Is your property 'baby (and mummy) friendly'?
Tourism providers, especially hotels recognise that families with dependent children represent a significant proportion of the travelling population, and are an important market. Many hotels make it a point to appear “family-friendly”, so as to attract parents with children by providing facilities, services and experiences to be in contention as a “family friendly” property – to the extent of even providing water slides and themed rooms to bring in the ‘fun’ element for kids, “Family-friendly” as a concept refers to all family members as a unit but also to individuals that make up the family unit.. Primarily, there are three family member age groups – Adults, toddlers (babies) and young children.
Since becoming a dad, I’ve begun paying particular attention as to how ‘baby and mummy friendly’ a place is when travelling together. What do I mean by ‘baby friendly’? Well, that means a place that is conducive towards the requirements of a baby, as well as to the caregiver/s. It extends way beyond providing a tall feeding chair for a child – who at that stage is typically one year of age at the very least. What about newborns? What are their requirements?
On our anniversary, my wife and I decided to celebrate by going out for lunch with our 3-week-old baby. We selected the Thai restaurant at the Monarch Imperial in Madiwela. Went in early when the restaurant was likely to be less busy and sat at a corner table. Just as our food arrived to the table, our son decided to join in - by bringing forward his feeding time... and began to bawl.
Placed in a quandary and wondering what to do, we asked the staff if they had a small private room or area nearby for my wife to breastfeed our son. In next to no time, the staff who we found to be very accommodating, ushered us into a comfortable private dining room, where they immediately switched on the lights and air-conditioning and left us in privacy – but not before enquiring if there was anything else we required whilst pointing towards a nearby table if the need to do a diaper change arose. I’m naming this place because I want to compliment them for their exceptional hospitality.
Sadly, places like this which are conducive for babies and mums are the exception rather than the norm. We discovered this during a recent trip to Kandy. Despite stopping at some seemingly decent restaurants for refreshment, none of them had a dedicated feeding and changing area for babies. My wife had to contend herself with breastfeeding our son in the backseat of my car, partially obscured by the tinted side windows whilst I kept a vigilant watch outside.
True, travelling with toddlers isn’t common, but it doesn’t mean that hotels and restaurants should not focus on families with toddlers, by providing facilities that can make a world of a difference. Believe me, travelling with babies can be complicated for parents and hotels and restaurants that initiate a baby friendly environment will stand well above the competition.
Acceptance of public breastfeeding varies tremendously around the world. The U.S., several European nations and certain developed countries accept and support breastfeeding in public both in theory and practise. However, in Asian countries including Sri Lanka, breastfeeding in public, even when done in a modest manner is a challenging tightrope involving culture, community and hard looks. Therefore, a private area for mums to breastfeed their babies as well as change their diapers is, in my opinion, a ‘must have’ facility for any self-respecting hotel, restaurant, reception hall or other hospitality venue nowadays. It doesn’t have to be a lavishly appointed area, as long as it’s clean, comfortable, ventilated, and most importantly private.
Here’s an idea – maybe a supermarket chain with large outlets along major travel routes can consider setting up a dedicated area to cater to this requirement for travellers with babies. I am not sure if the rest area along the Southern Expressway has such facilities for feeding and changing babies in private (and no, the ladies’ toilet does not count), but my guess is, it doesn’t. If it does...I stand corrected! For sure it’ll be a win-win situation if malls and restaurants can provide more supportive measures for breastfeeding mothers.
For instance, in December 2019, several star class hotels in Hong Kong, responding to UNICEF HK’s invitation to “Say Yes”, pledged to provide individual breastfeeding rooms, breastfeeding space and breast milk storage services to meet the needs of breastfeeding mothers and their families. All over Hong Kong, over 200 premises have already joined ‘Say Yes’, including 31 large-scale shopping malls, making it even more convenient for mothers to breastfeed their babies anytime.
Remembering that life is about celebrating – especially with a growing family, I hope hotels that celebrate the next ‘Mothers Day’consider the needs of mums with babies when they dine out.
Ashraaq Wahab - Technical Director Hospitality Sri Lanka, Automotive Journalist, Marketer and Writer, enjoys penning his thoughts, insights and ideas on a variety of topics.
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