Mother denied entrance to Edmonton city pool over bottle of baby formula
'This is baby food. What am I supposed to feed my son if I don't have my bottle of baby formula?'
On a warm Thursday afternoon, Holly Sullivan was looking forward to spending time with her friends at the Mill Creek outdoor pool.
She brought along her five-month-old son Elliott and a prepared bottle of formula to feed him.
When she arrived at the pool however, a supervisor told her she wouldn't be able to bring in any open liquids, including her son's bottle.
"I said, 'But this is baby food. What am I supposed to feed my son if I don't have my bottle of baby formula?' " Sullivan recalled.
"I know that it's an open container technically, but it's formula."
City facilities have a no-open-containers policy in place to prevent people from bringing in alcohol.
Sullivan was told she'd either have to pour the formula out or leave it in her car and feed her son there.
Staff also told her she could always make a new bottle with hot tap water once inside, but for Sullivan who uses a concentrate, that wasn't an option.
'I was really upset'
"I said, 'I don't use powdered formula and I can't just make more.' I was really upset. I mean I've gone through airport security with no problems with my bottles before," she said.
"Formula is very expensive and I wasn't willing to dump a full bottle of formula out."
She called 311, but the operator reiterated the policy. Sullivan filed a complaint and reluctantly left the pool to put the formula in her vehicle.
"I was really shocked. I don't know if people just don't understand that formula is their primary source of hydration and nutrition, especially at five months old," she said.
"It was a hot day, I just couldn't understand it."
When she returned to the pool, staff told her they were willing to make a one-time-only exception for her to bring the bottle in.
Sullivan said the offer was not a satisfying solution considering other mothers might find themselves in the same situation.
Not OK
"This isn't OK as a policy. It's not about me just this one time. What happens when I want to come back next time; what happens when other people come and they have their bottles of formula for their babies?" Sullivan argued.
"This isn't a policy that should be applied without any discretion."
In a statement to CBC News, a city spokesperson said the incident was an oversight by staff and they've apologized to Sullivan.
A message has been sent to all pool staff and supervisors to remind them mothers are welcome to feed their children any way they wish in all public facilities in Edmonton.
They're also working to make the information available to all 311 representatives and on city websites.
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