No it is not ok to Breast Feed ...

[Mouse House Mama]

I don't see anything wrong with BF in public. But I would want to find a nice quiet area to BF just so the baby has a quiet and relaxing feeding. A baby can feel if a parent is getting stressed.A quiet place being a less used area in a mall or a sitting area in a store or in Disney a less used walk way or the little pavilion by the castle. So so the baby doesn't get stressed and gets the milk they need. That is the most important part anyway.

I can sort of understand this but doesn't the same thing hold true for a bottle feeding? I mean I have seen tons of kids with a bottle in their mouth being jostled around while Mom is trying to do 10 things at the store or the bottle shoved in their mouth propped up on blankets that are on his/her chest. That doesn't seem like a relaxing way to eat either?

 

[mefordis]

I think it's the pervs who get off on seeing a mother nurse. I know my dh wouldn't think twice about it if he saw a mom bfeeding. Let's face it, most moms don't look like Christina Aguillera, so there shouldn't be a problem with turning your man on, if that is what ladies are worried about.

Another note: I believe a big reason why MOST women are unsuccessful at nursing these days and have to turn to formula is because in our culture women have to hide away to nurse. Those of us who are successful at it do not do it in front of our young female cousins and other relatives and close female friends and family members because it is taboo to do it around people. So, they never get exposed to it at an early age like some cultures do, and that is why it seems so foreign and weird when we first try it with OUR babies after giving birth in the hospital. With other cultures it is totally natural, they don't stress out about their milk supply, if they are doing it right, etc. because they have grown up around it and are already knowledgable about how it works!

I'm glad my 5 year old daughter is getting exposed to it while I am nursing her 3 month old sister. She doesn't see it as dirty or sexual, just as a fact of life and when she goes on to have her own children she will have that memory which will put her at ease and hopefully contribute to her success in nursing her own baby.

Sorry for the long post and if you have read this far, thank you!

You do realize there is a law in Florida that protects the mother's right to breastfeed her child in public??? You do realize that NO ONE can ask this mother to relocate to another location to feed her child??

Would you go up to a mother that is feeding her child with a bottle and tell her to not do that??? You can not control when your child gets hungry.

If you don't like it, don't look!

I have had alot of nasty looks and they are usually from women. Children are curious about what is going on, while other women get upset because their man is getting a "show".

It is my right to feed my child when my child is hungry. I refuse to feed in private, like it is something to be ashamed of. I do my best to cover myself, but I personally don't like eating with a blanket over my head, so why should I force my child to get hot an uncomfortable just because you don't like the way I'm raising, feeding my child?

Would you ask a woman that is giving her baby a bottle to "cover up"? No! But you want her to cover up so your precious little one, or husband, boyfriend, grandma, etc. doesn't see a breast.

Some shirts don't allow you to "cover up the breast" and it will leave it exposed. As long as the baby is latched, the baby's head is covering up the breast. If you don't like it, then don't look!

 

[Laura]

in the hospital.. good lord I never had so many people ask me, look at and touch my breasts in one day.

Something else to look forward to after I give birth, eh?

 

[mlynn]

I can sort of understand this but doesn't the same thing hold true for a bottle feeding? I mean I have seen tons of kids with a bottle in their mouth being jostled around while Mom is trying to do 10 things at the store or the bottle shoved in their mouth propped up on blankets that are on his/her chest. That doesn't seem like a relaxing way to eat either?

Yes. It does.I'm sorry I should have put that in my post.

 

[Goofyluver]

Something else to look forward to after I give birth, eh?

Oh honey. You won't even care. So many people are all up in your junk and seeing your stuff...it becomes old hat.

 

[Laura]

Oh honey. You won't even care. So many people are all up in your junk and seeing your stuff...it becomes old hat.

Oh yay.

 

[designermv]

This is the problem. There ARE people who breast feed their babies and DO walk around with their breasts hanging out, drawing attention to themselves for all to see. What the OP explained was wrong! That mother could have been more discreet.

I have *never* seen a woman walking around with both of her breasts completely exposed, nursing a child. Are you exaggerating or do you really see this sort of thing on a regular basis? Where do you live? I've lived in Missoula, MT, Ithaca, NY, and Martha's Vineyard, MA--all three being very liberal places. Not once have I seen what you've described here. 99.9% of women who nurse in public are doing it for no other reason than to feed their baby. They are not doing it to spite you, gross you out, or offend you.

I thought the OP was talking about a woman having one breast out with a baby attached to it during Turtle Talk with Crush. Not the same as parading down Main St. topless under the guise of breastfeeding.

 

[designermv]

in the hospital.. good lord I never had so many people ask me, look at and touch my breasts in one day. This whole thread makes me wanna go sit on that bench at walmart even more and just "whip it out" and feed him. I'll be shopping with him tomorrow.. I'll let ya know if anyone says anything to me when I do it

If they say anything, just give 'em a good squirt in the eye. That always shuts them up. Pretend you're going for points on Toy Story Mania.

 

[chrisw127]

Then I wll just stare and make them as uncomfortable as they are making me, again, just talking about a mom exposing more than needed in a public place without thinking of others.. No way am I talking about a mom attempting to be discrete..

Have you honestly seen a woman trying to breastfeed and not being discrete? Even the most rabid lactivists are generally careful about how much they show, although sometimes, stuff happens. A baby pulls off, maybe things fall out.

Seriously, they're b**bs. They're not out to get you. You should be glad the mother is keeping the kid quiet.

 

[HelenePA]

Something else to look forward to after I give birth, eh?

Gosh I'm giving you alot of the secrets... these are things no one told me... Oh yeah there is more.. but I dont want to ruin all the fun for you!

I've never played toy story mania.. is it like buzz light year? do I aim for the Z's?

 

[Laura]

Gosh I'm giving you alot of the secrets... these are things no one told me... Oh yeah there is more.. but I dont want to ruin all the fun for you!

Hey, I need all the warnings I can get!

 

[disneybound2010]

Gosh, I love my DH. I just asked him what he thought about BF in public(I wasn't able to BF) and his reply was,"babies need to eat. If they aren't using a bottle, then the breast is the next obvious choice." When I asked him if he found it offensive in any way he replied,"I find it more offensive that a woman would feel her child should eat in the crapper."
Obviously, DH has no hangups about public BFing.


I got a good one

 

[HelenePA]

Gosh, I love my DH. I just asked him what he thought about BF in public(I wasn't able to BF) and his reply was,"babies need to eat. If they aren't using a bottle, then the breast is the next obvious choice." When I asked him if he found it offensive in any way he replied,"I find it more offensive that a woman would feel her child should eat in the crapper."
Obviously, DH has no hangups about public BFing.


I got a good one

Mine either and this was even before I breastfed our newest.

 

[CathrynRose]

Then I wll just stare and make them as uncomfortable as they are making me, again, just talking about a mom exposing more than needed in a public place without thinking of others.. No way am I talking about a mom attempting to be discrete..

Wow! Sounds like someone has a fetish they can't control.

It's breast feeding. It's not anything more than that. To think so, is kinda weird.

My son went to Paris this summer. Simple fashion magazines, newpapers, billboards - all had bare chested women, and no one bats an eye. It's a breast.

Ive seen bigger man breasts at Blizzard Beach than some women, and no one is asking them to cover up.

 

[Laura]

Ive seen bigger man breasts at Blizzard Beach than some women, and no one is asking them to cover up.

I've asked JonS99 about that, and he hasn't replied. I guess since he personally doesn't find man breasts attractive, he doesn't have a problem with it.

 

[CathrynRose]

Gosh, I love my DH. I just asked him what he thought about BF in public(I wasn't able to BF) and his reply was,"babies need to eat. If they aren't using a bottle, then the breast is the next obvious choice." When I asked him if he found it offensive in any way he replied,"I find it more offensive that a woman would feel her child should eat in the crapper."
Obviously, DH has no hangups about public BFing.


I got a good one

My husband is the same way. He was actually more irritated with this uptight, bitty woman on the bus leaving the MK once.

There was a breastfeeding woman (which quite frankly, most of the bus preferred considering junior was WAILING and screeching - and needed to be fed)

The bitty woman WOULD NOT SHUT UP about how it was offensive and telling her kids to not look that way. It was ridiculous!!! Crazy!!!

 

[clgwli]

Well, that's just odd and certainly not the norm.

I agree. And when I spoke negatively in my first post those are the type I was referring to. Not your average breastfeeding mother.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Jon - some of the arguments you brought up are off base

People are not allowed to have sex in public - so that is not ok.

People are not allowed to urinate in public - so that is not ok.

Society frowns upon the above actitivies.

But we all get to eat in public! I do not like to watch a mentally challenged person being feed who drools and slobbers, I do not like to watch men in tank tops who think it is acceptable to eat inside at a restaurant, I do not like to watch people who chew with their mouths open.

BUT WHO CARES WHAT I LIKE?? Everyone is entitled to eat!

If someone finds the need to photograph a baby eating - I think that is a sick fetish.

I cannot believe people feel the need to explain to their children what breast are for - and that somehow they are uncomfortable doing so before the parent is "ready" to explain!! Ready to explain - what is there to explain.

Breasts exist to feed children.

 

[Jaclynfett]

I was 20 when I started nursing in public. For some reason this thread makes me feel better about all the ignorant comments and rude looks I received. I can see where it's coming from and the meaning behind it all and I can LMAO! Wish I could have known it back then.

 

[Cindy F]

A few points/questions I'm sure someone has already made somewhere in the previous 100 pages...

1) I honestly can not believe the inane things people get worked up over.

2) Did someone actually go to the baby/toddler/child capital of the universe and get upset they saw a baby being breastfed?

3) Was the breast attempting to assault someone? I mean, was the lady chasing anyone with her breast or attempting to harm someone with it? Was it growling at anyone?

I guess if someone was chased and attacked by a giant angry breast as a child, it could cause them to panic seeing a baby being breastfed but if just seeing an exposed, non threatening body part gets someone that upset, they probably need to talk to a professional about it.

You can't go through life only seeing things that are pleasing to your eye. Life doesn't roll that way.