text: When Melbourne mother-of-two, Kady Marsh, took her seven-week-old baby aside to breastfeed at a popular Sydney hotel, the last thing she expected was to be told  to put her breast away. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Manly Wharf Hotel. Kady was in town for her best friend’s wedding and was enjoying a post-party lunch with friends and family. When she moved to a quiet corner of the hotel’s lounge area with baby Isla, she says she was confronted by hotel management and told she couldn’t breastfeed because the area was for ‘over 18s only.’ ‘A young manager came over, pointed to a sign above me and said: "Can't you see it says over 18s only?"’ Kady told Daily Mail Australia. 'At first I thought he meant he wanted to see my ID - that he thought I wasn't 18 - then I realised he was referring to Isla.' Scroll down for video . Kady Marsh with husband Euan, baby Isla (pictured left) and her older daughter Ava enjoying lunch at a hotel in Melbourne . 'I said: "Oh no, she’s only seven-weeks-old, she’s just a tiny baby, that's ridiculous." ‘He said we couldn't be there and told me to use the disabled toilet if I wanted to breastfeed in the hotel.' Kady went back to where her friends were seated in the main bar, 'feeling a bit embarrassed'. 'I wasn't worried about breastfeeding in the main bar  - and I would have done - it's just that I physically couldn't manage it on the stools in there and I couldn't find anywhere else to sit,' Kady says. 'My husband Euan went to speak with management to ask what we were supposed to do, and it was then that we were told to use "the baby room" - a disabled toilet with a change table.' Kady  was asked to move from the lounge area of the hotel because it was an area restricted to over 18s . Justin Tynan, general manager and licencee of the Manly Wharf Hotel, says the particular area of the bar where Kady was breastfeeding is the only area that is restricted to adults, apart from the gaming room. He says his hotel welcomes women who want to breastfeed elsewhere in the venue and that the incident sounds like it was a miscommunication. ‘It’s ludicrous to suggest that we wouldn’t allow breastfeeding in the hotel,’ Mr Tynan told Daily Mail Australia, adding that his own wife regularly breastfeeds their four-month-old baby, Max, at the venue – and elsewhere in public, often. ‘We just wouldn’t have a policy like that,’ Mr Tynan said. ‘We’re a kid-friendly bar: We have children eating here seven days a week on a special kids menu, we have 30 high chairs and we have mother’s groups here every day.’ Ajita Tynan, wife of Justin Tynan, with their baby Max. Mr Tynan, General Manager of the Manly Wharf Hotel, says Ajita often breastfeeds their son at the venue and it's 'ludicrous' to suggest the hotel wouldn't allow women to do the same . In Australia, women have a right to breastfeed in public. Under the federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984 it's illegal to discriminate against a person or deny services, directly or indirectly, on the grounds of breastfeeding. ‘Breastfeeding mothers should feed their babies, in any way they feel comfortable and not feel any pressure to meet other people’s expectations of discretion,' says Jessica Leonard of the Australian Breastfeeding Association. 'For some mums this may mean breastfeeding in public in full view, for others it might mean covering up,' she says. ‘But being directed to a public toilet is really inappropriate. Any place a woman breastfeeds has to be somewhere that is also appropriate to prepare food. A toilet is not one of those places.’ Ms Leonard says it’s important to see mothers breastfeed their babies because it normalises what is a natural and healthy thing to do. ‘Mothers breastfeeding in public are helping the next generation of Australians to learn that breastfeeding is normal,’ she says. Her comments echo those of Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr recently on the 'breastfeeding in public' issue. ‘Everyone has a right to choose what they feel is best for their own baby and some people cannot breastfeed and/or do not want to,' Kerr said after posting a photo of herself breastfeeding her son Flynn to social media. 'But don't abandon breast feeding because of any "social" stigma (perceived or real) that might be attached to breastfeeding in public,' she said. ‘There are more breasts being shown on a daily basis around the world in swimwear and low-cut dresses than there are from breastfeeding mums.' ‘There are more breasts being shown on a daily basis around the world in swimwear and low-cut dresses than there are from breastfeeding mums,' Miranda Kerr said when she tweeted this photo of herself with baby Flynn . For Kady Marsh, the incident at the Wharf Hotel was just 'unnecessary'. 'There was only one other couple sitting on the lounge area, it really wasn't that busy,' she says. 'If they had just exercised some common sense, said something like: "Look we know it's silly, do you mind if we just ask the other patrons if they mind, or we can find an alternative spot for you," it could have been solved.' 'Instead, I was made to feel like I was doing something wrong, that I was just another hormonal breast-feeding mother being difficult,’ Kady says. 'If I was a first-time breastfeeding mum, I would have been a lot more upset.' Kady was told by another employee of the hotel to move to some benches about a metre from the 'over 18's' lounge. Instead, she and her husband - who  ran their own bar in Melbourne for more than three years - ended up going to a different hotel nearby. Kady says they sat down at a table and fed Isla without a sideways glance in their direction. They then went back to their friends at the Wharf. ‘We’re a kid-friendly bar': The General Manager of the popular Manly Wharf Hotel, pictured, says the venue  welcomes women who want to breastfeed elsewhere in the hotel . Jessica Leonard from the Breastfeeding Association says stories like Kady’s of women being asked to ‘move on’ are uncommon. But they do still happen and can knock a women’s confidence. ‘We know that about 300,000 babies are born in Australia each year and that 96 per cent of those mothers start out breastfeeding, so, the number of complaints we hear are really a drop in the ocean,’ she says. ‘Sometimes the problem is just poor customer service, but really, it’s in the best interests of businesses to be supportive of women who breastfeed.’ The Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) supports recommendations of the World Health Organisation to breastfeed for the first two years of a child’s life, with exclusive breastfeeding until a baby is six-months-old. ‘Breastfeeding is the best way to provide infants with the nutrients they need and it should be encouraged everywhere,’ Ms Leonard says. New mothers can find breastfeeding-friendly venues through the ABA's Breastfeeding Welcome Here directory.The Association also runs a free 24-hour breastfeeding helpline for mothers.
target: A woman was told by Sydney hotel she couldn't breastfeed in '18s only' area .
  She was directed to use the 'baby room' instead - the hotel's disabled toilet .
  In Australia, women have a right to breastfeed in public .
  The federal Sex Discrimination Act makes it illegal to discriminate against a person on the grounds of breastfeeding .
  The hotel says it is a child and breastfeeding friendly venue .