DENTON — A mother who wanted to feed her child created quite a frenzy inside a Denton hair salon earlier this week.

Robyn Nair wanted to breastfeed her baby, but before she could start, she was kicked out.

It was 9:30 Wednesday morning. Nair was the first and only customer inside the Regis Salon at Golden Triangle Mall.

Her eight-month-old daughter was in tow, and she wouldn't stop crying; she was hungry.

"She sat on my lap for a couple minutes and was still screaming and wanting to nurse," Nair recalled.

She told her stylist she was going to nurse the baby.

"I started to fidget around to get ready, and she told me that was not allowed in public," Nair said. So she asked why it was a problem; after all, Nair had a shawl and a salon smock for modesty.

"She goes, 'We do not allow that, and I'm going to have to ask you to leave,'" Nair said. "I was stunned; I was livid. I've nursed three girls and have never been treated like that."

Nair left the salon, her hair wet and unfinished. "It's half-cut," she explained.

Not only did the hairstylist violate her company's policy by asking Nair to leave; she also violated state statute which says that wherever a woman is authorized to be, she's authorized to breastfeed.

"We welcome mothers and children," said Regis spokeswoman Susan Evans in a statement. "We do not have a policy against breastfeeding. This employee acted incorrectly."

Nair's incident is not the first — and will not be the last concerning public breastfeeding.

The Department of State Health Services is now encouraging businesses to be "mother friendly," and Carolyn Putnam of the LaLeche League agrees.

"If employers can educate employees about breastfeeding, and if they see moms breastfeeding, to allow them to do that," Putnam said, so mothers like Robyn Nair can balance life and motherhood.

You can read more about this story in Saturday's Denton Record-Chronicle.

E-mail bgreene@wfaa.com