Poll: Breast feeding

[MasochisticAvenger]

I think women should be allowed to breast feed in public, but that doesn't mean it doesn't weird me out. Still, there are plenty of things that weird me out. It's my problem, not theirs.

Still, if the last time this topic was discussed is any indication, I'll be hiding in my bomb shelter with protective armor and a shotgun for the next week or so.

 

[Wintermoot]

At least in the US we are weird about breasts. Somehow showing a woman's nipple is like opening the Arch of the Covenant at the end of Raiders. If we could just get over the initial "OH MY GOD, A NIPPLE OR BOOB!!!!" we could all start realizing that boobs are just boobs. While you can view them in a sexual context you can also view them in a non-sexual context. It is all situational.

I think it,s more HOLLY SHIT WOMEN HAVE NIPPLES!!!!! nobody seems to have a problem with boobs but more female nipples. as for breast feeding sure go nuts it,s how nature has it intended.

 

[applesandoranges]

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[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

I say go for it, but with some small addendums.

I would prefer it if a woman didn't just yank her breast out in the middle of the fancy restaurant and let junior start sucking away. I have seen women breastfeed so discreetly you wouldn't even know the baby wasn't just hugging her real close. Partly pulled down top, slightly turned away from the large crowd of people enjoying their meal, just getting on with it and then returning to normal. Then I have seen women who yank their shirt almost all the way off, push back from the table for no apparent reason and bounce around staring at people as if daring them to complain. Please be the former, not the latter.

Secondly: Know when it's creepy. This is more of a general complaint than just in public. YOu have a little eight month old who needs dinner? No problem. You have a four year old who is still suckling? That's creepy, please don't.

 

[cswurt]

It's only acceptable if the mother is attractive.
If it's your typical 50lbs overweight American mother... then, no. Keep that @#$% wrapped up so we don't have to see it.

 

[Gilhelmi]

It's much healthier for the baby and promotes bonding between the mother and baby. There is a big movement in the NHS at the moment to get mothers to breast feed because quite frankly its so much better for both the baby and the mother.

I guess guys need to think about what is best for the children rather than there own personal embarrassment.

Taken from the NHS website:

Breast milk is the only natural food designed for your baby.
Breastfeeding protects your baby from infections and diseases.
Breast milk provides health benefits for your baby.
Breastfeeding provides health benefits for mum.

Baby has:

less chance of diarrhoea and vomiting and having to go to hospital as a result
fewer chest and ear infections and having to go to hospital as a result
less chance of being constipated
less likelihood of becoming obese and therefore developing type 2 diabetes and other illnesses later in life
less chance of developing eczema

Breastfeeding is good for mums as it:

lowers your risk of getting breast and ovarian cancer
naturally uses up to 500 calories a day
saves money on infant formula, the sterilising equipment and feeding equipment can be costly
can help to build a strong bond between you and your baby

All those benefits you would deny the child and the mother because you get a little blushy when you see a boob? -.- Good show.

Technically you are saying you would rather increase the risk that a woman gets cancer than you could possibly see a naked boob in public.

That is an excellent list. But I do not recognize 'NHS', can you link me too their site Please.

The NHS is the National Health Service in Britain. It's a free health service we pay for through our taxes. So when you go to hospital you get the treatment you need no matter how expensive it is.

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/why-breastfeed.aspx#close

Ah British, That is why I could not find the site!

TY for the link. Mmmm, tasty knowledge.

 

[Gilhelmi]

I say go for it, but with some small addendums.
snip

Secondly: Know when it's creepy. This is more of a general complaint than just in public. YOu have a little eight month old who needs dinner? No problem. You have a four year old who is still suckling? That's creepy, please don't.

I think all experts agree that four is too old. I honestly thought that was a joke then I made the mistake of googling it, thank God safe-search was on, I do not want to know what I would have gotten if it was off.

 

[AnnaIME]

you're only suppose to breast freed for a few months right and then move over to a bottle right??

The recommendation I got eight years ago was to give nothing but breast milk the first six months. Bottles were not recommended at all. If your baby needed extra liquid, give it with a spoon, or better yet: more of the good stuff, straight from the breast.

Around six months, start with sample tasting of purées, easing regular foods in, easing the breastfeeding out over the next few years. Continuing to give the breast as a bedtime snack or before a proper breakfast was encouraged until the child was up to four years old, but I know only one woman who did this. I agree that a four year old suckling in public would be a bit conspicuous, but are there really women who do this, anywhere in the industrialized world?

My own daughter had just turned three when she got her last "sip", and that was just a little relapse for instant comfort, since I had to go stay at the hospital a few weeks with her older brother and could only be with her an hour or so per day.

 

[bakan]

Breast feeding in public is perfectly fine and the only people I met who had a problem with it were some Americans.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

At a risk of sounding childish myself, if I were breastfeeding (under a blanket- naturally) in a restuarant and some guy comes up and asked me to stop, I would probably reply with a less-than-graceful `Clear off`.
When you've got kids you've got other things to think about than strangers getting all precious because they can't look away. Nobody forces you to look.

Childish? No. Self centered and inconsiderate? Yes. If it was a park, I would agree with you. However, if I'm going to a restaurant where I have to pay to be there, I have every right to not have to put up with a women doing something that would make me lose me appetite.

 

[Phasmal]

At a risk of sounding childish myself, if I were breastfeeding (under a blanket- naturally) in a restuarant and some guy comes up and asked me to stop, I would probably reply with a less-than-graceful `Clear off`.
When you've got kids you've got other things to think about than strangers getting all precious because they can't look away. Nobody forces you to look.

Childish? No. Self centered and inconsiderate? Yes. If it was a park, I would agree with you. However, if I'm going to a restaurant where I have to pay to be there, I have every right to not have to put up with a women doing something that would make me lose me appetite.

Someone holding a baby under a blanket so you can see nothing but blanket would put you off your dinner?
Deal with it, and don't look. It's not their fault if you are THAT sensitive just because you KNOW it's getting fed.
People with missing teeth make me want to be sick but I've met plenty of them and managed not to be a dick about it.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

I can't really vote against anything that keeps kids quiet in public so...
Also what the hell is wrong with using boobs to do what they're biologically supposed to do?

That said, there are some occasions where I would get squeamish about this. If the mother is massively obese or very old (or very young) or whatever I'd rather they showed as little flesh as possible. The same goes for middle aged men who walk around in nothing but banana hammocks around pools or beaches... *shudder*

 

[robot slipper]

Well "breast milk is better" is true, but then you can bottle breast milk too you know.

Well, some women can, and others can't. Babies and pumps don't actually suck the milk out, they stimulate the breast to sort of shoot the milk out. (Yes, the pressure can be quite high. Yes, if baby chooses to let go, nosey spectators can get an eye-ful.) For some women, the milk just won't come unless there is a warm, hungry, hormone-triggering baby ready to recieve.

Then there's the matter of breastfeeding being a skill that both mother and baby have to learn. Eating from a bottle is a matter of just swallowing fast enough and not choking. Suckling is hard work for a small baby. If they don't learn the skill and build enough strength, they can lose the ability to suckle altogether.

Thirdly: milk from the breast is fresh, at the right temperature and nearly always ready. Pumped milk from a bottle has to be refrigerated and heated, risking loss of quality. Pumps and bottles have to be cleaned. When you have a baby, there is plenty of necessary work without adding more.

Forthly: when a baby feeds from the breast, the first sucks have a different composition than the last, ensuring that the baby gets enough liquid before it gets sated. Pumped milk is the same all through the bottle.

Should all these aspects be disregarded because some people feel "awkward"?

Thank you, this is exactly what I was thinking when I saw all the "just use a pump!" posts! I was breastfeeding my son just fine, then I was pressured into trying to use a pump by my mother-in-law because her dear darling son was feeling left out by not being able to "have a turn" feeding the baby. Using it was painful, and I never ended up getting enough milk out for an entire feed anyway.

I have always been quite self-conscious about my body so I did try to avoid having to breastfeed in public, but sometimes it can't be avoided. When a young baby is hungry, they will cry until they get fed, they don't care that you are a half-hour walk from home. I felt much worse having a screaming baby and feeling that everyone was looking at me thinking I was a bad parent than I did by calming the hungry baby with a discreet feed.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

Someone holding a baby under a blanket so you can see nothing but blanket would put you off your dinner?
Deal with it, and don't look. It's not their fault if you are THAT sensitive just because you KNOW it's getting fed.
People with missing teeth make me want to be sick but I've met plenty of them and managed not to be a dick about it.

Again, when it is at a place that I payed for, I have every right to ask that the women does that somewhere else. If the women doesn't like it, she can go somewhere else.

 

[Phasmal]

Someone holding a baby under a blanket so you can see nothing but blanket would put you off your dinner?
Deal with it, and don't look. It's not their fault if you are THAT sensitive just because you KNOW it's getting fed.
People with missing teeth make me want to be sick but I've met plenty of them and managed not to be a dick about it.

Again, when it is at a place that I payed for, I have every right to ask that the women does that somewhere else. If the women doesn't like it, she can go somewhere else.

First of all, you don't pay to be there. You pay to eat.
Secondly, the woman has every right to tell you where to stick it. Breast feeding is not illegal.

Breastfeeding in public (restaurants, cafes, libraries etc.) is protected under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 under the provision of goods, facilities and services section. If the child is under 6 months old, the mother has additional protection under a 2008 amendment to the act which protects maternity rights.

Unless she's coming over and sticking her tit in your face, keep your opinion out of hers.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

First of all, you don't pay to be there. You pay to eat.

Your arguing over semantics. You know full well what I implied.

Secondly, the woman has every right to tell you where to stick it. Breast feeding is not illegal.

Breastfeeding in public (restaurants, cafes, libraries etc.) is protected under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 under the provision of goods, facilities and services section. If the child is under 6 months old, the mother has additional protection under a 2008 amendment to the act which protects maternity rights.

Unless she's coming over and sticking her tit in your face, keep your opinion out of hers.

I never said it is illegal, just that if I go to a restaurant where I have to pay, I have the right to not have to put up with a women breast feeding.

 

[Phasmal]

Snip.

Yeah, you can leave- or not look.
You can't tell other people what to do with their own body. Sorry if you don't like it, but you just cant.
So, someone is doing a perfectly legal thing that you happen to not like so you're going to go and sort them out?
Good luck with that.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

Snip.

Yeah, you can leave- or not look.
You can't tell other people what to do with their own body. Sorry if you don't like it, but you just cant.
So, someone is doing a perfectly legal thing that you happen to not like so you're going to go and sort them out?
Good luck with that.

Yeah, she can leave or stop it.

You can tell people what to do with there own bodies which is why you can't run around naked at a playground.

Funny thing is, its not illegal to wear t-shirts, but there are restaurants that won't let you in if your not wearing formal clothes. Restaurants have had and continue to have rules for things that are not illegal.

Thanks, it worked in the past and it will work again.