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I agree 100% and wish to high heaven that more parents understood this! As for it having been a "family play," if the child is young enough to still be breastfed, it's too young to enjoy the play anyway.
Some babies are more placid than others. While I agree that babies shouldn't be brought into a MOVIE theater (too loud, usually too late in the evening, etc) I don't see a problem bringing a baby to a play that's a family affair. I don't see a problem with the mother nursing the baby there either, generally speaking. However, if the baby is a particularly "loud nurser" that could be a problem. Also, as mentioned before, I do believe that women should breastfeed with a bit of decorum and be discreet about it. This is VERY easy to do by the way, with the help of a light blanket. Usually when I was nursing one of my babies in public, no one had any idea what was even going on.
Moms have a general idea of when a baby will be hungry based on stuff like when it ate last.
If you want to take a hungry baby to a play, that's YOUR choice. It's not like you have NO way of knowing the baby will be hungry.
That is just a useless exercise. I never bothered trying to determine in advance when my baby might be hungry. Because there is nothing wrong with just feeding him or her when s/he is. There is no point anywhere in my mind to rethinking attendance at a play such as this based on when my other child may or may not be hungry. Certainly not because some prude thinks that they are going to catch something from a breastfeeding baby!
That is just a useless exercise. I never bothered trying to determine in advance when my baby might be hungry. Because there is nothing wrong with just feeding him or her when s/he is. There is no point anywhere in my mind to rethinking attendance at a play such as this based on when my other child may or may not be hungry. Certainly not because some prude thinks that they are going to catch something from a breastfeeding baby!
Right on!
My first baby was a very "regular" feeder - once every three hours when she was little bitty, and then once every four hours as she got a little bigger. She was also a very efficient nurser and got straight down to business! Nursing her took twenty minutes - often she was done in fifteen minutes! Once she was "tanked up," I knew I had at least three hours of completely unimpeded activity I could enjoy. She was literally the world's most well behaved baby, too. She slept through the night at age 5 days, and literally didn't even cry - not even in the delivery room! - till she was four months old. I actually took her to the doctor when she was about two months old because I thought there was something wrong with her vocal cords or something! (I have photographs of her very first crying jag, at age 4 months - I was amazed and actually relieved!) Boy was I lulled into a false sense of security!
My second baby was colicky, a fussy eater, threw up a lot, and was a "dawdler" when nursing. Off, on, off, on...doze, suckle, smile, suckle...it was really sweet, but also very time consuming. She nursed every two hours - for months - and it sometimes took her thirty minutes. Sometimes I thought I would go crazy, and yes, this nursing style really did impede me some, but come to find out, she had a weak sucking instinct and actually by the time she was four months old, we found out that, due to her difficult birth and oxygen deprivation during birth, she had a slight brain injury, which required some physical therapy for many months (she's now absolutely fine - in fact, she recovered very well by the time she was about 18 months old). Not saying all babies who "dawdle" at the breast are brain injured, of course, but in her case, this complicated things due to a very poor sucking reflex. It was an ordeal getting her to nurse effectively but eventually things straightened out.
I say all that to point out that with her, breastfeeding was more of a drawn out, complicated thing, and so when we were out in public, I would find a quiet, private place and use the little blanket to cover her while I had to coax her to latch on and work at eating. I would not dream of insisting that everyone around me in a public place - strangers in fact - be a part of this. It would be distracting, and would take away from their enjoyment of whatever was going on. With my first child, this was never an issue, because it was entirely possible for me to breastfeed her without anyone even knowing what was going on!
It was a play, not a movie. Her husband was acting in it. The baby was 3 months old, so not really likely to make a ruckus as long as she could feed him.
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Baptiste-Knight explained she took her three-month-old son Caiden to NAPA to see his father act in the play.
Now honestly, the whole *beverages are not allowed* was silly since she was allowed to give him a bottle and the whole *babies have germs* is ridiculous.
I don't see why anyone would be so uptight about discreet breastfeeding in a darkened theater.
Exactly. Which is why you schedule it like a feeding instead of making it a play date.
Breastfeeding in general is not on a schedule especially with a 3 month old. You feed the baby when s/he is hungry. Even with bottle feeding, kids sometimes get hungry between your *schedule.* And they let her give him a bottle, so the whole thing is silly.
Seems to me that the easiest, quickest way to soothe a baby is to breastfeed. Better than standing up and trying to get in and out as the fussing escalates.
Seems to me that the easiest, quickest way to soothe a baby is to breastfeed. Better than standing up and trying to get in and out as the fussing escalates.
So, you don't think that some women have very large, veined breasts that leak when they nurse their babies? I've seen them "flipped right out" in public.
I was a midwife, and worked as a lactation consultant, yes I have seen all sorts of breasts because it was my job. If you can see the veins on a breastfeeding women's breasts, then it's only because you are staring. Rather rude IMO.
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Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
I breast fed all four of my children. I went overnight from a B cup to a DD cup when my milk came in! Without going into more detail, let's just say I was very glad for those little absorbent pads that you can buy to slip inside your bra.
I somehow managed to breastfeed all four children without exposing my breasts and nipples to strangers. The babies never went without nursing on demand - I breastfed them whenever and wherever they happened to become hungry.
I have never, ever seen a breastfeeding mother be anything but discreet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
I used to be a bank manager. I will never forget a scene that went down in my lobby one day. A large woman with large breasts came in with a baby and sat down among about six other people, all strangers, all different ages, men and women. She then proceeded to undo her top and undo her bra (which was dirty, by the way - adding some more detail to the scene), pulled out a huge breast which was clearly leaking milk all over the place, and attached the baby. She made no effort to be discreet, even though her baby had the habit of "unlatching" often and just laying there - while her breast and nipple (and leaking milk) were just, well - out there - for all to see.
That is uncalled for.
I'm all for breastfeeding, but let's use some common sense, people!
One "maybe" sighting? "Oh noes, all breastfeeding moms are whipping it out"!
Sorry, I didn't realize it was a play theatre not a movie theatre. 3 months? They can usually just stay on the boob and sleep through it (maybe, depending on baby). Communicable disease? Well, lots of people still think a mother eating McDonalds should use formula instead, I wouldn't put it past someone to be that dense but then most people have no education on breastfeeding. I don't recall my baby going more than 1-2 hours at 3 months.
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