Family Lounge and breastfeeding station at Greenbelt

I never really found the need to find a breastfeeding station when I am in malls. I found it was too complicated to look for one and by the time I got to the place, my son would have been screaming his lungs out. So when we're out together, I make sure that I either wear a nursing top or something that would give my baby easy access to my breasts. I  always have my trusty nursing cover in our baby bag too just in case. Then, we find ourselves a seat somewhere and we're good. I have even tried nursing Datu while he was on a sling and I was walking. I think I've done that at least thrice. Breastfeeding and baby wearing rocks!

We were at Greenbelt to have our trial class at Gymboree. At the escalator from the parking lot, we saw the notice about the Family lounge and where it was. We were up for a diaper change and feeding so we decided to look for it since we were at the mall early. The Family lounge was at the 4th level at Greenbelt 5 near the Nail place (forgot the exact name) and a Dental clinic (also forgot the name I think it's Metro Dental Clinic). When you enter the lounge you are welcomed by relaxing music. It looks like the business lounges at airports but better. There weren't a lot of people inside. There were only 3 when we got there. I guess it is because it was a VIP lounge. You need to have an Ayala card, VIPinoy card or BPI-Ayala credit card to get access. However, special access is given to Nursing moms (yay!) and PWDs. For us, we can only use the lounge for nursing and changing nappies for FREE.

What are the other things you can do at the lounge?

1. Well, malling is tiring. It can be difficult to find a place to sit that is not in a restaurant. If you go that route, you will have to order at least something to drink even if you are not thirsty. If you had access to this kind of place, you won't have to shell money out.


2. You can leave the boys there. There is free wifi. There is also a business center-like area where a desktop was available for use. There's TV too. So while mommy is shopping, dad can wait for her there and not bug her to go home when she's not done shopping yet.

3. There is a play area. If you do not want to shell out money for places like Gymboree, you can just leave yaya and baby there while you shop.

4. You can nurse privately. It was a really nice breastfeeding station. There is a comfy chair and stool so you can even raise your legs if you want to for extra comfort. The chair is spacious enough that you can actually lay on it and put baby beside you on a side lying-position when breastfeeding. There is also a socket in case mommy needs the area to pump milk or charge her phone :). 

Inside the breastfeeding station

5. Clean changing area. This can be problematic for us at times. There are restrooms that do not have changing area or are plain dirty. There are times when we find ourselves changing baby's diapers on his stroller. It is a bit challenging but better than having to lay your child in some dirty table. The lounge saves us from this. The restroom was clean and spacious.



If I were in that area again, and need to nurse or change, I will definitely use this facility again. I may even try to get a card so I can access the lounge for reasons 1-3.

Breastfeeding Station at SM Megamall

We frequent SM Megamall as it is the nearest and biggest mall to our place but we never really go out of our way to look for breastfeeding stations to feed when the baby is with us. I just find it too much of a hassle when I should be able to feed my child almost anywhere. However, it is nice to know where they are just in case we need to feed at a more private place.

The station is near the Foodcourt, Lower ground floor Building A. We were on our way to have merienda at Razon's, my absolute favorite place to go to have halo-halo when I caught sight of the sign. We were not up for a feeding yet but the echosera in me wanted to make echos inside. Hehehe!

When you enter, you are asked by the nurses to write your name in a logbook. The breastfeeding area is inside the clinic. I was not able to take a picture as there was another mommy-baby tandem inside breastfeeding. The place is a bit cramped. It had two arm chairs and a sink. Per the House rules, only mommy and baby are allowed inside. When I got in the room, a yaya was also inside. I'm not sure how they got away with that since there were three nurses in the clinic.

In all fairness, though small, the station was clean and had comfortable chairs. Will I purposefully breastfeed there though? At this stage in our breastfeeding journey, I have become more confident to breastfeed almost anywhere so I probably won't. But for new mommies who want to nurse privately, you can definitely use this place.