Breast-Feeding in Public

I can understand how breastfeeding in public might make someone uncomfortable, but I really don't think it's that big of a deal. I think maybe women should have breast milk in a bottle on hand if they plan to go out in public with a baby or maybe even breastfeed in a bathroom or something so as not to disturb other people if they're getting incredibly uncomfortable. But in general, I don't see how breastfeeding is a huge issue. Maybe breasts are a sexual part of the female body, but when you feed a baby, I don't know how you're thinking about sex rather than feeding a baby, although that's my usual train of thought.

@ cinderella.
Breastfeeding in a bathroom is like going to McDonalds and eating in the bathroom. Its unsanitary, unhygenic, and unhealthy. It's a lot healthier for an adult to eat in a bathroom where feces and urine have been passed than it is for an infant whose immune system is still growing. That's why it's so important employers have another area for women to pump breastmilk.

I think if other people are getting uncomfortable, they can go eat in the bathroom because they are the ones with the problem.

cinderella.:

I think maybe women should have breast milk in a bottle on hand if they plan to go out in public with a baby or maybe even breastfeed in a bathroom or something so as not to disturb other people if they're getting incredibly uncomfortable..

Switching between bottles and breastfeeding can be disastrous for some breast feeding women. The feeding technique a baby uses to breastfeed and bottle feed are completely different, and some babies will not take a bottle, or if they start taking a bottle, they'll quit breastfeeding. That's a very impractical solution.

And personally, I think the people who are uncomfortable with a natural thing like breastfeeding a baby should take their lunch into the bathroom and eat it on the toilet. You seem to want to punish the wrong person.

All places should start having a designated area for breastfeeding. The fact that breastfeeding in public is still troublesome might be discouraging for new mothers and they might even opt to not breastfeed at all. It sucks that we live in a society that will tolerate nudity in advertisements, obscene public displays of affection, but not the loving gesture that breastfeeding represents.

Edit: I found this, and I think it pretty much sums it up.

I think if it is done without even attempting a little to hide your business (like, I saw a woman once who did it so awkwardly that you could see the other nipple, and when she put the child to and from the breast she flashed both her nipples for a good two-three minutes) then I can understand people maybe feeling a little put out. Otherwise I just think women shouldn't feel like they have to hide away or leave someplace just because their baby needs to be fed.

I don't really see it as an issue whether it's done with utmost discretion or not; if a person is that offended by witnessing breastfeeding, could they not just avert their eyes? Mind their own business? I frequently see people doing things in public that I don't really enjoy seeing (PDA, spitting, sagging, etc.), but I don't see a reason to make a big deal out of it, I just look elsewhere.

@ Alex; periphery.
I guess the difference would be that a woman who isn't breastfeeding isn't allowed to have a breast hanging out for no reason, so why should a woman who is breastfeeding do that? If she has her breast out for the purpose of feeding, there is purpose. But if she has her other breast out for no reason, that shouldn't be treated specially.

@ Alex; periphery.
I personally look elsewhere too, but as Dru says, I don't think an exeption should be made for nursing mothers to be extremely "out there" with it. And I don't mean they have to use something to cover the baby up, but showing both your nipples for over four minutes when the baby isn't near them is just unnecessary.

@ cinderella.
The problem with "having a bottle of breastmilk" on hand is a few things: some women can't pump, pumping can be extremely painful and in my case bruised my nipples, some babies will refuse to take a bottle, some babies will refuse to directly breastfeed after taking a bottle, sometimes you don't have time, and a baby taking breastmilk from a bottle is actually not even as good as them taking it from the breast directly.

Personally I did feed my baby in restrooms, but a lot of women don't feel comfortable doing it and they don't have to. It's a woman's legal right to breastfeed where she pleases and some stranger being offended doesn't change that.

@ bella heart shawnee
The only way I could think that the woman would do that is that she was mega inexperienced.. but I still don't see why the other nipple was exposed lol. Maybe she was switching breasts? Some women nurse on both breasts every time... but I think I agree with you still that it was a little longer than neccessary.

Some women might have one nipple exposed for a minute or two while trying to help the baby latch on because there are a lot of babies who have trouble. You should have seen how seriously shocked the nurse was when my daughter and her tiny mouth did it just right immediately.

The reason, though, nursing mothers are excepted from the rule of having their breasts exposed is because they're nursing and it's a basic right to feed your baby. I do think it's over the top to be all out there but there is a good reason they're excepted from the rule.

I think that it's funny how countries out there have laws about how illegal it is to breastfeed in public when where I live, mothers are actually encouraged - by government, health officials, etc etc - to breastfeed until their child is about six to seven months old.

Honestly, whether a mother should breast or bottle feed their child is completely up to them. If you view it from a nutritional point of view, breast milk is more nutritious, with colostrum being rich in nutrients and anti bodies that your baby will need to grow. Socially though (well, judging from the entries most of ya'll have been posting up) breast feeding is considered either a novelty, or something that only 'poor women' did. It's contradictory, and honestly, kind of funny.

When I have a child, I would breast feed him/her where ever I am, if my child wants a feed. Breasts are first a child's source of nourishment and then an objectified source of sexual gratification.

@ Insanity's Artist
I disagree. I think they need to have a reason to expose themselves. Feeding a child is a reason. Not wanting to put your other boob away while you feed your child, isn't a reason, imo.

Then again, I'd be happy if they made a law where women could go topless regardless.

@ part of dru's world.

part of dru's world.:

Then again, I'd be happy if they made a law where women could go topless regardless.

There is. Legally, women are allowed to be topless wherever men are allowed to be topless.

@ Audrey T
It depends on the state, but in New York it is legal. A case in '92, I think. Most states consider it indecent exposure, however.

All I know is, I plan on breastfeeding when my daughter is born, and whether or not I'm in public, I'm going to feed my child if my daughter is hungry, end of story. I believe in "modesty" blankets, but what if I'm in a place that has no private areas? I shouldn't have to feel outed or embarrassed for doing what mother nature intended us to do, which is feed our children. I of course wouldn't blatantly put myself out there if my daughter isn't hungry, but I think it's absolutely natural and I'm not going to feel sorry because someone thinks of it as being a sexual object. Breastfeeding is the best thing you can do, and whether or not someone can appreciate that is not my problem. My child comes first regardless. I also find it ironic that most of time I do see women breastfeeding, no one actually makes a big deal about it, or they mind their own business and move along, it can be simple if you choose to make it that way.

@ part of dru's world.
My point is, inexperienced or rushed women might not be thinking about it. I'm saying that as long as they are nursing or just stopped or are about to, it shouldn't be a big deal IF it happens, but I doubt it happens often because most women don't want to keep their breast out. I was just thinking of scenarios to say why the woman might have had it out. I doubt that she just wanted to show them off. She was more focused on something else and since it was only a couple minutes, it was a nonissue in her mind.

@ Insanity's Artist
I assumed most women wouldn't want to expose their other breast while breastfeeding, which is why I feel it ought to be prudent to ensure it doesn't happen in places where that would otherwise be considered indecent exposure. I'm not saying she should be arrested; I'm saying if that specific incident happens and it makes others uncomfortable, there should be no issue with asking the woman to cover up the breast she is not feeding with.

@ part of dru's world.
I think that's why a lot of states allow breastfeeding but imply the woman must use discretion.. which I think is what we're talking about here. Sure, she can nurse in public, but not topless or have all of both breasts exposed because its technically indecent exposure.. I can agree with that.

Breast-feeding in public shouldn't be an issue at all. God didn't give women tits just to boost the sales percentage at Hooters. -A

I breastfed both of my children. I am a young mother, age 19 as of August 18th. So to be technical I am currently only 18 years of age. However at the young age of 15 I breastfed my son until I could no longer lactate as the doctors had refused my doing so until a month after he was born. The reason had been he was two months premature and needed to be hooked up to a feeding tube. I am now 18 and my daughter will be three in August. I still breastfeed her as she falls asleep in the privacy of my own bedroom. However, until she turned two years old I would breastfeed in public with my breast and her head underneath a privacy feeding cloth (more commonly referred to as a burp rap). I find that breastfeeding increases the bond between mother and child because anyone can give a child a bottle and lay them in their crib/high chair/rocker and just walk off away from the child to do other things. Meaning they get less up close and personal time next to their mother. With breastfeeding (strictly breast as I did) I would put my children on the breast even after my daughter had grown her teeth. (Like I said she is nearing three and is still on the breast as she falls asleep at night. Obviously she has teeth) With exclusive baby-to-breast breastfeeding the mother HAS to be present and the sound of the mothers heartbeat, warmth of her body and skin to skin contact, the baby feels more secure. So it should be just fine for mothers to breastfeed in public. By making it a controversy and all the crude looks/jokes/comments they are really physically hurting the baby and mothers bond. Now, just for the record I am NOT in ANY way criticizing mothers who choose the bottle over breast. Breast is purely the preference that I chose for my children. Though as I mentioned, my son did not get to breastfeed long so he did wind up on the bottle awhile.