breast feeding

[Giggi]

My boys are 10 and 12 and I nursed both of them -- and YES, I did it in public. I live in a pretty conservative area, so I was very anxious about doing it at first, but babies have to eat, and there was no way I was going to be ashamed of doing what's right for my children, or refuse to go out in public until they were weaned. With a little help from my mother (who was one of those "revolutionary" women who breastfed her children in the mid 1960's), I learned how to cover myself and get the little piranhas to latch on with very little fanfare.

What's really sad about women not being allowed to nurse in public in places is that it can create a level of anxiety in the mother that affects her ability to "let down" her milk, and that anxiety can also be picked up by the infant.

By the time my second son was nursing, I was such a pro at it, that most people thought I was just holding a sleeping baby. As people walked past, I could always point out the people who had been around a nursing baby before, because they would either smile and nod or discreetly avert their eyes as they walked past (which was funny, because everything was covered up).

Any legislator who thinks that breastfeeding in public is obscene or prurient needs to be smacked upside the head.

 

[genxweb]

Interesting that a man posted this question...No offense, I'm just wondering why.

I remember sitting on the toilet in a public restroom (eew, cleanliness?) just so I could feed my sobbing, hungry infant son.

Our society is warped in that it has taken the very basic biological need of feeding one's young and made it into a crime if not done "discretely" and out of public view.

Where I live, people are so conservative that they would get angry even if a mother was "properly" covered while feeding her child. At the same time, there are those who criticize mothers for choosing not to breastfeed their children. You just can't win.

At the time we where living in RI but we moved here while she was still breast feeding. The older PA folks here dont seem to mind and some times even offered her use of the private employee bathroom or their office so she did not have to do it in public but when you are out in a park or some where else public it brings mix crowds and mixed results.

 

[wreckchick]

I worked in restaurants for years and never had any issue with mothers nursing at the table when properly covered. However, I really didn't like walking up and seeing a breast on the table. I fully understand that babies have to eat, but a little bit of modesty and discretion is in order, IMNSHO.

Rachel

 

[SmileMon]

Interesting that a man posted this question...No offense, I'm just wondering why.
...

well, I was brought up on very conservative values (religious) but still, no one in our area was ashamed to breast feed, I remember as a kid seeing almost every mother around me just "poping it out" when ever the baby needed to eat and exposing yourself in public was a HUGE no no.

So I just wondered where did those times go... I mean, its weird that a conservative community will "tolerate" breast feeding in public without any cover ups/avoidance/etc'
However the open society that we are today doesn't allow one of the most basic things..
On a third note, woman at the beach sometimes look like they were taking from a playboy magazine..
What did we as a society do wrong to cause that thing..

 

[Cacia]

I did it everywhere also. Airports, restaurants. I had a blanket I threw over their heads. I did stop when my son started voicing his desires loudly in the movie theatre though. I remember the day he started yelling "I want...." and I said "thats it, you're done." Now go get yourself a coke.

 

[The Kraken]

Too funny, Catherine.

Yep, if he could walk up to the concession stand and buy himself a Coke, I think it was high time to stop breast feeding him.

the K

 

[Giggi]

"The worldwide average age for weaning from the breast is five years of age." This is what my doctor told me when I asked him when I should consider weaning. While I do not personally feel comfortable with nursing a child who is old enough to walk up and ask, I have a lot of respect and admiration for those women who do.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I think most women wean their children off of the breast around the time those first teeth start coming in. "CHOMP!!" "OWWWW, DAMMIT!!!! Let me just go get you a nice bottle!" LOL

 

[MissyP]

I'd prefer the mother to go to a private location~ not necessarily a bathroom, but maybe ask for a table at the back of the restaurant & sit with her back facing the others. Breastfeeding is fine- I'm not against it at all.... but I think it's disrespectful for a woman to sit down wherever and pull out her boob. If she covers up, ok- no problem.. but she needs to understand that not EVERYBODY wants to see it and she shouldn't put others in a position of discomfort (especially in public). Feeding your baby should be a loving, bonding experience- not a public show where strangers can see you, & pervs can walk by trying to catch a glimpse of the boob.

 

[SmileMon]

MissyP, I'm not sure we can stop there, if people are offended by breast feeding, they might be offended in a restaurant from that "burp" babies have that they "clear their throat"... (excuse me for the lame descriptions, I don't know the medical terms).

hey but why stop there... maybe everyone that has babies should walk around with air freshner, that baby smell is not always pleasant to the nose.

I'm sarcastic ofcurse, but it just shows how far we went and how everything is so backwards these days.

Babies are babies, if someone is offended by nature they should reconsider their own relationships, who knows, it might lead to another baby.