EDWARDSBURG — A local attraction known for being family-friendly has taken steps to be even more welcoming of young families.

Just in time for the open of the season, Amazing Acres, 18430 US-12 E., Edwardsburg, has added a baby care center to its farm to allow visiting families a place to feed their infants and relax overstimulated children. Amazing Acres’ season runs from Sept. 14 to Oct. 31 and offers several family-friendly attractions including a pumpkin patch, hayrides, a barnyard, a corn maze, zip line and more.

Amazing Acres is owned by Roni and Rick Hoff, who opened the fun farm to the public in 2001. The idea for the baby care center came from their daughter, Brittani Hoff, of Granger.

The new baby care center features a baby changing station and two large stalls with curtains that can be closed for privacy. In the stalls, mothers can nurse or feed their children, and children can play or relax if they become overstimulated at the farm, Hoff said.   

“The whole idea of the farm is that it is for families, so really, our most important people are our little kids,” Hoff said. “[The baby care center] is something that can make things easier for a family, and that’s what we want to do. We want our families to have the best experience possible.”

Hoff said she got the idea to create a baby care center at the farm when she was a new mother to her now 3-year-old daughter. At the time she was nursing, Hoff said her options of where to feed her daughter were limited. Now, she does not want other families to have the same experience.

To ensure families with young children had the best experience possible at the farm, Hoff said she and her parents spent the majority of the offseason planning and designing the baby care center, adding details like outlets where people could charge their phones and making sure it looked nice, complete with paintings of baby animals and a crystal chandelier.

“We wanted it to be nice and enjoyable — not like a bathroom where the goal is to hold your breath, get in and get out,” Hoff said. “We wanted this to be a place where you can relax and be a respite room for when the kids just need a break. … We want people to walk in and say, ‘Wow, we didn’t expect this.’”

Already, the baby care center is child approved, Hoff said. Her young daughter was involved in the design process, and Hoff said that she loves the space — particularly the paintings of baby animals.

As the farm prepares to open this weekend, Hoff said she hopes that families will come out, enjoy the farm and take advantage of the baby care center.

“I’m so excited. I just really hope people use it and find it useful,” she said. “I’m really excited to see people’s responses.”