Thinking of hitting the mall this weekend to shop till you drop? But while you indulge in retail therapy, carrying your three-month-old around will be a Herculean task — what with nappies, milk bottles and knick knacks to lug around with. Don’t fret, for malls in Delhi have taken it upon themselves to help young mommies while they’re on a shopping spree. Baby care rooms or feeding rooms are finding a place in many of them.
The first to introduce Delhiites to the concept of a feeding room is Select Citywalk in Saket with a dedicated room on the ground floor. Rajiv Duggal, CEO, Select Citywalk, says, “For a feeding mother, it’s extremely uncomfortable to scout for a corner in a restaurant and to embarrass herself while doing so.”
With this thought in mind, a feeding room was conceptualised a few months ago. The room has an automatic nappy station with consumer durables like soaps, towels and a bottle warmer. Baby posters add to the ambience. No fee is charged.
Not to be left behind, Ambience mall in Gurgaon is launching a similar facility next month. Theirs promises to be a complete baby care room. Deepti Goel, marketing head, doles out the details. “The room on the first floor will have all the requisites of a baby room — a microwave oven to heat milk, food, games, toys and prams,” she says.
Bhoomika Padhalni, 27 and a mother of a seven-month-old, gives this facility a thumbs up. “It’s a great concept.
Most of the times we have to wind up our dinner plans because of the baby. But with facilities like these, mothers like me can enjoy an uninterrupted shopping experience.”
Benu Sehgal, VP, Operations, The Great India Place Mall, Noida, says that they too are looking at such a provision. However, for now, they have “a small corner in the ladies room”. Khaezer Hyatt Khan of Jasola Mall, informs that his mall will provide an added facility at “the soon-to-be launched” baby care room. “We are planning to hire nannies for the babies,” he says. Sunit Gandhi of TDI mall, Rajouri Garden, says that his mall is planning a kids corner, that will be operational in five to six weeks, but here only kids above the age of four years would be allowed.
{{/usCountry}}Benu Sehgal, VP, Operations, The Great India Place Mall, Noida, says that they too are looking at such a provision. However, for now, they have “a small corner in the ladies room”. Khaezer Hyatt Khan of Jasola Mall, informs that his mall will provide an added facility at “the soon-to-be launched” baby care room. “We are planning to hire nannies for the babies,” he says. Sunit Gandhi of TDI mall, Rajouri Garden, says that his mall is planning a kids corner, that will be operational in five to six weeks, but here only kids above the age of four years would be allowed.
{{/usCountry}}Pushpa Bector of the newly-launched DLF Promenade in Vasant Kunj, says that though they don’t have a feeding room, they have installed a modular nappy change table in the ladies room. “We’re eventually looking at a feeding room too, but because we’ve just opened the mall, the focus is more on getting it up and running. But if the customers want it, we will do the needful.”