to shed light on the subject."

Originally published as 'They'd rather babies go hungry.' I was kicked out of a park for breastfeeding