# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/161 "2013-09-12T18:30:47Z")
> [@CLee](#): > > You did exactly that here: > > So you love seeing breasts for the purpose of your entertainment, but deeply offended if you spy them being used for their intended purpose of nourishing an infant. That, sir, is sexualization. Whatever did you think you were saying there? News Alert! Heterosexual men find women’s breast sexually arousing! In other news water is wet. Not sure what you are on about here. OF COURSE men find women’s breasts sexually stimulating. Willing to bet the man who got you pregnant found your breasts sexually stimulating. Willing to bet every person you have ever had sex with found your breasts a sexual turn-on. I find vaginas to be a sexual turn on too. I do not want to see it while I am eating in a restaurant though even if its intended purpose is to be a gateway to start a new life and to bring a new life into the world. > [@CLee](#): > > Your rights begin where mine end, is the more applicable statement. Only in fantasy land where you are queen of everything. > [@CLee](#): > > I find your complete disregard of a nursing parent’s laws, rights, and intentions to be shitty. I find your wholehearted approval of nudity for the sole purpose of your sexual titillation and vilification of the sight of a breastfeeding infant shitty. I find your total disregard of public health and the benefits of breastfeeding ill-informed and well, shitty. > > Respect the laws which protect a nursing family. And respect the privacy of a nursing mother and look elsewhere just as you would when confronted with any other attractive feature or nuisance. Any nursing mother is going to place her infant’s comfort and well-being far above the prudish demands of a stranger, and when and if you become a parent you will do the same. Legal? So what? Legal is a long way from saying something is right or not. It used to be legal to own slaves. In some countries killing your sister/daughter/wife is legal under certain circumstances. Guess the men there would decry how shitty you are being if you pointed out that killing their wife is wrong because it is legal for them to do that. :rolleyes: Just because you can do a thing does not mean you should. If you cannot comport yourself in society because you feel your rights supersede all other considerations and you have no care whatsoever for those around you then you really should not be in public. Living in a society is an exercise in balancing rights. You have no such interest in this regard. It is all you and to hell with everyone else. I am not saying you should not breast feed. By all means…knock yourself out. I am saying you should have some concern for those around you. Get out of the pool and go sit in a chair to feed the baby. Is that really so onerous? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/162 "2013-09-12T18:37:11Z")
This “tough shit, deal with it” attitude of some interracial and homo couples is annoying. They are going to show you how fucking beautiful it is whether you like it or not! Just what people hope for when they go out to dinner. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![CLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@CLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CLee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/163 "2013-09-12T18:39:13Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Legal? So what? Legal is a long way from saying something is right or not. It used to be legal to own slaves. In some countries killing your sister/daughter/wife is legal under certain circumstances. Guess the men there would decry how shitty you are being if you pointed out that killing their wife is wrong because it is legal for them to do that. :rolleyes: > > Just because you can do a thing does not mean you should. > > If you cannot comport yourself in society because you feel your rights supersede all other considerations and you have no care whatsoever for those around you then you really should not be in public. Living in a society is an exercise in balancing rights. You have no such interest in this regard. It is all you and to hell with everyone else. Your bile is shocking. I’m not sure you understand how the American political system evolved, but rights of the many often supersede the rights of a few, especially when there is a net gain for society as a whole. Breastfeeding has been determined by our health system to have benefits that go far beyond merely sustaining an infant, not the least of which is reducing the incidence of smoking, obesity, and attachment disorders, all of which have wide ranging positive effects on our health care system and society as a whole. You don’t have to concern yourself with how I personally feel of course, but you have no choice but to consider the findings by the CDC, WHO, the surgeon general and lawmakers who made these decisions based on scientific findings rather than your personal fixations and hang-ups. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/164 "2013-09-12T18:58:28Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > After reading a number of stories on women who \*insist \*on breastfeeding in public, I am convinced most (if not all) simply do it for the attention. I agree with this. There are very few reasons why a child needs to be fed in public. As a parent, with a wife who breast fed, it was never an issue to take care of the baby’s nutritional needs long before we were in a public setting. On those rare occasions when the baby wanted to nurse again while we were out, a solution was easily found, and it NEVER included my wife whipping her udder out for a public display of infant feeding. With that said, not everyone in the world has to be like us, and I get that. But I have found in my own personal experience that women who breast feed in public do it for the attention it brings, not for Junior’s lunch or dinner needs. I know I will get slammed for this opinion by moms out there, demanding to be able to feed their child anywhere they please, and I understand your point of view. I just happen to disagree with it. For the record, I am not completely against breast feeding in public. Clearly if that is your only option, and the child is hungry, by all means, do what you need to do. But it is rarely the case that people can’t plan to go out and not plan around their child’s eating schedule. Or in this case, where mom is in or next to a public pool, she doesn’t have to bare her tit and feed right there. There is no reason why she could not get up, and go to where her towel is, and do it at least away from the pool area. Kind of like where you’d want a person to eat their lunch or drink a soda. Away from the pool area. That is easy to do. I don’t know to what level this woman was embarrassed, so I can’t speak to that. I’m sure her opinion is different than the life guard’s. but she shouldn’t be ridiculed or embarrassed. She should be politely asked to leave the area. And she should at least politely agree to move. I sense the “scene” was started after she was told to move and refused, causing the life guard to raise his voice or something that brought the situation to the attention of others. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/165 "2013-09-12T19:25:46Z")
> [@CLee](#): > > Your bile is shocking. I’m not sure you understand how the American political system evolved, but rights of the many often supersede the rights of a few, especially when there is a net gain for society as a whole. Breastfeeding has been determined by our health system to have benefits that go far beyond merely sustaining an infant, not the least of which is reducing the incidence of smoking, obesity, and attachment disorders, all of which have wide ranging positive effects on our health care system and society as a whole. You don’t have to concern yourself with how I personally feel of course, but you have no choice but to consider the findings by the CDC, WHO, the surgeon general and lawmakers who made these decisions based on scientific findings rather than your personal fixations and hang-ups. And again you miss the point. I never said to stop breast feeding. I am suggesting you have some concern for those around you when you breast feed. So, get out of the pool. Seriously. CAN you breast feed in the pool? Sure but why? Is it such an inconvenience for the mother to go sit in a chair by the pool while she does it? Is it better that she inconveniences everyone else in the pool merely because she can? If you are in a park and breast feeding I have zero issue with it. If you are sitting across from me at the next table in a restaurant then it is a different matter. This is not a binary choice. It is considering the place and circumstance and adjusting accordingly. I do not see why asking you to cover up while breast feeding in a restaurant is too much to ask. Your stance is to hell with everyone else and make no allowance for circumstances or to make even the merest concession for those around you. As for the health aspect, as I cited earlier, the science is not as clear as you make it out to be. Not saying it is bad for the babies. Just that it is not as magical as you seem to make it out to be. > [@](#): > > But it is not clear that breast-feeding makes a substantial difference for children in developed countries. (There is no doubt about its advantages in places that lack access to clean water and adequate health care.) > > Since scientists can’t assign women to randomized groups of breast-feeders and formula-feeders, they are forced to work backward from data, making it difficult to firmly establish whether breast-feeding improves a child’s health. For example, mothers who breast-feed are also more likely to adopt other wholesome behaviors: They eat less junk food, they’re less likely to smoke, and they see doctors. So studies have trouble determining whether children who were breast-fed are less likely to be obese because they received breast milk — or because their mothers cooked healthier foods. > > SOURCE: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-breast-feeding/2012/05/31/gJQAt6774U\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-breast-feeding/2012/05/31/gJQAt6774U_story.html) ETA: For what it is worth, if you are adamantly opposed to formula, you can [buy human breast milk](http://www.onlythebreast.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/166 "2013-09-12T19:35:06Z")
_Applauds CLee wildly_ I had mentally written a very similar response before realising I just didn’t have the energy to get into an online argument with an ignorant young man with limited experience of children, but I agree with and support everything you said. ---
**Author:** ![CLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@CLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CLee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/167 "2013-09-12T19:43:17Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > After reading a number of stories on women who \*insist \*on breastfeeding in public, I am convinced most (if not all) simply do it for the attention. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > There are very few reasons why a child needs to be fed in public. As a parent, with a wife who breast fed, it was never an issue to take care of the baby’s nutritional needs long before we were in a public setting. On those rare occasions when the baby wanted to nurse again while we were out, a solution was easily found, and it NEVER included my wife whipping her udder out for a public display of infant feeding. With respect, I suspect you both are projecting. Nursing breasts aren’t quite the sexual toolkit they were prior to giving birth, especially when one is recently postpartum, and it should be so obviously so. A nursing mom isn’t as sexually available if at all. A nursing mom is generally preoccupied with wiping bums and noses all day. A nursing mom is generally caked with dried milk, spit-up, and other assorted unsexy fluids. A nursing mom is harried and exhausted, and preoccupied with her family rather than the fleeting gaze of strange men. Bonding is so much more important than gathering a few approving glances, which are far outweighed by the disapproving glares. I know I certainly resented the attention of strangers both when my little one cried and when curious eyes fascinated by the action under my nursing apron stared too long. And truly the baby kicking the cover and my constant, nervous adjustment of the same brought far more attention than a simple accessible blouse would have caused. Picture the difference between a deliberately scantily clad tart and the buttoned up librarian. The too obvious plea for attention goes widely ignored but a chance to see a prim skirt hike up a thigh is catnip to voyeurs. If I had it to do over, I’d forgo the clumsy apron. With regards to restaurants and other relatively quiet and calm establishments, a new mother often feels compelled to quiet a fussy child with whatever means she has handy in order to convince a judging public that she’s a good mom. On top of that, meeting a young infant’s needs on demand is quite the compulsion, so much so that someone else’s newborn crying can cause a letdown that requires immediate attention and relief. Breasts being employed for nursing with a pink, mewling infant attached are such a different animal than the deliberately propped up cleavage of a sexually inviting woman that I just didn’t give them the same value or thought. The baby and I had a job to do and we got it done with as little fuss and scramble as we could manage. But I can’t really blame those activists who arranged the very obvious nurse-ins. The only way to desensitize a hypersexed public is to expose them to the act and get them used to the idea. I couldn’t handle that sort of scrutiny, but more power to the moms who grit their teeth and endure the critics. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/168 "2013-09-12T19:46:29Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > And again you miss the point. > > I never said to stop breast feeding. I am suggesting you have some concern for those around you when you breast feed. Why? Because it offends your delicate sensibilities and gives you a woody? Sorry, I don’t care. No, it’s not worth my expending even a little bit of energy for that, when the benefits - to other little girls who may never get to see a woman breastfeed, and to their babies, and to the culture as a whole learning to get the hell over it - if I _don’t_ cover up are, literally, exponential. > [@](#): > > Is it better that she inconveniences everyone else in the pool merely because she can? What inconvenience? > [@](#): > > Your stance is to hell with everyone else and make no allowance for circumstances or to make even the merest concession for those around you. I will make a concession for public health. I will make a concession for safety. I will not make a concession for your erections or another person’s sense of ick. These are not “inconveniences” which warrant concessions. > [@](#): > > As for the health aspect, as I cited earlier, the science is not as clear as you make it out to be. Not saying it is bad for the babies. Just that it is not as magical as you seem to make it out to be. Your cite says that it’s difficult to study, not that there are no benefits, or even overblown benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/169 "2013-09-12T19:47:47Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I agree with this. > > **There are very few reasons why a child needs to be fed in public.** As a parent, with a wife who breast fed, it was never an issue to take care of the baby’s nutritional needs long before we were in a public setting. On those rare occasions when the baby wanted to nurse again while we were out, a solution was easily found, and it NEVER included my wife whipping her udder out for a public display of infant feeding. > > With that said, not everyone in the world has to be like us, and I get that. But I have found in my own personal experience that women who breast feed in public do it for the attention it brings, not for Junior’s lunch or dinner needs. > > I know I will get slammed for this opinion by moms out there, demanding to be able to feed their child anywhere they please, and I understand your point of view. I just happen to disagree with it. > > For the record, I am not completely against breast feeding in public. Clearly if that is your only option, and the child is hungry, by all means, do what you need to do. **But it is rarely the case that people can’t plan to go out and not plan around their child’s eating schedule.** Or in this case, where mom is in or next to a public pool, she doesn’t have to bare her tit and feed right there. There is no reason why she could not get up, and go to where her towel is, and do it at least away from the pool area. Kind of like where you’d want a person to eat their lunch or drink a soda. Away from the pool area. That is easy to do. > > I don’t know to what level this woman was embarrassed, so I can’t speak to that. I’m sure her opinion is different than the life guard’s. but she shouldn’t be ridiculed or embarrassed. She should be politely asked to leave the area. And she should at least politely agree to move. I sense the “scene” was started after she was told to move and refused, causing the life guard to raise his voice or something that brought the situation to the attention of others. (emphasis added) This is just factually incorrect. It may have been your experience, but if so your child was a major exception. Either that or you just don’t consider women being able to live normal lives of engagement and usefulness in their communities to be a normal, bare-minimum level of equality that is worth some poor random Target customer having to use their neck muscles to avoid seeing a nursing baby if it bothers them. Given the derisive, inflammatory language you use to describe female anatomy and breastfeeding, forgive me if I would be unsurprised at a certain level of misogyny, in addition to monumental ignorance, underlying your assessment. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/170 "2013-09-12T19:50:35Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If you are sitting across from me at the next table in a restaurant then it is a different matter. Why is it a different matter? Where did you get this notion that it’s a problem? Also, regarding health benefits, the evidence continues to grow: [http://machineslikeus.com/news/breastfeeding-benefits-babies-brains](http://machineslikeus.com/news/breastfeeding-benefits-babies-brains) ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/171 "2013-09-12T19:53:28Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > But I have found in my own personal experience that women who breast feed in public do it for the attention it brings, not for Junior’s lunch or dinner needs. How do you know, did they tell you that? Why is it ok for you to eat in public but it’s not ok for babies to eat in public? Where does this come from? ---
**Author:** ![CLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@CLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CLee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/172 "2013-09-12T19:53:51Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > So, get out of the pool. Seriously. CAN you breast feed in the pool? Sure but why? Is it such an inconvenience for the mother to go sit in a chair by the pool while she does it? Is it better that she inconveniences everyone else in the pool merely because she can? I already said as much, but because I’d be concerned about the infant’s safety in the presence of rowdy swimmers, and I’d be concerned that the infant wasn’t warm enough. I wouldn’t be in the least concerned about a mother publicly breastfeeding at a family friendly venue. In fact, after this conversation, I’d comp her entry fee at the least. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > As for the health aspect, as I cited earlier, the science is not as clear as you make it out to be. Not saying it is bad for the babies. Just that it is not as magical as you seem to make it out to be. > ETA: For what it is worth, if you are adamantly opposed to formula, you can [buy human breast milk](http://www.onlythebreast.com/). I am not opposed to formula and said nothing of the sort. I said that an infant accustomed to breastfeeding is not likely to take well to a cold bottle of foreign, smelly substance (my god the stuff smells ghastly even if it is a miracle for infants unable to breastfeed). Your suggestion that nursing mothers need to be better prepared to accommodate onlookers would be insulting if it weren’t hilariously self-absorbed. And I haven’t made magical claims, you are more than welcome to keep vomiting up cites that breastfeeding isn’t a panacea, but we both know that studies touting the physical, emotional, and financial benefits of breastfeeding will trump your paltry cites so this tangent really isn’t going anywhere. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If you are sitting across from me at the next table in a restaurant then it is a different matter. This is not a binary choice. It is considering the place and circumstance and adjusting accordingly. I do not see why asking you to cover up while breast feeding in a restaurant is too much to ask. > > Your stance is to hell with everyone else and make no allowance for circumstances or to make even the merest concession for those around you. If I may ask, do you drive? If so, do you drive 10 to 15 mph less than the posted limit in order to accommodate the fears of more cautious drivers? If not, why not? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/173 "2013-09-12T19:56:40Z")
(Obligatory but tangential link to [“Watch Your Language!” by Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC](http://jhl.sagepub.com/content/12/1/1.extract). Nutshell: there are no “benefits” to breastfeeding. There are health risks to artificial feeding. It’s science, not a promotional pamphlet.) ---
**Author:** ![CLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@CLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CLee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/174 "2013-09-12T20:09:46Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > (Obligatory but tangential link to [“Watch Your Language!” by Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC](http://jhl.sagepub.com/content/12/1/1.extract). Nutshell: there are no “benefits” to breastfeeding. There are health risks to artificial feeding. It’s science, not a promotional pamphlet.) Thank you for the correction, I knew of the necessity for language appropriate to science, but used an easy shortcut for the sake of time. For the sake of those who insist that a blanket should be used to cover a nursing infant, this is what my experience looked exactly like. This is a YouTube link to a diaper commercial, and though it should be safe for work and restaurants everywhere, I will break the link on the offchance the easily offended will lose his appetite by the sight of a nursing infant: http:/ /www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgmbJso-2-o ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/175 "2013-09-12T20:17:42Z")
> [@CLee](#): > > Thank you for the correction, I knew of the necessity for language appropriate to science, but used an easy shortcut for the sake of time. I know. And I do it, too, until I suddenly remember how awesome that essay is. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/176 "2013-09-12T20:28:17Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > An Olympic sized(50m by 25m) pool contains [660,000 US gallons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic-size_swimming_pool) of water. Let’s assume the baby is a very sloppy eater and loses 1 oz of breastmilk into the water. > > 1 oz = 1/128 of a gallon. The ratio between breastmilk and water would be 1 : (660,000 X 128) or 1 : 84,480,000. Let’s further assume that a toddler pool is 1/10th the size of a Olympic pool, and we really have a ratio of 1 : 8,448,000 or 1 : 8.448 x 10^6. > > As a reference point, the dilution of the heart and liver of a Muscovy duck which makes up the “active ingredient” in one of the worlds most popular homeopathic remedies, [Oscillococcinum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillococcinum), is 1 : 10^400 > > For reference, there is approximately [332,500,000 cubic miles of water(including atmospheric vapor, ice, ground, and salt water) on the planet Earth](http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/global-water-volume.html) And [now we convert from cubic miles to US gallons and get](http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.07/h/fred5.html) 1 cubic mile = 1,101,117,147,352 US gallons. Earth contains roughly 332,500,000 \* 1,101,117,147,352 \* 128 ounces of water. That’s 4.6863546 X 10^22 which is WAY, WAY under what we’d need to dilute to for a homeopathic dimension. You’d need many, MANY more Earths worth of water to dilute that much breastmilk to homeopathic ratios. > > This is not to say that the breastmilk : pool water ratio is significant, it’s really just an illustration of how ridiculous homeopathy is. All of the Oscillococcinum which has ever been manufactured, sold, consumed, etc. in all of history **MUST** have been made from some microscopic amount of duck heart and liver. Otherwise the company would have long ago consumed all of the Earth’s water in the manufacturing process.I don’t think you know what you think you know. From the link given by **MsWhatsit** [http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/breastfeeding-state-laws.aspx](http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/breastfeeding-state-laws.aspx) Four of the five states which do not have explicit protections for public AND private breastfeeding may still have protections for public breastfeeding, or statutes exempting the activity from indecency laws. The only state whose statutes seem entirely silent on the issue is West Virginia. FYI, the law being silent on a matter means it is legal. > > Enjoy, > Steven I wasn’t saying they would be able to kick her out totally. But I do think they would be able to make a rule that she can’t breast feed in the pool itself. Sit in a lounge over on the deck, yeah. In the pool? I can’t see where they would get in trouble making a rule against that. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/177 "2013-09-12T20:43:02Z")
As I mentioned earlier, in the UK they’d be risking being found to be in contravention of the 2010 Equality Act if they did. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/178 "2013-09-12T22:35:59Z")
People worried about milk getting into the pool water should be worried when the baby _isn’t_ feeding. Breasts leak. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/179 "2013-09-12T23:54:31Z")
> [@Pasta](#): > > People worried about milk getting into the pool water should be worried when the baby _isn’t_ feeding. Breasts leak. Oh Lord, don’t tell them that or they’ll be wanting breastfeeding women to get locked into the menstrual hut with the other Uncleans. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437/180 "2013-09-13T04:54:07Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Why? Because it offends your delicate sensibilities and gives you a woody? Honestly, if seeing a woman breast feeding gave me a boner I would never argue against it. It’d be like arguing against lingerie. I’d be women who breast feed biggest fan. > [@WhyNot](#): > > Sorry, I don’t care. No, it’s not worth my expending even a little bit of energy for that, when the benefits - to other little girls who may never get to see a woman breastfeed, and to their babies, and to the culture as a whole learning to get the hell over it - if I _don’t_ cover up are, literally, exponential. So you are sending the message to little girls that it is ok to be insufferable entitled assholes. Good job. What about women who cannot breast feed for any of a variety of reasons? Your message to little girls will ruin them if, for whatever reason, they are unable to breast feed their babies. It is not uncommon. Shit happens. But YOU making it the end all, be all for young girls will fuck them up if they cannot measure up. Way to go mom. > [@WhyNot](#): > > What inconvenience? If I were in the pool I would make a point of steering clear of the breast feeding mom. Not because I was bugged by it but because I think it would be the right thing to do. Splashing my friends and doing cannon balls into the pool near the mother feeding her child seems wrong to me. See…I actually care about the people around me. I could, LEGALLY, cannon ball right next to the mom feeding her kid. But that would be a shitty thing to do and I am betting you would think so too. > [@WhyNot](#): > > I will make a concession for public health. I will make a concession for safety. I will not make a concession for your erections or another person’s sense of ick. These are not “inconveniences” which warrant concessions. It is not a sense of “ick”. I have already said I am FINE with women breast feeding. It is a question of context. Of time and place. Would you breast feed you baby on the dais of a wedding while the bride and groom were saying their vows? If not why not? > [@WhyNot](#): > > Your cite says that it’s difficult to study, not that there are no benefits, or even overblown benefits. The cite says that the studies showing the benefits of breast feeding then to not account for certain variables. For instance women who breast feed tend to be in a better socio-economic class, better educated and put more effort into the welfare of their baby. So, it is difficult to say that breast feeding was the thing that made their babies prosper where others didn’t. It may be a piece of the puzzle but there is more to the story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-feeding-in-the-swimming-pool/666437.md?page=10)