Breastfeeding in public

Simply Elegant

Well-known member
^I don't have children, but that is exactly what I think as well. Yeah breasts can be sexual but not in the case of feeding your child.
 

Girl about town

Well-known member
I think its pretty pathetic that someone would be offended by a woman feeding her child in the way nature intended. Its pretty immature to think someone is being indecent in doing so.
 

LC

Well-known member
I breastfed my first baby, and in a week I'm due with my second baby and will be breastfeeding. With that said, it bothers me when women breastfeed in public. I don't view it as indecent or offensive, it's just that right now it's viewed as awkward in society. Let's get real, women who breastfeed in public get crazy looks, whether bad or good or just someone who's confused. How hard is it to duck into a bathroom or your car or to simply pump before you go out?
 

panda0410

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by baci
I breastfed my first baby, and in a week I'm due with my second baby and will be breastfeeding. With that said, it bothers me when women breastfeed in public. I don't view it as indecent or offensive, it's just that right now it's viewed as awkward in society. Let's get real, women who breastfeed in public get crazy looks, whether bad or good or just someone who's confused. How hard is it to duck into a bathroom or your car or to simply pump before you go out?


And please tell me why anyone should have to? Or is this simply to appease the comforts of others? How hard is it just to look away? Or just accept that this is what nature intended for our children and that nursing mothers shouldn't be confined to the privy's of what are sometimes FILTHY nursing rooms.... nursing women shouldn't be confined AT ALL.

I didn't and I wouldn't, not for anyone. By doing something like this breastfeeding women would only be supporting the already narrow minded views of others and I for one am GLAD that AU law protects nursing mums from harrassment and discrimination in doing whats right and best for their baby. Breastfeeding is natural, normal and it shouldn't be shunned or avoided. The sooner more women and society in general gets real with this fact the better off everyone will be.
 

LC

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by panda0410
And please tell me why anyone should have to? Or is this simply to appease the comforts of others? How hard is it just to look away? Or just accept that this is what nature intended for our children and that nursing mothers shouldn't be confined to the privy's of what are sometimes FILTHY nursing rooms.... nursing women shouldn't be confined AT ALL.

I didn't and I wouldn't, not for anyone. By doing something like this breastfeeding women would only be supporting the already narrow minded views of others and I for one am GLAD that AU law protects nursing mums from harrassment and discrimination in doing whats right and best for their baby. Breastfeeding is natural, normal and it shouldn't be shunned or avoided. The sooner more women and society in general gets real with this fact the better off everyone will be.



yes it's for the comfort of others, the same way you wouldn't blatantly fart in front of someone or pee where ever you want although those things are natural as well. Of course it's a natural and beautiful thing, I'm not arguing that, but the reality is that most people are uncomfortable by that, and no sense in being too prideful to take into consideration their feelings.
 

panda0410

Well-known member
Thats hilarious. The suggestion that any woman should swallow their pride in feeding their baby doesn't remotely compare to being shameless (like farting in front of someone or peeing anywhere). To compare the two on principle alone is clutching straws.

I dont expect any woman to be delegated to feeding her baby in a car, or being trapped at home, or having to use a pump because somebody else has a fragile ego. No woman should be too ashamed to feed her baby in public!! Like I said, the more woman that promote this, the more exposure society gets, the more acceptance will eventually donned and its really about time society stopped being so damn shallow.
 

Simply Elegant

Well-known member
Also, those bodily functions are one's own need, that as an adult, one can control. Adults know the social etiquette regarding this kind of thing. However, feeding is the child's need and hunger can't be controlled and they're obviously so dependent on the mother for feeding time and wouldn't understand why they'd have to wait, the thought wouldn't cross their minds.
 

LC

Well-known member
that's true, maybe i shouldn't have compared the two, just the first thing that came to mind. To me it's just about not putting others in an awkward situation, and frankly for my own privacy. Didn't mean to cause drama ladies, and I'm certainly not trying to fight, but someone asked for opinions, so I gave mine. No harm intended. We will have to agree to disagree that some women feel as though they shouldn't care about the way other people feel, and some do. No biggie
 

HMC

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by baci
I breastfed my first baby, and in a week I'm due with my second baby and will be breastfeeding. With that said, it bothers me when women breastfeed in public. I don't view it as indecent or offensive, it's just that right now it's viewed as awkward in society. Let's get real, women who breastfeed in public get crazy looks, whether bad or good or just someone who's confused. How hard is it to duck into a bathroom or your car or to simply pump before you go out?


You know i'm behind you girl. 100%!! Seriously ladies, i don't care if it's "the natural miracle of life" and all that crap...tits are ugly and i don't want to see you whipping out yours. K thanks.

Oh and sex is a natural thing too, but you wouldn't do it out on the park bench would ya?? I didn't think so. It's NOT all that different people. It still makes it awkward for the people around you. Have a LITTLE consideration for the others around you...
 

Meisje

Well-known member
I grew up in an extended family where lots of babies were produced and most were breast and bottle fed (together, as a routine). The fathers would feel the baby via bottle at least once a day. Some had more bottle included, some drank a larger proportion of breastmilk.

Until I heard other people complaining or debating about breastfeeding, I never thought twice about it. It was very normal for mothers to feed during a family gathering. Nobody paid any more attention to it that if it had been a bottle.

So it doesn't bother me at all, in any place, at any time.

I'm not planning on having kids, but if I did, I would not be breastfeeding due to a pre-existing condition that would require me to go off medication while the baby was in the womb but would require that I go back on that medication, which makes the milk unsafe, as soon as the baby was born. I'm not sure if I would anyway --- I like the idea that if something happened to me that rendered me unable to feed, the baby would already be used to bottles.

I think breastfeeding in general, and choosing to feed in public, is really a decision each mother should make with each child they have. It's hard to make a sweeping generalization about any of it because there are many reasons why a woman would or wouldn't breastfeed, and many reasons why she might or might not feed in public. I think it's between mother and child and it's nobody's place to judge.

It seems to me that childbearing and rearing is an area that results in a lot of very strong opinions and unfortunately, sometimes, unsolicited orders about what you MUST and MUST NOT do from people who have no business going there (ie, people who waltz up in public places and start instructing you on your pregnancy, or people who bark at you for this or that about your kid). Sometimes it's to be helpful but sometimes it's politics.
 

Shadowy Lady

Well-known member
It doesn't bother me when ppl breastfeed in public, I prob wouldn't do it personally (though I don't have kids yet).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bran'sgirl21
You know i'm behind you girl. 100%!! Seriously ladies, i don't care if it's "the natural miracle of life" and all that crap...tits are ugly and i don't want to see you whipping out yours. K thanks.


wow, I can't believe you actually said tits are ugly
shockt.gif
, being a women yourself. This whole quote is just very harsh to me. There are ways to disagree with each side of the argument without being rude....

And I wouldn't say breastfeeding is like sex. There are two adults involved in sex and it's not like u have to do it outside coz it just has to be done there and then. But when a baby is hungry it's hungry. You can't tell it to wait, it's a baby for Pete's sake! I cannot understand how the two are comparable
th_confused_new.gif
 

*Stargazer*

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadowy Lady
It doesn't bother me when ppl breastfeed in public, I prob wouldn't do it personally (though I don't have kids yet).


wow, I can't believe you actually said tits are ugly
shockt.gif
, being a women yourself. This whole quote is just very harsh to me. There are ways to disagree with each side of the argument without being rude....

And I wouldn't say breastfeeding is like sex. There are two adults involved in sex and it's not like u have to do it outside coz it just has to be done there and then. But when a baby is hungry it's hungry. You can't tell it to wait, it's a baby for Pete's sake! I cannot understand how the two are comparable
th_confused_new.gif


They aren't, of course. Just another specious argument
winks.gif
 

MissAlexisDDD

Well-known member
Sorry to disagree but I also don't think it should be a public thing. I can understand going into a bathroom or even if they had speicific nursing areas, but while I'm trying to enjoy my day at the park or in a restaurant or to release some stress via shopping therapy, I don't need to see a tit whipped out. Even if I can't see it it's just, I don't know. Uncomfortable?

There's just a few social rules that people should follow, and I believe this to be one.
 

LC

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissAlexisDDD
Sorry to disagree but I also don't think it should be a public thing. I can understand going into a bathroom or even if they had speicific nursing areas, but while I'm trying to enjoy my day at the park or in a restaurant or to release some stress via shopping therapy, I don't need to see a tit whipped out. Even if I can't see it it's just, I don't know. Uncomfortable?

There's just a few social rules that people should follow, and I believe this to be one.


this is exactly how I see it...and I breastfeed! Just not in public. For one, I want my privacy. But secondly, I know how I feel when someone else is doing it in public, and it IS very uncomfortable.

I think it's just a matter of whether or not women consider how other's feel. Some here basically say screw everyone else I'm doing it, and some are more considerate.
 

Girl about town

Well-known member
Why the hell would it be ok to cower away in a toilet feeding your child just because it might offend someone and ruin their day out. If you don't like breastfeeding you don't need to look, its a fact of life and what breasts are actually for. Would you eat your dinner in a toilet???

I don't see why people think people are being obnoxious and doing it for effect, their child needs fed and they meet that need.

I intend to breastfeed and i'll probably do it in private as i couldn't just wap them out, but im surprised people are so offended by something thats been done since the beginning of time when they'll happily get their boobs out to sunbathe.

To compare feeding your child to having sex in public is a bit ridiculous and reinforces the attitude society has to breastfeeding. Its so had to try an get out and about with a small baby ad get your life back to normal, and to have peoples attitudes suggest you are being offensive or indecent about providing for your child is a horrible sign of all that is wrong with society.
 

MissAlexisDDD

Well-known member
I know for a fact that there are pumps that can be used. My mom did that when I was a baby and I don't see why women can't fill up a bottle before they leave. I'm not saying breastfeeding is wrong, just something that shouldn't be done in public.

Nudity is natural but you don't see people walking around in the buff everywhere. Unless it's a nude beach..
tong.gif
 

Girl about town

Well-known member
They do advise you not to express for the first 6 weeks as it can interrupt the infants ability to learn to feed from the breast. Plus why should a mother go to all the hassle sterilising bottles and pumps just in case some random person may be offended by a tiny bit of breast. Maybe less acceptable in the U.S but people sunbathe topless on beaches all over Europe and no one so much as blinks an eye.

Saying breastfeeding shouldn't be done in public is like saying we shouldn't eat in public.
 

Simply Elegant

Well-known member
I guess it comes down to being considerate to your baby who has no idea what's going on and why he or she isn't being fed or a stranger who cant bare to look away while they go on about their day who you'll probably not see again or very often.
 

*Stargazer*

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissAlexisDDD
I know for a fact that there are pumps that can be used. My mom did that when I was a baby and I don't see why women can't fill up a bottle before they leave. I'm not saying breastfeeding is wrong, just something that shouldn't be done in public.

Nudity is natural but you don't see people walking around in the buff everywhere. Unless it's a nude beach..
tong.gif


How, exactly, is pumping the solution for a baby who refuses to use a bottle?

Fortunately for my infant, the law protects my right to nurse anywhere I have the right to be. That is the difference between nursing and all these specious arguments everyone keeps tossing out about other things being just as natural as breastfeeding. Well, that and the fact that breastmilk is essential to life for many infants whereas nudity is not.
 

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