When a group of mom friends from Aurora, Colorado, went to breakfast at a local IHOP for International Pancake Day, they never imagined what would follow.
In a public Facebook post, Tiara Wilson alleges that she and her six girlfriends were humiliated by police officers who were called to the scene.
The friends were laughing and talking with their babies over breakfast. A few of the women began to breastfeed their young children as a family sat down nearby.
“While breastfeeding that same family of 3 that was sitting next to us, decided to snap a picture of us feeding our babies. He decided to make disgusting faces and snarky little remarks to his family,” Wilson said in her post. “Then his family decided to take photos and decided that they would sit there the whole time and mean mug and again make nasty faces as everyone FED their babies.”
Wilson said one of her mom friends decided to get the manager’s attention because they felt uncomfortable. “Well, the manager decided to call the police because he said it’s illegal for this family to sit there and take pictures,” she added. “The police came and this part is what TRULY disgusted me.”
When authorities arrived, according to Wilson, the cops told her and her friends to “GO TO THE BATHROOM or USE A COVER.” It is legal to breastfeed a baby in public under Colorado law.
“How is this okay? Why is it that we are still shaming mothers for feeding openly? Why do we have to go to the bathroom to feed our littles? Do you eat your food in the bathroom? No. Are you eating under a blanket? No. DO NOT TELL A MOTHER, that she needs to go to the bathroom during an outing with friends to feed her little one,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson shared the embarrassing episode with Breastfeeding Mama Talk, a Facebook support group that has nearly 900,000 likes. The page is helping Wilson and her friends deal with the incident.
“The Aurora Police Department Has made a couple of statements,” says a post on the Breastfeeding Mama Talk Facebook page. “They are looking into the matter as we speak. Let’s hope for a positive resolution. No need to make anymore posts to their wall at the moment .. Let’s give them a chance to make this right! Thanks everyone!!”
