DarbyV, yes I wsa breastfed. As were my three siblings. I’ve got no problem with it.
I was just at a picnic last weekend where two mothers breastfed their daughters out in the open. Not one person at this picnic seemed to have a problem with it. As a matter of fact, I was in the middle of a conversation with one mother when she began the feeding. No big deal.
Anyone who has a problem with it is not your problem.
No, it doesn’t embarass me. I’ve never seen anyone using breastfeeding as an excuse to show off. Maybe that happens, I don’t know, but short of that I don’t see any reason for mother, child or passerby to be embarassed.
However, Mrs. Pluto and I recently flew on Southwest Airlines. The flight was absolutely full and Southwest squeezes a few extra passengers in by installing backwards facing seats at the front of economy class. Mrs. Pluto and I were nearly the last ones on the plane so that’s where we ended up. Sitting opposite us was a poor woman trying to breastfeed her baby. I’m sure she was sitting up front to get a little extra room and avoid attention but there she was with three strangers facing her about three feet away.
She was very discreet, and I didn’t even notice what was going on until well into the flight. (When I did notice I tried not to add to her difficulties by staring. I was also trying to avoid getting clonked by Mrs. Pluto for lecherous behavior.) At any rate, it wasn’t till we were getting off the plane that I saw how difficult it had really been for her: because of her audience she hadn’t been able to switch sides the whole flight. She was distinctly lopsided as we exited.
Breastfeeding in public neither offends or disgusts me but if I was ever caught doing it I am sure there is some law against that behaviour…
But seriously, my wife is breastfeeding right now and I have seen countless women do this in public. What’s the big deal? Women who breastfeed aren’t closeted exhibitionists and seem to be quite discreet, even in public. It is natural and what can be wrong with that? A friend of my wife’s is shocked that Lola breastfeeds in front of family and close friends… she says she is tired of seeing Lola’s breasts all the time. I can’t understand how anyone could tire of that… watching my daughter nursing at Lola’s breast is a beautiful thing. There are a great many things a dad can do as well as a mom but this isn’t one of them.
I’ll tell ya what offends me…people who are offended by breastfeeding in public offend me. Morons.
Seeing breastfeeding in public doesn’t bother me one bit. I envy those lucky babies.
As loong as they’ve brought enough for everynody…
Yer pal,
Satan
TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Three months, three days, 7 hours, 38 minutes and 47 seconds.
3772 cigarettes not smoked, saving $471.59.
Life saved: 1 week, 6 days, 2 hours, 20 minutes.
What does the very fact that this matter needs to be discussed say about (American) society? In most other places in the world it is definitely not an issue.
In other places, people have seen nipples before too, and have lived to tell the tale!
I think moms who bottlefeed in public ought to be ashamed. They embarrass me every time they pull out one of those clear, graduated bottles, sloshing full of formula, with the very naughty playtex nipple afixed to the top…
Well…I’m not offended…at all.
Have you, as an adult, tried breast milk?
I have…the only problem with that I can think of…it’s warm.
not much of a problem really…and having something spray into your mouth is a little weird.
JimmyNipples,
(A most appropriate name for this thread BTW) I have tried breastmilk alot and have found it is wonderful in coffee and makes mac and cheese sooo much better (my husband didn’t know and I would NEVER tell him). The foremilk taste different than the hindmilk too. The foremilk taste more like skim milk and the hindmilk is way sweeter, kinda like a dessert. You can also use it as eye and ear drops to help clear up infections and such but this is probably way more info than anyone needed.
Darby
Chief,
May not be formula. Some women are very (modest/prudish, pick one) and prefer to pump it out at home and feed the baby later when they have to be out at feeding time.So there I was a brand new mama of my first baby who was about to turn 4 weeks old. I had never nursed in public before and I had never seen anyone nurse in public before. I had hardly ever seen anyone nurse before. But I knew I was going to have to nurse in public. My husband’s employer had their company picnic at Silver Dollar City (a theme park, in case you haven’t heard of it). Of course this year the weather decided to be warmer than usual for June so it was a sweaty kind of day. That being the baby needed to nurse even more than a 4 week old usually would. I used to work for a division of the company too so there were gobs of people dying to see the baby. The first time she needed to nurse after we got there it was still relatively cool so I found a shady spot covered her with a thin blanket and tried to nurse her. The problem was that everyone wanted to see the baby and wouldn’t leave us alone. So the next time I avoided the shady place where all of the people were hanging out and found a place facing away from the main path and sat on the edge of a flower garden. It was too hot to cover her completely so I was only doing so long enough to get her latched on good. Then I was trying to fold the blanket up on my arm and shoulder to make like a shield so that a person would have to come right up to me to see anything. I couldn’t get the blanket completely off of the baby though. She was really sweating. I’m fussing with it, my husband tries to see what he can do. Then this old-timer from the park walks by a little distance from us. He yells over to me, “Hey! This is a family place! Uncover that baby. Nobody’s gonna bother you here.”