# Breast feeding in the swimming pool **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437 "2013-08-16T18:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/81 "2013-08-17T01:56:16Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > I’m not looking for a fight. I may be biased. But I would strongly disagree with anything that says you shouldn’t have to consider other people around you. A breastfeeding mother can do no wrong? A breastfeeding mother can certainly do wrong. She can be a dreadful, shitty person who spits in public, cheats on her taxes and talks at the theater. But when it comes to breastfeeding, if it works for her and her baby and she’s not blocking traffic, then no, she can do no wrong. Yes, really. > [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > I’ve never been to a pool that allowed any sort of food or drink near the pool, much less in it. Why is breastmilk different from any other food or drink or bodily fluid? It doesn’t wear out a pool filter like crumbs and food wrappers do, and it doesn’t mess up the pH of the water (yeah, homeopathic contamination, indeed), and it doesn’t come in a glass jar that can break on the deck like many drinks do, and it doesn’t present a health risk like feces or blood. So yes, there are lots of differences between breastfeeding and having other food or drink or bodily fluids in the pool. > [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Not in a public pool, where both food and excreting bodily fluids are prohibited. Excreting bodily fluids is not prohibited in a public pool. Excreting urine and feces are prohibited in a public pool, and excreting blood is probably frowned upon as well. Sweat, tears, saliva, menstrual fluid (yes, Virgina, women on their periods go swimming, and inevitably leak homeopathic amounts of menstrual fluid into the pool) and breastmilk from lactating-but-not-nursing breasts are not prohibited in a public pool. > [@Shakes](#): > > So mothers who use formula are inferior parents? > > Good lord what self righteous bullshit. No. Mothers who use formula are generally good mothers who feed their child inferior food, either because they have to or they chose to. Mothers who breastfeed are generally good mothers who feed their child biologically normal food, either because they have to or they chose to. > [@B.Serum](#): > > Breasts, for all their natural, life-giving, nourishment functionality are **also** a fairly sexualized part of the anatomy, that for whatever prudish, puritanical reason, our society has decided are for private viewing only. Remember how Janet Jackson’s nip slip stopped our nation’s ability to talk about anything else? But whenever these breastfeeding discussions come up, a particularly vociferous faction conveniently forgets the societal norms that have molded our expectations of what’s fit for “all audiences.” Because some of us realize that the sexualized version of breasts (the kind that excludes their maternal function completely or almost completely) is not the only way to view them, and we’d like to change that. We change that by not taking them to the toilet to use them, and by supporting mothers who don’t take them to the toilet to use them. > [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Agreed it’s probably what she was thinking, but really, what’s she going to do if there’s trouble? > How is she going to rescue a 4-year old with a baby stuck on her tit? She can’t set that one down. > > (We all seem to agree that nursing poolside with the family is no problem, just not in the pool) She’s a mom of a 17 month old and a 4 month old. She’s an expert at the one-handed-toddler-retrieval, I’m sure. The kind of trouble a toddler’s likely to get into in a wading pool is fairly well limited to the kind of trouble that can be dealt with by picking the child up and tucking her under your arm, which an experienced mother can certainly do without disturbing the nurser. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/82 "2013-08-17T02:02:57Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > She’s a mom of a 17 month old and a 4 month old. She’s an expert at the one-handed-toddler-retrieval, I’m sure. The kind of trouble a toddler’s likely to get into in a wading pool is fairly well limited to the kind of trouble that can be dealt with by picking the child up and tucking her under your arm, which an experienced mother can certainly do without disturbing the nurser. And since her husband was there as well to do any toddler-rescuing, it’s not even an issue. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/83 "2013-08-17T02:09:44Z")
^^^ her toddler-rescuing was the assumed reason for her being in the water in the first place. If dad can rescue, she can sit in a chair and watch. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/84 "2013-08-17T02:17:08Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > ^^^ her toddler-rescuing was the assumed reason for her being in the water in the first place. > If dad can rescue, she can sit in a chair and watch. She can, sure. And then she and everyone else in the pool can listen to an ending chorus of shrieked, “Mama! Look at me! Mama! Watch this! No, Dada, want Mama! Mama mama mama mama…!” Or she can stand next to one of her children and nurse the other one. Her choice. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/85 "2013-08-17T02:39:03Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > I always wished I had nipples on my knees Epic quote! ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/86 "2013-08-17T04:44:19Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > What on Earth are you on about? She wasn’t breaking any laws. I can’t speak for the state of affairs in every corner of the U.S., but, in any case, this was in Manchester, and women’s right to breastfeed in public is protected by law in Britain. Well, if what she was doing was legal, then the pool management had an obligation to let her do it, then. I wasn’t aware that the UK had a law like that; I know that the US (or at least parts of it) have laws that don’t see it that way. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/87 "2013-08-17T04:45:12Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Because some of us realize that the sexualized version of breasts (the kind that excludes their maternal function completely or almost completely) is not the only way to view them, and we’d like to change that. We change that by not taking them to the toilet to use them, and by supporting mothers who don’t take them to the toilet to use them. Cool. It sounds like we’re in agreement that breasts inhabit different spheres in our lives: maternal and sexual. Just to suss out the extent of your advocacy, are there any restrictions regarding when and where women can go topless, should they desire to? ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/88 "2013-08-17T05:34:36Z")
Nothing about breast feeding in this post (didn’t even realize they had to be fed ). But for those concerned about the waters… I’ve seen a lot of public pool setups and never have I seen the kiddy pool water separate from the main pool. Behind the scenes in the filter room the waters are mixed through one filter. It’s a big planet, so I’m sure there may be exceptions. And as for the waters in either pool, all forms of bodily excretions end up there. A few drops of mothers milk, from either a breast feeding mom, or just a lactating swimmer is probably one of the more sanitary additions to the soup. The chlorination, if used, helps to kill off the nastier stuff but the chemical reactions can cause some nasty by-products that tend to move the water towards the acid side of the ph scale. This is what actually causes “eye-burn”, not the chlorine itself. Usually some sort of a very strong base (opposite of acid) chemical has to be added to keep the ph in a comfortable range. On a busy day in a large pool, ph readings may be taken several times an hour so adjustments can be made to the rate at which chemicals are being added. Mixing the water from 2 or more “tanks” makes this chemical dance easier because you only have to check one, and can add the chemicals at the outflow from the filter. I’m sure water-parks are a whole different animal. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Friedrich Nietzsche ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/89 "2013-08-17T06:12:02Z")
> [@ruh-roh](#): > > And as for the waters in either pool, all forms of bodily excretions end up there. A few drops of mothers milk, from either a breast feeding mom, or just a lactating swimmer is probably one of the more sanitary additions to the soup. The chlorination, if used, helps to kill off the nastier stuff but the chemical reactions can cause some nasty by-products that tend to move the water towards the acid side of the ph scale. This is what actually causes “eye-burn”, not the chlorine itself. I’ve heard the factoid somewhere that chlorine by itself doesn’t have much of a smell, and the “chlorine smell” associated with swimming pools is actually caused by the reaction of chlorine with ammonia from urine. So the more “pool smell”, the more pee there is in the pool. I’m a bit skeptical about the accuracy of this, but [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine#Swimming_pool_disinfection)at least backs it up to an extent, although it doesn’t specify urine. > [@](#): > > In swimming pools, chloramines are formed by the reaction of free chlorine with organic substances. Chloramines, compared to free chlorine, are both less effective as a sanitizer and, if not managed correctly, may be more irritating to the eyes of swimmers. Chloramines are also responsible for the reported “chlorine” smell of swimming pools. Which ties in with **ruh-roh** ’s mention of eye-burn (and general pool nastiness). **ruh-roh** , can you give us the straight dope? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/90 "2013-08-17T07:02:57Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I’ve heard the factoid somewhere that chlorine by itself doesn’t have much of a smell, and the “chlorine smell” associated with swimming pools is actually caused by the reaction of chlorine with ammonia from urine. So the more “pool smell”, the more pee there is in the pool. Unless persons unknown are sneaking into my pool and peeing while I’m not around I’m going to have to disagree with this notion. Also, I can smell the chlorine in tap water\* so that would make a whole lot of peeing in our water supply. \*Oddly enough the smell of chlorinated water is a favorite of mine. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/91 "2013-08-17T07:08:51Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I’ve heard the factoid somewhere that chlorine by itself doesn’t have much of a smell, and the “chlorine smell” associated with swimming pools is actually caused by the reaction of chlorine with ammonia from urine. So the more “pool smell”, the more pee there is in the pool. > > I’m a bit skeptical about the accuracy of this, but [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine#Swimming_pool_disinfection)at least backs it up to an extent, although it doesn’t specify urine. > > Which ties in with **ruh-roh** ’s mention of eye-burn (and general pool nastiness). > > **ruh-roh** , can you give us the straight dope? In Brazil we used to clean with chlorine, and that smelled like swimming pool. I doubt the kitchen had much pee in it… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/92 "2013-08-17T07:49:48Z")
I’d be more worried about the baby crapping or peeing in the pool. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/93 "2013-08-17T12:22:35Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Cool. It sounds like we’re in agreement that breasts inhabit different spheres in our lives: maternal and sexual. MY breasts inhabit quite a few other spheres than that. To me, my breasts also inhabit spheres of beauty, art, body image, self loathing, self loving, fashion, power and vulnerability. But sure, since our culture isn’t much interested in how women’s breasts serve them, only how they serve others, lets go with two spheres for the sake of conversation. > [@](#): > > Just to suss out the extent of your advocacy, are there any restrictions regarding when and where women can go topless, should they desire to? Topless while not breastfeeding, you mean? I’m okay with the same restrictions as on men, if we must have restrictions at all. While breastfeeding, no, I cannot think of any situation in which the baring a breast in the process of nursing should be restricted. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/94 "2013-08-17T12:25:04Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Also, I can smell the chlorine in tap water\* so that would make a whole lot of peeing in our water supply. Are you sure that isn’t **Fluorine** you’re smelling? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/95 "2013-08-17T12:32:00Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Are you sure that isn’t **Fluorine** you’re smelling? I recall it being recently mentioned in another thread that chlorine in tap water can often be tasted or smelled. And that letting tap water chill in the fridge for a while is the way to get rid of it; if it’s left to sit gases like chlorine will escape. ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Lange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Donna\_Lange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Lange)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/96 "2013-08-17T12:42:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m more worried about how hygienic it is for the baby. I would agree with this. A public pool with god knows what floating in it and she wants to feed her child? I really hope she washed her mammary off first before sticking the child onto her nipple to feed. A woman should be allowed to breast feed just about anywhere, its what our breasts are for after all. Then again… C’mon, basic hygiene woman! You want your kid with some chlorine or worse in it’s mouth? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/97 "2013-08-17T12:57:45Z")
Several things: 1. G.I.Joe: Retaliation needs to go back to editing. At several points you can tell where the nipples of half the male members of the cast are, bud and areole both. CUT! 2. It’s the toddler’s pool; on one hand I’d be more worried about the baby drinking chlorinated, body-temperature pee than about the milk contaminating the so-called water, and on the other said baby is allowed there when not eating. 3. I agree that it’s not an eating place. Rules about “minimal distance between food and pool” apply. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/98 "2013-08-17T13:01:52Z")
> [@bufftabby](#): > > Do they typically allow other people to eat in the pool? They should follow whatever food rule they already have in place. This makes good sense. But really wouldn’t care myself. Considering the general filth we all carry around on us, why would a little breast milk bother anyone? I do agree that it is a bit odd that she would not do it poolside instead. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/99 "2013-08-17T13:03:20Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > She was there with the 17-month old, but it was a 4-month old involved in the activity in question. At that age they’re still sort of mole-like, IME. It’s about the time they _start_ being able to recongnize the breast as a source of food visually and they’re also old enough to reach out for it and re-latch by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/100 "2013-08-17T14:19:45Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > She can, sure. And then she and everyone else in the pool can listen to an ending chorus of shrieked, “Mama! Look at me! Mama! Watch this! No, Dada, want Mama! Mama mama mama mama…!” > > Or she can stand next to one of her children and nurse the other one. Her choice. Ugh. Very perceptive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437.md?page=6)