Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When my wife was breastfeeding our children she never did so in public. That didn't mean that we didn't go out in public or scurry off to a dark corner whenever the baby needed to eat. It meant that we planned ahead and she expressed milk so that we would have a bottle ready for the baby if they got hungry while we were in public. She would also express a midnight bottle on occasion if she needed some extra sleep so I could feed the baby.
If you know you are going to be out in public at the mall or some other place (given most people with infants aren't gallavanting all over creation for hours on end), why can't you simply express a bottle or two to feed the baby and avoid the issue entirely?
Personally, I feel that now (through the healthcare reform bill) that we have legislated that all public places and businesses make accomodation for breastfeeding mothers by providing proper facilities, that we should no longer see breastfeeding mothers in the middle of public places. I don't find it icky or sexual, but it is something that can make people uncomfortable. I understood the argument when no accomodation existed (though as I previously stated there are ways around that), but now that businesses and public places HAVE to have accomodations, they should be used.
When my wife was breastfeeding our children she never did so in public. That didn't mean that we didn't go out in public or scurry off to a dark corner whenever the baby needed to eat. It meant that we planned ahead and she expressed milk so that we would have a bottle ready for the baby if they got hungry while we were in public. She would also express a midnight bottle on occasion if she needed some extra sleep so I could feed the baby.
If you know you are going to be out in public at the mall or some other place (given most people with infants aren't gallavanting all over creation for hours on end), why can't you simply express a bottle or two to feed the baby and avoid the issue entirely?
Personally, I feel that now (through the healthcare reform bill) that we have legislated that all public places and businesses make accomodation for breastfeeding mothers by providing proper facilities, that we should no longer see breastfeeding mothers in the middle of public places. I don't find it icky or sexual, but it is something that can make people uncomfortable. I understood the argument when no accomodation existed (though as I previously stated there are ways around that), but now that businesses and public places HAVE to have accomodations, they should be used.
What if your baby won't take a bottle? Mine didn't.
Personally, I feel that now (through the healthcare reform bill) that we have legislated that all public places and businesses make accomodation for breastfeeding mothers by providing proper facilities, that we should no longer see breastfeeding mothers in the middle of public places. I don't find it icky or sexual, but it is something that can make people uncomfortable. I understood the argument when no accomodation existed (though as I previously stated there are ways around that), but now that businesses and public places HAVE to have accomodations, they should be used.
Just FYI, this is not completely true.
Page 1239 of the Senate health care bill titled "Reasonable Break Time for Nursing Mothers" says employers shall provide "a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child's birth time each time such employee has need to express the milk; a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk."
This does not mean that stores and restaurants have to have "rooms" as outlined above for their customers who need to breastfeed. This is explicitly for working mothers who need to accommodate pumping. I don't know of any woman who pumps on a park bench (or maybe there are, and they are discreetly doing so behind a coverup). I wonder if that too would annoy people as much as a suckling infant, ugh.
Page 1239 of the Senate health care bill titled "Reasonable Break Time for Nursing Mothers" says employers shall provide "a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child's birth time each time such employee has need to express the milk; a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk."
Yet another reason why there will never be equal pay for men and women... but thats an argument for another day.
It's not that I *can't*. It's that there is no reason for such inconvenience to me, my child, and my companions. It's obviously *possible* to leave and nurse elsewhere, such as a nursing room (if available), the restroom (yuck), the car, or to never leave home as has been suggested. It's possible for me to leave the table at a restaurant to nurse in the bathroom while my husband sits alone at the table staring at the wall and my food gets cold. It's possible for me to bring my older daughter into the nursing room with me and have her sit and be bored while I nurse her sister instead of letting her play on the play structure. It's possible for me to sit in a dressing room and nurse while my companions shuffle around the store waiting for me. And sure, some people prefer to do that, and good for them if that is what it takes for them to be able to meet their baby's needs. But doesn't mean that all nursing mothers should *have* to do that if they are otherwise comfortable nursing elsewhere. That is the choice of the nursing mother herself, not some stranger.
To relate it back to the OP, the problem is that some people in our society have come to view breastfeeding as "creepy" and don't want to do it, but more than that, they feel that they don't want to witness others doing it either. But that is *their* issue, not the nursing mother's issue, and I don't feel that the nursing mother should feel that she has to accommodate *them* just because they have some whacked-out idea, like that the way that mothers have fed babies for as long as mothers have had babies is somehow creepy.
While breastfeeding and bottle feeding mothers both probably experience judgment from the other side, nobody tells bottle feeding mothers that they can't feed their baby somewhere that breastfeeding mothers could. When those judgments cross the line from opinions to policy, that is when it goes too far. And telling a breastfeeding mother that she has to go somewhere else to feed her child, is a common example of that. If you think breastfeeding is creepy, I'm sorry you feel that way. So don't breastfeed. Think poorly of breastfeeding mothers, even. But the minute that you tell me that I shouldn't be able to breastfeed in your presence, you've gone too far.
That is, by far the most selfish thing I have ever heard. How totally arrogant.
Why is it that you think you are so much more important than everyone around you? It seems to be the general mentality of a certain crop of breastfeeding women. It makes me sick.
That is, by far the most selfish thing I have ever heard. How totally arrogant.
Why is it that you think you are so much more important than everyone around you? It seems to be the general mentality of a certain crop of breastfeeding women. It makes me sick.
It's also pretty selfish to expect mothers to hide themselves away every time their babies need to nurse. I don't know why people are so offended by babies breastfeeding. That is how babies eat. Plain and simple.
Yet another reason why there will never be equal pay for men and women... but thats an argument for another day.
That break time is unpaid, so no, not another reason. Most of the reasons why women receive less pay is due to when they take leave from the work force (greater time between pay raises), or CHOOSE to take on a less strenuous position that would yield higher pay due to a family. Technically my husband will have that same issue (thankfully we both make great money) because he values family life over more money/more responsibilities.
That is, by far the most selfish thing I have ever heard. How totally arrogant.
Why is it that you think you are so much more important than everyone around you? It seems to be the general mentality of a certain crop of breastfeeding women. It makes me sick.
On the other hand, if you don't want to see breastfeeding in public, why is it that you think that YOU are so much more important than the breastfeeding mother? That makes ME sick. And when you say "everyone", you are making a huge assumption that everyone else, or even most people, would feel offended by seeing breastfeeding in public, and I simply don't believe that's true at all. Most people don't even notice, and if they do they don't care either way. So really, what you want is for everyone else to make accommodations for YOU. How totally arrogant.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
but thats an argument for another day.
