The young mum said of the incident; “They made a real scene. They were saying me breastfeeding was indecent exposure. But I was covered more than most of the other swimmers. One staff member also said he would stop a man urinating in the pool and that is why they did not want me breastfeeding in the water. I should be allowed to breastfeed where I want. I felt humiliated and it was very distressing. I even asked about feeding at the side of the pool but they said that was not allowed and said I should go to the changing rooms or toilet.”
There’s been a protest supporting the mother in question and it seems the pool has reversed its position as a result.
I swim a lot and haven’t ever seen this myself, but if you were swimming in a public pool or in the place of the pool staff would you agree with breast feeding in the water or not? How hygienic (or not) is it?
My opinion: it’s a little weird, but probably not that big of a deal. It’s not like there’s milk just going everywhere. I’d take it over a kid pissing in the pool, and that happens all the time.
Saying she needs to go to the toilet to do it is just absurd. I’m guessing whoever said that doesn’t sit on the can and eat their lunch. There’s no reason it couldn’t be done poolside and everyone be relatively happy.
EDIT TO ADD: I just noticed the water was only waist-deep. Now I am even more on the mom’s side.
This is what one of the comments on the parentdish website said; that it is the chemicals and other matter that would have been present render it unsafe for the baby. Not sure how much of this is true, I must have swallowed mouthfuls of pool water over the years and am perfectly fine but then again I’m not a 4 month old infant.
Yeah, I hate when uppity ass babies insist on eating. It’s like, hello? We’re not all here to just cater to your needs, little squirming pink thing. I am convinced that most (if not all) simply do it for the attention.
Ditto this. No issues whatsoever with public breastfeeding. But even in a waist-high toddler pool, I can’t quite get behind that. Even if she were sitting on the edge with only her legs in the water, that would somehow be a little more acceptable to me.
I’d think it was odd if someone was enjoying a Little Debbies snack cake while standing waist deep in water. Or drinking a Diet Coke. So, yeah, I feel the same way about breast feeding. If you want to eat (or drink), get out of the pool.
I’m female, childless, have zero problem with mothers who breastfeed anywhere, yet it would gross me out to see a woman breastfeeding a baby in a pool.
I’d think that the mother’s skin must taste like chlorine to the baby if she’d already dunked herself in the water, and the thought of breast milk leaking into the pool squicks me right out.
That being said: if the mother was sitting in a chair poolside breastfeeding? No problem. It’s just her being in the water itself that skeeves me out.
I feel like I’d rather she sat on the edge, but I can’t explain why, so I guess that’s silly. Having breastfed, I can say that the milk doesn’t really go anywhere but in the baby. And considering how gross pools are in general, even if it did drip a bit it would be cleaner than everything else. I mean, look, those swim diapers? You can’t tell me those things aren’t leaking germs all over the damn place.
I don’t know why you’d want to breastfeed standing in a toddler pool, it sounds uncomfortable. But if she wants to, she should be allowed to.
But they should be able to breastfeed wherever they want. :dubious:
Reactionary misogynists who complain about everything women do color my impressions of those who would try to restrict mothers from feeding their babies in the most natural, healthful, sanitary way possible.