Target Nurse-In: Breastfeeding Chicago Moms Protest Store Policy

Chicago-area mothers joined a nationwide demonstration against restrictive corporate breastfeeding policies Wednesday morning at Target stores citywide.

The "nurse-in" is an increasingly popular tool for breastfeeding advocates and nursing mothers to highlight alleged violations of Illinois law, which does not classify public nursing as indecency. Whole Foods stores were recently targeted after an employee reportedly told a nursing mother to cover up, and Wednesday's demonstration was inspired by a recent incident at a Houston-area Target store, Time reports.

Michelle Hickman was reportedly nursing her baby at a Target Nov. 29 when several employees asked her to move to a fitting room. Hickman says one employee intimated that she could be cited for public indecency, although her infant was covered with a blanket.

According to the Best for Babes Foundation, an pro-breastfeeding online community helping to organize the demonstration, Hickman felt harassed, and called Target Guest Relations, who repeated that the store's policies "are different from the law," although the company's headquarters released a statement supporting public nursing in their stores after a similar incident in 2006.

About a dozen Chicago moms told NBC Chicago they plan to meet at the Target on North Elston to breastfeed at 10 a.m. for about a half hour. The store has expressed support for the demonstration.

The Facebook page co-created by Hickman organizing the demonstration currently has over 6,000 members, and more than 100 nurse-ins are scheduled in more than 35 states, according to Time.

Related on HuffPost:

Comments

[Michael Steaphens]

02:09 AM on 12/31/2011

Glad to see Huffington Post is keeping us abreast of the story...

[Kahlea Williams]

12:35 AM on 12/31/2011

people please. boobs are not risque, they are meant for feeding babies! the only reason some people get uncomfortable seeing a woman breastfeed in public is because they're socialized to think that boobs=sex objects. we as a society need to get past this. breast are for breastfeeding. period. so let the women feed their babies and get over yourself.

[Jeremy D Williams]

01:16 AM on 12/31/2011

Please, lady. Don't give me the "I'm a mom, and I deserve special treatment". I'm a 27 year old male with raging hormones causing me to constantly look for sex. You don't see me bending my wife over in the store to take care of my "natural" business.

Get over yourself.

[Kahlea Williams]

03:18 AM on 12/31/2011

uhh....when did i ever say i was a mom, or that i deserve special treatment? and i'm so sorry that you are a 27 year old male and still haven't figured out that breasts are not for you, they are for babies. and i'm also glad to hear you don't "bend your wife over in the store to take care of natural business". she's got a real got catch! ;) i don't think that's actually a real problem, because, as you mentioned, you are a 27 year old, and you have complete 100% control over your own actions, its not even comparable to breastfeeding, so i'm not sure where your logic is coming from. fox news perhaps?

[Randy Box]

06:59 PM on 12/31/2011

No, sometimes it is not that. It is people think that creating an event for the sole purpose of having your boobs out in public is a way of flaunting it "because I can". Even people who are FOR breastfeeding in public like me, are NOT for the "lets all run down to Target so everyone can watch us breastfeed in public" stuff.

[bldr1bob]

06:37 PM on 12/30/2011

"a dozen Chicago moms" protesting by exposing their beasts and feeding their children, and 500 male reporters just "doing their job".

[Randy Box]

07:07 PM on 12/31/2011

OH, that is just what they wanted, though, everyone to see them do it. You know, so everyone can see what wonderful moms they are. And of course, the chance to have their breast out in public.

[Melissa JacksonLytle]

06:15 PM on 12/30/2011

My question is? How in the word is the mother's breast sterile in a public place. Germs float in the air, people cough and sneeze in the store, germs, land on the tit, now baby on the tit, sucking away, and suck down the germs, now baby has germ in body, baby gets sick. Nice! Dumb and Dumber! If folks can't pat an employer on the back and say "great job!" how does one get away with this, and not get considered as sexual harassment? Regardless of age, who ever gets hungry should have the right to eat in public, in stores, where ever when ever, where ever. Or it would be age discrimination! Correct? So, now we can all sue! Target, workplaces, courtrooms, wherever! Thanks ladies for all the law suits we are all rich now for the age and sex discrimination law suits! find ya lawyer!

[morninglori]

05:09 PM on 12/30/2011

Sl

This issue is not about the babies’ right to nurse. It is really about women who need to expose their breast in public. Just as breastfeeding is a natural function, so is going to the bathroom and having sex…..all of these functions are necessary, but private functions. There is nothing wrong with breastfeeding a baby in public if done so discreetly, but most of these women want to expose their breast with a baby suckling, to get men’s attention. A lot of women expose their breasts almost to the nipple on a daily basis either in the store, restaurant, or any public place just because they are insecure and need to get attention from men…..every man…HAVE SOME SELF RESPECT!!!!!, then others will respect you, even if you are "breastfeeding" in public for the baby's sake...and..... If you are NOT loose, DO NOT DRESS LIKE YOU ARE and stop exposing your breasts if you believe that they are "meant" only for the baby's nourishment, and if that is really your reason for breast feeding in public.

[sjcarl]

02:30 AM on 12/31/2011

How do you know so much about "most of these women"? Oh, that's right, you DON'T.

[Randy Box]

07:03 PM on 12/31/2011

As I have said on other sites, even if every place on the planet had the most wonderful breastfeeding area available for nursing moms, you would still have the ones who will opt for the most public place possible, to make sure everyone can see them, because it is "their right" do so.
The moms who need to go to the nurse-ins will be these women, for sure.

[Terri Simon]

04:30 PM on 12/30/2011

I have heard in numerous reports that when her baby became hungry she covered herself up with her blanket and SAT on the floor of the ladies department. Might that be the reason the employees suggested she go to a dressing room?? Seems to me that a person sitting on the floor in a department store might be a fire hazard. Or someone just craving some kind if attention!!!

[BeanBoo]

03:17 PM on 12/30/2011

Wow, this is really pathetic. So they dragged their babies out into the cold to breastfeed just to prove their point? Were the babies even hungry at the time? (You gotta wonder if they made sure to skip a meal to make sure the baby would be hungry for the event). So glad to see the needs of the child come first... these are some great moms!!!

[sjcarl]

02:34 AM on 12/31/2011

Your argument is really pathetic. It appears you have no clue about breastfeeding.

[BeanBoo]

12:42 PM on 12/31/2011

Please explain why you disagree with my statement.

[CrissyBarrows]

02:48 PM on 12/31/2011

You make an excellent point about making sure the babies were hungry for the nurse-in. I think these moms want their breasts seen. I mean, how hard is it to find a bathroom or fitting room at Target? They have fitting rooms right in the middle of the store, and sitting on the floor is not very sanitary in any public place. Why wouldn't they want privacy? Because they like all the men looking at them!!

[squirrely girl]

06:09 PM on 12/31/2011

Do you eat in public restrooms?

[Megadoodles]

01:49 PM on 12/30/2011

Come on Moms. Let's exploit the children a little more.

[eedeer]

04:07 PM on 12/30/2011

To exploit means that one profits from the actions or work of another. Nursing is one of the single hardest, but best thing a mother can ever do for her child. This is a case of either preaching to the choir or being hung. Personally, the idea of jamming a rubber teat into a newborns mouth is gross.

[CrissyBarrows]

02:48 PM on 12/31/2011

how is it gross if its clean?

[pfreddie88]

01:36 PM on 12/30/2011

I believe that masturbation is also a natural, morally neutral act. Can we all start doing that whenever the moment hits in the middle of a Target? Urination is natural, and doing that in public will get you registered as a sex offender. "Natural" or "beautiful" do not necessarily exclude "private".

[bldr1bob]

06:38 PM on 12/30/2011

But it's legal in San Francisco....

[sjcarl]

02:36 AM on 12/31/2011

Ridiculous and offensive to make that comparison.

[pfreddie88]

05:33 PM on 01/01/2012

But completely accurate.

[pfreddie88]

01:26 PM on 12/30/2011

Having sex and eliminating body waste are two other completely natrural, normal acts. That does not mean that they can't be done privately. It is a social norm in this country that women cover their breasts. All the time. Just because a mouth is latched on doesn't make it less so.

[sjcarl]

02:37 AM on 12/31/2011

The baby is usually under a mother's shirt or covered with e tlanket. Get over it, and stop making these offensive comparisons.

[BeanBoo]

12:43 PM on 12/31/2011

Why is sex "offensive" but breastfeeding isn't? You're ok with the baby but not ok with the process of making a baby?

[CrissyBarrows]

02:49 PM on 12/31/2011

not with all of them! Most just want to be gawked at by men

[justMy2cents359]

01:07 PM on 12/30/2011

When it’s legal for a woman to walk around in public topless, then I have no problem with woman breastfeeding in public. To me breast feeding is a private moment between a mother and her child, and does not need to be shared with fellow shopper at the store. And I don’t think it’s just men that do not want to see this in the middle of Target.
It sounds like someone needed attention and they found it. She doesn’t want to feed her baby with a bottle, but has no problem feed her baby in the middle of a germy department store. I don’t understand why this mother would put herself (and child) in a position like this, especially with all the strange/weird people out there.

[eedeer]

03:53 PM on 12/30/2011

Just for the record, a department store is no cleaner or dirtier than a restaurant which all eat in. This is a case of a few nursing moms giving all a bad name. Most of the time you would have to guess if a baby is being nursed, and while doing so, the baby is not touching anything in the store.

[justMy2cents359]

05:58 PM on 12/30/2011

“a department store is no cleaner or dirtier than a restaurant which all eat in” - maybe the ones you eat in.
Last time I ate at a restaurant I didn’t sit on the DIRTY floor to eat. Also the tables are wiped clean before I sit at them, the plates and silverware are washed, and I wash my hands. If the baby didn’t touching anything in the store I’m the mother did.
It seems the mother cared more about watching her cart of presents then taking her baby to a better location for feeding. I think the focus should be put on the mother and her choices than Target and its policies.

[CunningStunts]

10:50 AM on 12/30/2011

They are female mammals. It's part of their nature.

[pfreddie88]

01:27 PM on 12/30/2011

It's also natural for animals to copulate in public and kill their young. Doesn't civilization count for something?

[CunningStunts]

01:59 PM on 12/30/2011

I believe you inadvertently reinforced my point. Thank you. :)

[DUSAA-1775]

07:41 AM on 12/30/2011

Is it correct to assume that the women who demand their right to breast feed in public will not object to people stopping to take pictures?

[eedeer]

08:18 AM on 12/30/2011

If you object to women breast feeding in public, why would you want to take pictures/

[CunningStunts]

10:48 AM on 12/30/2011

Try reading it again.

[FragBunnie]

11:51 AM on 12/30/2011

Why would the act of breast feeding a child waive a normal and reasonable expectation to privacy? Meaning that if someone on the street that you didn't know started shooting pictures of you specifically, and took more than three, would you let them continue? Would you ask them why?

[deleox]

05:49 AM on 12/30/2011

This is life imitating art. I just read a novel about the breastfeeding wars. It's called Milkshake and it was hilarious. This woman gets scolded in a museum for breastfeeding her baby, and then finds herself caught up in a political firestorm. There are some really funny scenes, and it's a quick read.

[Moxie Miyamoto]

05:42 AM on 12/30/2011

It says right in the article that that woman in Target was covered by a blanket and was still asked to sit in the changing area - probably because boobs are meant for sexual pleasure for men. Boobs aren't meant for food unless its someone who wants to be into ANR - everyone knows this. I much rather feed my children from Walmart tainted formula with synthetic formula then give adequate nutrients and have bonding time with my child.

[BeanBoo]

03:18 PM on 12/30/2011

You can't blame WalMart for the tainted formula. Do you think they produce it? No, they only sell it. WalMart did everything possible to ensure the safety of your child after they found out the product was potentially contaminated (they didn't have to do a thing). So, try to show a little respect.