breast feeding in public

Breast feeding is a natural process and can be done so discreetly that no one would ever notice. The problem here is when discretion is not used and others are made to feel uncomfortable.. .we should all respect that what we believe to be acceptable may offend another, and when possible honor that just as we would want them to honor something that may be offensive to us.

Lila

 

A baby or toddler's right to feed at the breast trumps someone's pseudosexual hangups. "Discreet" or not. I know of no mother who intentionally "pulls out the entire thing" but some babies don't like fabric in the way (some of mine didn't) and often new mothers, or moms with large breast can't help but to show a little skin. It is still less than you see at any beach or pool.

If someone is "uncomfortable" with a child getting nutrition and confort the way God intended than all they need to do is NOT to look.

I see a LOT of parenting "skills" which make me uncomfortable (blue Kool Aid in a bottle being my particular favorite) but I don't ask the mother to "stop doing that" because she is offending me. It is MY problem (well the blue Kool Aid could lead to a LOT of problems, that that ain't the issue) and if I don't like it, I look away.

 

my mother was raised by a stodgy british mom. she never breastfed her babies until my little sister. i have to say that sitting around the thanksgiving table and seeing my mother pop out the tit was unnerving, to say the least. i was 10, my brothers were 16 and 14. but we got over it, eventually. people can't help how they were raised, therefore i try to remember how i felt the first time i was confronted with soemthing i'd never experienced before. some people handle it better than others.

 

In public is alittle funny she should have just done it home.

 

naa i wouldnt say she should have fed her baby at home at all, what if she was away from home all day and if she had waiting til lshe got home the poor bab would be screaming. and she shouldnt feed in the toliet at all, do u eat ur dinner on the lav?

 

you try telling a baby when it should eat and when it shouldnt.

If a baby NEEDS something it will cry to tell its mummy. Is natural instinct. You cant say "no". babies often need to suckle when they are very young every couple of hours (if i remember correctly) so that would envolve a mother not leaving the house for a LOOONG time.

 

True well I'm not sure about in a restaraunt maybe in a park or something would be more suitable. Sorry I'm not trying to get you guys mad at me.:&

 

naa you didnt get anyone mad i dont think. personally i dont have a problem with it at all, when i have children i will whip it out whenever they need it. i think its a beauiful and natural thing.

 

haha wish I was the baby (j/k srry lol)

 

lol nice one

 

umm...you are eating in a restaurant...bubba can't very well order the fries....park...restaurant...public is public....sure maybe you would love to be the kid but I think that goes to the whole point of this thread...boobs are not necessarily sexual objects, they were in fact placed there for another purpose and the very fact that you are reacting in a sexualised manner shows why you are uncomfortable with the public side of breastfeeding...they are for making milk for babies...any other connotations are a creation of your own mind!!
*goes away to bang head on wall*
:$

 

I would've just had a good laugh after he left. Sure, I'd be pissed off, but... prudes are funny as hell. I swear...

 

my husband absolutely adores public breastfeeding. he thinks it IS incredibly sexy and beautiful and right. what greater expression of motherhood and the incredible processes of our bodies. he can't help that sometimes is does make him horny. after all, what a beautiful expression of our sexuality: children!! but he's not a sleaze about it or anything. hell, me being affectionate and him reading a love letter i wrote him can get him all worked up that way. i think it's ideal.

 

hm...something about that didn't come out right. children aren't sexy, but seeing a mother breastfeeding makes him want another baby....sheesh.

 

i think there is a time and a place for everything..park...some crap little diner, fine. However, i would be peeved if i was paying 100 dollars a plate and i had to listen to a suckling noise while i'm eating. It is about courtesy in my opinion.

Also, i think businesses should be allowed to decide. If they dont want breastfeeding, they shouldn't be forced to. Dont like it? dont go there. Boycott them all you want, thats your right. They should have their right too.

 

eh, i'd rather that than a baby bawling its head off. The suckling noise is hardly loud, if your $100 plate is matched by good conversation (you'd hope you weren't eating by yourself) then you shouldn't be able to hear it at all.

I think courtesy works both ways - it might be courteous for the mother to be discreet about breast feeding, but it's also courteous for those around her to treat her with at least a little respect.

 

I understand what you're saying, part of what makes breasts sexual is the motherly, nurturing, image and memory they fuel in people, motherly love to sexual love. The look of breasts are like that of a pillow that you can rest on and feel secure and comfortable. At the river over the weekend my fiance wanted me to go topless not for the sexual thrill but because it's natural and it always makes me feel so much more comfortable to be unlimited by clothing, I was afraid of offending people as much as I wanted to take it off, I did take it off and many other naked people were there and no one was offended not even people with children. It wasn't about the sexual thrill but he did admit to getting a little horny. Had I had a baby to feed there's no way I would have given a rat's ass about who was uncomfortable, why should I help someone maintain their fear of nudity, sexuality, natural things and necessary in the case of feeding a baby.

 

eh, nice restaurants are small and quiet, very quiet..they arent bustling with noise like a pizzeria.

And i would think not staring/making her feel bad would be extending courtesy. Having a baby means you have to make sacrifices. A baby isnt meant to be taken everywhere(a fancy restaurant for one). But as i said, parks and cheap restaurants..where background and yes, local conversation would drown it out does not bother me.

 

wow, megara. that is one of the most mind-numbingly stupid opinions of mothers and babies that I have ever come across. Why should mothers have to be treated as second-class citizens because someone like you has issues with the real functions of the human body? with nudity?

A baby breatfeeding does not make a very loud noise, unless, as the others have pointed out, they haven't been fed and are started to fuss. Which would you rather have accompanying your $100 a plate meal: a screaming, crying, can't be consoled baby or an almost-silent content nursing baby? You can't tell me you'd choose the squalling baby.

Also, you're a 22 year old. I'd venture to guess that you don't have children. Once you and your future missus have a child and you want to go out to a nice restaurant, you'll totally understand. Why should your missus have to hide in a toilet to feed your baby?

*sigh*

 

I really hate it when people use the "There's a time and a place..." arguement. It always ends up making them look horribly insensitive; which, they are, if they use that arguement. I could argue just the same about certain things that person does... "There's a time and a place to be clothed..." comes to mind; it's just a really weak arguement.

If you are going to argue, especially with those extremely biased opinions, come up with something better.