breast feeding in public

to all 3 of you:

First off, i have no hangup on the 'nudity' part of it, or else i wouldnt have said that places like parks/cheap restaurants or whatever dont bother me. It is about class, imo. Which is an absolutely snooty thing of me to say, but it is true. Not everything is acceptable in every place.

As for being insensitive? I could say the exact same thing in return. I have no intention/care or desire to 'banish' women to a bathroom(thats gross, imo) just as i have no desire to tell someone who eats with their mouth open to eat in the bathroom(another pet peeve of mine). It is about courtesy and class and i would hope that people could respect other people.

And this goes beyond just 'breastfeeding' for me. It has to do with kids in general. You shouldnt be taken little babies that can cry, scream, be loud, run around to fancy(and a little bistro is not the fancy i have in mind) restaurant. It ruins the atmosphere for other people who are paying good money for a QUIET evening with their wife/gf/whatever.

 

Those sound like your issues; you may find it hard to find somebody who agrees with you on many of your points. What you see as class, I see as aloofness... Arrogance... I know my arguement was insensitive; rarely do I not respond to feelings shared towards me or others first in the same way.

 

i'm not exactly a hick, i have been to a nice restaurant or two in my time - not little bistros either - so I do know what to expect noise wise. And a baby suckling at the next table is not going to be so loud that you'd be annoyed, if there is conversation at YOUR table. It doesn't matter how quiet the rest of the place is.

 

i really dont think my view is as uncommon as you believe. Many restaurants dont like kids because they ARE loud and it pisses off other people.


frozen: that wasn't meant as a slight. but, *shrugs* i beg to disagree.


I stand by what i said: kids dont belong everywhere and restaurants should be allowed to choose whether they want to accept it or not.

 

I didn't say your view, I indicated the many reasons behind your view... Underveloped arguements do very little justice to your "view." Eliminate the bias, and then I'll debate...

 

bias? against breastfeeding? i think it is the right way to feed your kids and i hope my wife would breastfeed my kid.


bias against class? Well, thats impossible. I dont believe everything is acceptable. I'm sorry.

 

Nevermind... I was talking about your personal bias; I was asking that you try and look at it from a different point of view...

 

and i ask the same of you.

Ultimately, a kid always has to come first and his need for food trumps my(or anyone elses) need to have a meal without any other 'distractions.'

I think there are some instances where babies just dont belong: fancy restaurants, operas, plays, etc. You may disagree. Fine, you're more than entitled to. But, i am entitled to disagree with you all too.

 

I never really entered the arguement; I commented on the weakness of your arguement, and then you took me into it as well. As such, I maintain that I'm not actually debating, as I realize that we would just go in circles from how strongly you push your points... You want to disclude others based upon their company, I feel that that is a rather arrogant viewpoint... It's best to let people like you think what you want; but, it'd be nice if you did that thinking elsewhere.

 

it is pointless of getting into an argument of 'whether an argument is legit or not." You say its weak, i say its not. So where do we go from there? I dont agree that everything is acceptable at every instance. Do you? I bet you don't.

and 'it would be nice if i did that thinking elsewhere?' This is a thread about BREASTFEEDING IN PUBLIC for crying out loud. If it shouldnt be talked about here, where should it be talked about? I'm sorry i didnt fall into line and go "oh god, anyone who is against it, is like, a neanderthal." Not everyone has to agree with you, its a free world.

 

There is nothing gross with breastfeeding a baby in public - if feeding them with a bottle is OK, then breastfeeding should be even more OK - how did they do when bottles didn't exist? People have become so .. anti-natural, it revolts me!

 

yep people are horrible, im sorry but the people who say it was wrong etc. are silly think of africa for example, people HAVE to breastfeed, walk around with not much on and its acceptable, but here and other countires think it is taboo. when i have children i will breast feed - no matter where i am, who's watching etc. and if people where paying 100 pound for a meal as someone said earlier than they can afford to go somewhere else then cant they. i wonder if companies achally refuse to let a woman feed her child? do we think they are alloud to refuse service etc.

 

ye gods...wots more natural than a mother feeding her baby?

some peeps really will twist on 21....

 

i have to agree that in the fancier establishments, people shouldn't bring their children. it's a nighmare for the kids, especially the sheer boredom and the fact that they can probably tell no one wants them there, as well as for everyone else involved. i don't take my baby to anything like that that's not acceptable to her as a child. someone taking his girlfriend out for a romantic dinner to ask her to marry him is probably not going to be happy about someone's baby starting to fuss at EXACTLY the wrong time, shit like that.

 

Sure breastfeeding is natural, but so is taking a piss. If I got up and pissed in a plant pot in a restaurant, I'd be arrested. It's just a fact that our society likes to have 'natural' bodily functions carried out in private. Now, I'd be happy to see women breastfeeding in public if they'd be equally happy for me to piss in full view of their kids.

 

lol.

 

or....they could suggest yer wear a diaper

 

well, what we're dealing with is bodily waste eliminations, which will eventually attract bacteria and start to stink. they're also not considered acceptable by the health department in your average restaurant outside of the toilet. breastfeeding is an entirely different deal, and it mainly deals with people's sexual inhibitions.

 

you did a good thing by defending her. i had a similar problem when my son was 2 weeks old. i went shopping with my family and fiancee. My fiancee and i went to look at baby stuff and my family went to look at clothes for themselves. my son was hungry so i picked him up and gave him a boob while shopping the manager of the store had passed me and told me that he would appreciate it if i would go inthe restroom and do that. my fiancee agreed with him and i looked at both of them and told them i am not going in that nasty ass bacteria infested bathroom i am perfectly fine right where i am no one can tell what i am doing and besides there was no one around to see anyways. my fiancee told me to go feed him in the bathroom and finally my mom heard my voice from across the store and handled everything (basically bitched at both of them).

people are so insecure about breastfeeding they just dont understand that it is nurturing and not a sexual thing. the media has people so brainwashed into thinking that breasts are a sexual thing and not nurturing. it pisses me off to know that their are people out there so stupid and unwilling to look past what the media says and relize that breasts have other functions than just being sexual.

 

Get over yourself with your slander. I said there are times and a place for everything. At a fancy restaurant, young kids dont belong. This has nothing to do with the idea that kids should be 'seen, but not heard'

We're talking about a fancy restaurant, not about any normal place like a park. My natural instinct tells me to do a lot of things, i dont deem them all acceptable for public(sex, excretion, etc). Just because it is 'natural' doesn't mean we should accept it as a public thing.

Ok. However, if you think people who pay lots of money to eat a fancy restaurant LIKE to hear kids screaming, running around and other shit, i think you're sorely mistaken.

Better to be 'out of date' and considerate than inconsiderate. Thats just my opinion though.