Jennie McAlpine used to send her dad into restaurants to check they were breastfeeding-friendly.
The ‘Coronation Street’ actress – who plays Fiz Stape in the ITV soap – had a tough job trying to find somewhere she could feed her son Albert, who is now three, during his younger years, because there were too many places which didn’t have a good "vibe" about them.
She said: "I used to send my hubby in or my dad in, and my dad was really good at it, and he’d go in and say, ‘No, this isn’t the right place for you, Jennie.’
"You’d just get a vibe about where you can go.
"Then he’d come out and the only thing he’d say and the kind of judgement of it was, ‘They’re nice people in here. The customers, the people behind the till, they’re nice people.’ "
As a result, Jennie has helped to launch Manchester council’s Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme for cafes and businesses, which sees eateries put up a breastfeeding-friendly mark in their windows, and she has called for a toddler-friendly sticker to be invented next.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, she added: "The next thing we need is a toddler-friendly mark. I don’t take my little boy to a cafe or to the supermarket and tell him to kick off right at the point where we’re at the checkout and I’m trying to get my Nectar card out.
"People just being a little bit more understanding and giving a nod to say you’re doing a good job – I think we need a bit more of that."
Jennie will soon be on the lookout for restaurants with the breastfeeding-friendly mark after announcing earlier this month she is expecting her second child with husband Chris Farr.
She wrote on Twitter: "We’ve got a bit of news. Pur baby boy is going to be a big brother later this year. We can’t wait to meet you precious one x …
"Thanks for all your lovely messages. Obviously my baby brain is in full force again. Our baby boy. Not pur. Sorry to people who got confused it was about the cat x (sic)"
Jennie McAlpine sent dad to check breastfeeding locations
