# Breastfeeding is not disgusting. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2002, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852 "2002-07-08T02:01:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/81 "2002-07-12T03:35:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, at home I completely remove my bra and shirt to nurse, and some days don’t bother to put them back on. That would be indiscreet. But I have never seen a mother do that in public, and I seriously doubt I would. Would see a mother do that, I mean. I _know_ I wouldn’t walk around topless, at least not for free! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/82 "2002-07-12T05:30:53Z")
Small children have occasionally wandered up to me while I was nursing my son, and I have politely answered their questions about the baby (“How old is he?” “Is it a boy or a girl?”) without changing my position. I don’t nurse with a cover on, as Whatsit Jr. just kicks it off every time I try. I would have pulled the scarf back, if I had a hand free anyway, and let the girl see the baby, simply because I would not want her to feel like breastfeeding is something that is embarrassing, or wrong for her to be asking about. However, I am at a point where I am fairly comfortable with nursing, and I know some women are less so, so it really depends on how you personally feel about it. ---
**Author:** ![WV\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@WV\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WV_Woman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/83 "2002-07-12T11:57:00Z")
Seeing people nurse doesn’t bother me. I’ve never seen a woman do it and NOT be discreet. I didn’t nurse. Tried it for about 2 days and said “WTF? I didn’t know nursing was painful! Screw it!” (It hurt like hell!) Looking back I wish I had stuck with it, but I was in SOOOOOO much pain and I was so exhausted (I had a really bad labor) that I can’t kick myself too much for it. I simply didn’t have the energy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/84 "2002-07-12T12:45:37Z")
The first woman I ever saw breastfeeding was in a bathroom in an Old Country Buffet (a really stinky bathroom, at that.) I just felt so bad for the woman and her baby, having to sit in that horrid bathroom. Being a college student, I don’t go to many family-oriented places now where I’m likely to see a breastfeeding mom, but when I do, I always think it’s nice to see them there and not in a bathroom. I was having an argument with someone in my boyfriend’s family about breastfeeding once, and she told me she thought it was really “tasteless” to do it in public, because apparently, children can see it. I was a little drunk, and not feeling very argumentative–hey, it’s not my family, you know? But what would have been a good thing to say to that? Not that it seems like a particularly valid argument, but I’d just like a good response to that in case we ever get into this again. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/85 "2002-07-12T12:53:11Z")
Best response I can think of is to keep (semi-agressively) asking “and why would that be bad?” “It’s deee-sgusting that people breastfeed in public” “Why, exactly?” “Well a child might see” “And this would be bad? why?” “Well, it’s not good for children to see stuff like that” “Why not?” Don’t bother trying to make any statements about it being unnatural; let them bear the burden of justification. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/86 "2002-07-12T22:05:49Z")
I think that for children to see breastfeeding is wonderful. Kids who are comfortable with it will be more likely to grow up to be comfortable with it. A couple of weeks ago, I was with a large group in a crowded and noisy pizza place. I needed to feed the Sprout, so I went to a bench outside where it was quieter and more private. My friends’ 4-year old son, Jake, came and sat by me to keep me company. I thought that was great. He had seen his little sister being nursed and didn’t think anything of it. On the negative side, however, he engaged me in an argument over whether a breastfeeding baby was “eating” or “drinking.” I maintained that he was eating. Jake said that he was drinking. I argued that since the milk was the baby’s only form of sustenance, then it was reasonable to call it eating. Jake countered that with the contention that if the nourishment was in liquid form, it was much more accurate to call it drinking. I’m afraid I lost the argument, and had to concede his point. It’s rather embarrassing to lose an argument with a 4-year-old, especially when he can also whup your ass at his Scooby-Doo videogame. ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/87 "2002-07-13T00:25:19Z")
I thought it was both eating and drinking, in that the foremilk satisfies thirst and the other heavier (backmilk?) satisfies hunger. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/88 "2002-07-13T03:24:24Z")
Dammit, **Cessandra**! Where were you when I was arguing with that little twerp? ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/89 "2002-07-13T05:24:31Z")
Hahahah, sorry! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/90 "2002-07-14T22:20:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > **On one of my moms lists (when we were all expecting), a very young mom told us that she would only breastfeed if her baby turned out to be a girl.** Is she planning on having a C-section so that he doesn’t go through his mother’s vagina? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852.md?page=4)