Breastfeeding Question

[my3boys09]

Out in public, or in the car while i would cover up i´d say pop em´ out for the little dude or dudette. it´s supposed to be natural but sadly it´s not anymore :( You´d think ¨how can people possibly get offended?¨ but it happens.

[mnnice]

Breastfeeding in public is fine by me. I agree with so many (positive) points that people have made here.

Discretion is definitely the key, though, in my opinion. I don't have children, but I do work in a small child care. There was a mom there who breastfed her son until he was two and a half. The age of the child wasn't the issue, though. The issue was that the mother was constantly talking about it with her son while feeding him (ie. do you want the right or left one now? Does that taste good?) and that she constantly wanted to interact with the other kids and parents while doing it. She gave several of the older kids (8 and 10) a negative impression of breastfeeding for some reason. When we asked why, they couldn't really explain why they thought it was disgusting, but it definitely had to do with this particular parent's actions. I didn't expect for her to use a blanket over a 2.5 year old, but perhaps she could have kept the talking to him to a minimum...since every time she asked him a question, he'd unlatch to answer her and she was exposed for all to see!

I can see your point, but in my experience that's how verbal 2 1/2 year olds nurse. Yappying and constantly latching/unlatching. That being said I didn't nurse either of my DS's at daycare at that age mostly because DS2 didn't like to nurse around others at that time (crazy boy wouldn't nurse at a La Lache Leugue meting) and DS1 was more interested in going home and seeing Daddy. I'm pretty sure daycare didn't even know either one were not weaned.

Um, yeah, I'd say that's inappropriate. I'm as pro-bfing as they come (still nursing DD at almost 15 months), but that sounds more like she was doing it for the attention than the benefit of the child.

[Tracy_in_Missouri]

This statement sounds like breastfeeding is the only way to go and if anyone isn't then there's something wrong with that. There are more ways to feed a baby than the breast and it's everyone choice.
If a kid seen a baby being breatfed, I doubt that they would think that bottle feeding babies is wrong or wonder why their sibling is given the bottle. The kid was probably wondering why she wasn't bottle feeding if anything.

I have no problems with a mom who is bottle feeding an infant. I also didnt say that it was wrong ? My last comment was intended to be facecious<sp> because its a NON threat. Hope you can see where I was going with that. You could just as easily say that the biggest threat is the child asking where the baby's bottle is ....but that would only come to mind if they realized that the baby was infact eating

[bali1228]

Breastfeeding in public is fine by me. I agree with so many (positive) points that people have made here.

Discretion is definitely the key, though, in my opinion. I don't have children, but I do work in a small child care. There was a mom there who breastfed her son until he was two and a half. The age of the child wasn't the issue, though. The issue was that the mother was constantly talking about it with her son while feeding him (ie. do you want the right or left one now? Does that taste good?) and that she constantly wanted to interact with the other kids and parents while doing it. She gave several of the older kids (8 and 10) a negative impression of breastfeeding for some reason. When we asked why, they couldn't really explain why they thought it was disgusting, but it definitely had to do with this particular parent's actions. I didn't expect for her to use a blanket over a 2.5 year old, but perhaps she could have kept the talking to him to a minimum...since every time she asked him a question, he'd unlatch to answer her and she was exposed for all to see!

I BF my DD until she was 20 months and I loved BF'ding... but that is sooo wrong. At 2.5 years old, breast milk doesn't have to be the child's primary source of hydration or nutrition...sorry sweetie, save yer boob juice til your home and send him to school with a sippie! I take that back, at 2.5 he shouldn't use a sippie either I actually can't believe the school allowed that, she could have used the teachers break room or office if she insisted.

[cbms]

I personally think it's completely okay. Would it be acceptable if a woman had given her baby a bottle? This is, afterall, the way this particular baby eats. Period. It is no different, IMO than whipping out a fake nipple and planting it into the mouth of a hungry baby in public. *shrug* A baby's gotta eat when a baby's gotta eat.

[norasmomma]

I currently am breastfeeding my second child, I have nursed him pretty much anywhere and everywhere I wear nursing tanks so they are designed to be discreet. I was walking around Target a couple weeks ago nursing my son and my DH didn't even know. I think that it should be something normal for kids to see, my DD who is 3.5 thinks that is the normal way to feed a baby, she also knows that I pump milk for her brother so that Daddy and her can babysit. I am proud to say I have breastfed both my babies in public, they have to eat too.

Where I live you almost get the opposite, if you feed your baby a bottle there must be something wrong with you. I purposely pump bottles so that I can go in public at times and not have to deal with my very active 5.5month old looking around and popping off the boob, but that's my deal, do I expect others to do that? Ummmm no, but get so sick of so many women where I live acting like they are some kind of martyr because they breastfeed, "like I'm the only one who can feed the baby," yada, yada, yada.....So many women I know won't even attempt to try to give their child a bottle of expressed milk, sorry I'm rambling, I just had to vent a little about a situation that happens all too often in my fake hippie town.

[bali1228]

I remember the first time I nursed in public. We went out to CiCi's pizza{gawd I miss that place} I had to feed the baby, so I sat in the corner of the booth angled towards the wall and covered with a blankie. Well lemme tell ya, there was no mistaking that my husband played goalie in his hockey days LOL...I had to tell him, Hun stop it. You're drawing more attention doing that!

[KRP1981]

I remember the first time I nursed in public. We went out to CiCi's pizza{gawd I miss that place} I had to feed the baby, so I sat in the corner of the booth angled towards the wall and covered with a blankie. Well lemme tell ya, there was no mistaking that my husband played goalie in his hockey days LOL...I had to tell him, Hun stop it. You're drawing more attention doing that!

Yep! I found that the best way to draw attention to yourself isn't to have your boob exposed, but to have your loud,overly conscious daughter with you.
When my youngest was about three months old (he's now 6 months) my family went to Subway to eat for lunch. I had to nurse him, so I just discreetly started doing it. Well, my 8-going-on-18 year old daughter bugged her eyes out at me and started exclaiming in a loud voice, "Mommy! I CAN'T be-LIEVE you are doing that!" I shrugged and said, "Doing what?" to which she replied, "Feeding him! There are OTHER PEOPLE here!"
I explained to her that nothing was showing, to other people it just looked like I was holding him, and that even if they did know, there wasn't anything wrong with it at all...that the baby had to eat too, right?
And she calmed down about it, and we ate our sandwiches and lived happily ever after.

[CouponQueen23]

Thanks to my children they would remind me to button my shirt. My lil tank was never full so while I wandered around at home I found my self not even buttoning my shirt. He was always tapping on the keg as I use to put it. When we would go visiting or out places from time to time I am surprised how often I had to be reminded to button up. I was on auto pilot for the first 3 months colic and constanly hungry baby.

I trully enjoyed breast feeding it came totally naturally to all 3 of my children and most cases they never paid no mind ds 11 yr old would for warn his friends when they came over that I was bf the little one and the kids would just go about doing their own thing. I never really felt the need to make it out to be a secretiv thing around the kids I want them to understand it is a natural thing in life. Yes, it is not for everyone everyone don't want to have to see it noe should they have to. I did use a burp towel to cover my breast while in public though. I just seemed to not button back up