# McDonald's Nurse-in **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172 "2004-07-15T00:13:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/1 "2004-07-15T00:13:49Z")
I have copied this from my bfing board and am spreading the word. If you know anyone who nurses their baby, please pass this on to them. Last year there was a nurse-in in Burger King because of a similar incident and the company changed their policy. That’s what we’re hoping for. > [@](#): > > Because of a recent incident at a McDonald’s in AL (a BFing mom I saw on another BF support board was told to stop nursing or leave), we’re holding a McDonald’s Nurse-In! > > On Saturday, August 7 at 3 pm local time, go to whatever McDonald’s you want and nurse, nurse, nurse! Make sure you buy something (remember, we’re the “good guys” here!). > > Everyone, everywhere is welcome to participate… You don’t have to only be in AL or only in the States. > > Spread the word - let your playgroups know, other sites, and your IRL friends too. For the BK nurse-in, I know some women even called local newspapers to cover the event. The first week of August is BFing Awareness Week, too, so this will be great exposure (pardon the pun!). > > Hope everyone will participate! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/2 "2004-07-15T02:40:20Z")
Do you have a cite for the incident at the AL McDonalds? Not to take away from the spirit of your post (I firmly believe in the right of women to breastfeed in public), but this sounds very much like an urban legend. I did check [Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com) and found nothing. Also I did some searching on Google and really didn’t find any incidents about McDonalds asking nursing mothers to stop or leave. On a personal note, my wife breastfeeds and has never once run into a problem at the McDonalds here in town. It is possible the incident in AL was just policy set at that particular McDonalds (a franchise), or even just a personal phobia of the manager at the time at that restaurant, and not the policy of the corporation. According to [this site](http://www.lalecheleague.org/Law/Bills9.html) AL currently has no law regarding breastfeeding in public. So if this is a major issue in AL, perhaps it is a good time to contact your state rep or senator to introduce legislation. It would be much more effective than a breastfeeding sit-in. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/3 "2004-07-15T03:42:11Z")
Oh good, bf-ing in this case stands for breast feeding! Just wanted to make that clear… ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/4 "2004-07-15T04:51:14Z")
Really…I was wondering if we were going to see area McDonald’s filling up with matadors. ---
**Author:** ![cardsfan1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cardsfan1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardsfan1975)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/5 "2004-07-15T05:04:06Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > Really…I was wondering if we were going to see area McDonald’s filling up with matadors. Well, if that happened, at least we would know that their beef is fresh! 😃 cardsfan1975 ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/6 "2004-07-15T05:26:08Z")
Seems to me like this is just drumming up extra business for McDonald’s. It also seems to me that the best way to create awareness of public breastfeeding is to go about your normal everyday life, and simply feed your baby when he/she gets hungry. If there really is an actual McDonald’s somewhere that discriminated against a breastfeeding woman, I would think that a boycott combined with a letter-writing campaign to corporate HQ and the local newspapers would be more effective than going to McDonald’s, spending a bunch of money, and parking your butt there for a couple hours. I say all this as a woman who has breastfed two children (my now-weaned toddler, and my currently-nursing 5-month-old. Well, not “currently” as in right this second. You all know what I mean). ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/7 "2004-07-15T12:44:30Z")
There is this [BBC news story](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/3286313.stm) from November 2003 - but the most recent incident (in the UK at least) involved the [National Gallery](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3881133.stm). Grim ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/8 "2004-07-15T13:13:04Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > Do you have a cite for the incident at the AL McDonalds? Not to take away from the spirit of your post (I firmly believe in the right of women to breastfeed in public), but this sounds very much like an urban legend. I did check [Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com) and found nothing. Also I did some searching on Google and really didn’t find any incidents about McDonalds asking nursing mothers to stop or leave. > > On a personal note, my wife breastfeeds and has never once run into a problem at the McDonalds here in town. It is possible the incident in AL was just policy set at that particular McDonalds (a franchise), or even just a personal phobia of the manager at the time at that restaurant, and not the policy of the corporation. > > According to [this site](http://www.lalecheleague.org/Law/Bills9.html) AL currently has no law regarding breastfeeding in public. So if this is a major issue in AL, perhaps it is a good time to contact your state rep or senator to introduce legislation. It would be much more effective than a breastfeeding sit-in. I don’t have a cite but the original woman who posted on my support board is a regular and I have no reason to doubt her veracity. The ladies on my support board organised a nurse-in in Burger King last year which was covered by some local media and caused the company to put a policy in place, which is the intention of this nurse-in. I am not in AL or even in the States for that matter, but nurse-ins have been shown to be effective in the past. ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/9 "2004-07-15T13:19:04Z")
[http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3606108/](http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3606108/) I did a google on Burger King and bfing and came up with this cite which shows that just the threat of a nurse-in caused the chain to change its policy! ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/10 "2004-07-15T14:16:46Z")
> [@biddee](#): > > [MSN | Outlook, Office, Skype, Bing, Breaking News, and Latest Videos](http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3606108/) > > I did a google on Burger King and bfing and came up with this cite which shows that just the threat of a nurse-in caused the chain to change its policy! Yes, but how do you know McDonald’s _has_ a policy that needs changing? > [@Dragwyr](#): > > On a personal note, my wife breastfeeds and has never once run into a problem at the McDonalds here in town. It is possible the incident in AL was just policy set at that particular McDonalds (a franchise), or even just a personal phobia of the manager at the time at that restaurant, and not the policy of the corporation ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/11 "2004-07-15T14:25:23Z")
> [@biddee](#): > > [MSN | Outlook, Office, Skype, Bing, Breaking News, and Latest Videos](http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3606108/) > > I did a google on Burger King and bfing and came up with this cite which shows that just the threat of a nurse-in caused the chain to change its policy! I don’t know if you noticed but the very end of that article says that no protestors showed up. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/12 "2004-07-15T14:27:47Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > Oh good, bf-ing in this case stands for breast feeding! A little piece of biscuit just flew past my monitor and flattened itself on my far wall. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/13 "2004-07-15T15:18:14Z")
> [@Who\_me?](#): > > Yes, but how do you know McDonald’s _has_ a policy that needs changing? You are correct. I don’t know. Also, I haven’t been able to find one online either. Still, it is likely it was a personal call of the manager at that specific restaurant. In today’s age of political correctness, large corporations usually don’t like to stir things up by alienating a particular group with policy as insane as this. I will continue looking around though and see what I can dig up. ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/14 "2004-07-15T15:33:20Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > I don’t know if you noticed but the very end of that article says that no protestors showed up. No one showed up at ‘that’ particular Burger King. Do you know how many Burger Kings there are in the States? Actually, if you think about it, I wonder how many nursing women there are in the States at one time and how many BK’s there are. I’m pretty sure there were a number of nursing women showing up at BK’s around the country. ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/15 "2004-07-15T15:37:18Z")
> [@Who\_me?](#): > > Yes, but how do you know McDonald’s _has_ a policy that needs changing? It is quite possible they don’t have a policy in place at all. In which case they need to have one put in place and if a nurse-in or threatened nurse-in will cause them to take a look at that, then all the better! ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/16 "2004-07-15T16:20:25Z")
I think the point they are trying to make is you might want to check the policy with the company before staging the protest. You wouldn’t want to be like the guy who staged a protest because he thought the young girl insulted by the politician was black only to find out later that Isis is a blonde white child. Suddenly he decided the insult was no longer worthy of a protest. Are you **sure** about McDonalds policy or lack of it and that it warrants a protest? ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/17 "2004-07-15T17:23:24Z")
> [@biddee](#): > > It is quite possible they don’t have a policy in place at all. In which case they need to have one put in place and if a nurse-in or threatened nurse-in will cause them to take a look at that, then all the better! And also, I can find no indication that the event that you’re claiming happened actually did. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/18 "2004-07-15T17:38:04Z")
> [@biddee](#): > > I’m pretty sure there were a number of nursing women showing up at BK’s around the country. How about [16 women in one Buger King](http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,525037800,00.html)? That’s all I can find. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/19 "2004-07-15T22:48:32Z")
Watch that the BFers all get turned away because the McDs get overrun by lonely single Internet geeks hoping for a peek. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172/20 "2004-07-15T23:14:01Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > How about [16 women in one Buger King](http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,525037800,00.html)? That’s all I can find. It seems that was the Thursday before and at the original BK where the incident happened. I also cannot find anything about women actually doing the nurse-in, but it doesn’t matter because BK changed their policy just under threat of one. Hopefully McD’s will adopt a policy that women are allowed to bf in their restaurants and managers will NOT be allowed to ask women to feed their children in the bathroom! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-nurse-in/255172.md?page=2)