Breastfeeding Mom Kicked Out of Target Store by Security Guards and Cops During the Christmas Season
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For those of you who saw the story of the nursing mother kicked out of the Target stores while feeding her 4-week old, here is a video of the local news feed. Channel 7&4 is a local news network that apparently held Target accountable for their shabby treatment of the nursing mom and baby. Why Target thought it was a “security risk” to have a nursing mother in the store is beyond me. Apparently Target execs haven’t figured out that breastmilk is in no way harmful to shoppers, but they called the cops anyway. I like the news station’s report because not only is the mom nursing during the filming, but the news channel contacted Target headquarters. True, Target execs sound like assholes (remember their award from earlier in the week), but harassing nursing mothers is obviously something Target allows its employees to do with immunity.
I called the number below to talk with Target about this issue. Once I figured out the phone system, I was transferred the second I mentioned the breastfeeding incident. I am still waiting on hold… I was transferred to the Guest Relations Dept. They start off by asking for my name and information, and then the representative had to check “to see if they had any information.” I mentioned that as a breastfeeding mother I was concerned about going into Target stores after this. The representative said that they want to make sure other shoppers have a “distraction-free shopping experience.” When I said that the last thing that I, a nursing mother, would want is is for my breast to been seen a s distraction for the Target customers or staff, the woman just kept saying that they wanted to make sure Target customers “felt comfortable.” I asked how Target made women feel comfortable, because Target has issued no statement about how women would be comfortable after this, that no action was taken against the security guards, and I asked if I could talk with someone else.
The woman told me that I couldn’t speak with anyone else and that I could always go up to a service desk if I felt uncomfortable. I asked if that meant I had to go to the service desk to get permission to breastfeed in Target stores, and the woman said only if I felt uncomfortable. I said I wanted Target to issue a statement about how they are working to help nursing moms feel safe in their stores when they have been harassed while shopping. The woman offered no solutions and said she had “no further information.” She really just wanted to get off the phone with me, and when I said neither I nor my family would shop at Target until they came out with a concrete statement saying their staff would not harass other women or nursing mothers, the woman just said she was “sorry I didn’t feel comfortable.” Basically the woman just repeatedly read the press statement but said she would pass my comments along. So, if you want to get dumped into Target’s database of “we’ll-never-do-anything-about -this” call and give the people a discussion on civil rights in America, call. I did, but then again, I am offering Unasked Advice.
Target Corporation
1000 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55403
You may also call Guest Relations at 
(800) 440-0680
(7a.m. to 6p.m. CT, Monday through Friday) or email guest.relations@target.com
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Unasked Advice 
Hey, how much spam do you get here? I have a blog which is almost identical to yours(subject wise) and I get freaking hammered. Askimet doesn’t even seem to help anymore.
Target has family restrooms for that stuff. And what about doing it in your car? Why are you breast feeding while shopping at target? That’s ridiculous.
Do you normally eat in the restroom or in the food court? And do you monitor how other people eat? That would be ridiculous.
I don’t know if you’ve been in a family restroom but there is generally no where to sit but the disgusting bathroom floor or the toilet. Breastfeeding is natural and healthy and necessary and shouldn’t make anyone uncomfortable. If Target wants to ban nursing mothers to the bathroom, put a clean and comfortable chair in them.
I don’t think women should be put in bathrooms to nurse–it’s too dirty. Dressing rooms would also work, but really, there is no law against public breastfeeding. There are lots of things I don’t like to watch people do in public, but that doesn’t make it illegal, nor does it give me the right to harass them. People may not like to watch women nursing, but they always have the option not to watch.
Personally, I never want to feed my child where other people defecate, clean chair nearby or not.
There’s no reason she couldn’t breast feed her infant in a dressing room. I’m all for breastfeeding but breastfeeeding moms are getting ridiculous. Breastfeeding might be offensive to some people and I can understand Target’s position. They could lose business.
She has her rights but so does a business. She also could be a liability risk. Where was she nursing. Was she in an area where there is a lot of traffic. It could be hazadous for herself and her child.
If Target serves the public, and it does, it must abide by laws that govern the public. This issue has also come up with businesses asserting they don’t need to make buildings with wheelchair access, but simply stating that a business is run by a private company but relies on the public requires that the business follow public code. It really isn’t an issue of whether or not the businesses want to comply, but that they are legally required to. And nursing isn’t generally considered hazardous. LOL.