Breast-Feeding in Public

@ January Rose
Here's the thing, other women who need to feed their children aren't there to care whether you find it okay or not. It's a completely natural thing. That's why breasts are there. Did you know that only 13 countries in the world, which includes America (and probably Canada), sexualize breasts? They're primarily there to feed children. Women shouldn't need to go find some reserved area to feed their children when you can't see the entire breasts anyway.

January Rose:

Not everyone wants to see your boobs. Please respect that.

Considering they're baring their breast for their child only, I don't see how a mother should have to respect that some people don't want to see their breast that is serving as a child's feed. If I was a mother who breastfed in public and someone said that to me, I'd tell them that it was their fault for looking and their fault for having a problem with something that's natural. No mother should have to be apologetic for wanting to naturally feed their child.

i've never seen anyone in public breast feed that I'm aware of. i don't really see why it's an issue especially if you are covered up.

@ January Rose
You say, "Not everyone wants to see your boobs" and to "please respect that," but I say that a baby's right to be fed is much more deserving of respect than not wanting to see someone's boobs. You're not forced to look. You can turn away very easily.

I would also venture to say that most breastfeeding women don't actually lift their shirts to breastfeed unless they have a top underneath that they pull down. Every breastfeeding mother I've known or talked to wears shirts that can be pulled down easily or has buttons so that a couple can be undone to get the breast out. That's generally how nursing is done. It honestly does not show much and again, you can look away.

I understand how it might seem easy to assume that it's simple to find a "private" place to breastfeed and it's easy to assume "most" places have a private place, but in my experience most actually DON'T unless you count the bathroom. I personally breastfed in the bathroom and I didn't mind, but no one should be forced to. Breastfeeding is taxing and you're going to be sitting still for quite some time, so rather than focusing on "Is this private enough?" mothers should be allowed to focus on "Is this comfortable for me to sit and feed my baby?" Even if it happens to be smack dab in the middle of the mall, it should be okay. She's a mother trying to feed a helpless infant and again, that's more deserving of respect than someone just not wanting to see a boob.

Where I live, I'm not really sure whether or not it's rare or common for breast feeding to happen in public. Whenever I do see a mother breastfeeding her baby, I feel slightly uncomfortable within the first few seconds, but it's more of being surprised since i rarely see it to begin with. Over all, it doesn't bother me. I mean, like i said, I get a little shocked/surprised and feel a bit uncomfortable but like others have said, I have the option of looking away, which i always do because staring is deemed rude in my opinion, and I would feel rather awkward staring at people in general.

I feel that breast feeding is natural and shouldn't be so... what's the word i'm looking for...? Uh, negative. By that I mean people shouldn't be so negative towards something that the mother can't really control (Babies will want to be fed at random, regardless of the place they're at).

I'm not gonna say anymore since everyone has pretty much said all the finer points of this whole discussion.

Before I go to bed, I also feel that it's the mother's choice to breast feed the baby or use formula, but really, it depends on the baby's, preference overall... I think, since my aunt's daughters (my little cousins) were both fed differently (the first one was breast fed and the second one was bottle fed [is that the proper term? bottle fed?]).

Sorry for the weirdness of my post. It's late at night and I'm tired. Night all.