/rant on
As you all know, I support the choice to breastfeed. I'm proud that I managed to nurse all of my children and currently Annabel is still exclusive on the breast (she is still gaining weight and I've offered food which she isn't ready for just yet).
Recently I've noticed some articles online about nursing in public. Some people and establishments expect Mothers to either cover up (which some nursing children hate, Logan did), go into the bathroom or ultimately leave. Now versus linking to each one I'll just tell you how to find them. Simply Google "Breastfeeding in Public". Then click on "news".
Maybe I don't 'get it' because I breastfeed. And if these women (the ones asked to stop) breastfeed at all like I do, you can't see anything anyway. I was at Momaw's and feeding Annabel when my uncle walked in. He never even knew and thought she was asleep. I know this because he started to walk over to take a peek at her when I laughingly said, "she's eating right now Floyd." He blushed a bit and said he didn't know. In fact, I don't believe I've ever seen a nursing woman that showed any skin at all. Sure you could tell what she was doing but not because she had her breasts hanging out for the world to see.
I think it's a shame that people expect a baby to eat in a bathroom while her Mother sits on the toilet. I think it's degrading to even suggest it. So I have a suggestion to all these boob sensitive people and establishments.
Make a nursing room women can use with their children.
It's that simple. Otherwise don't bitch when my child wants to eat and I feed her, don't cry to me that people are uncomfortable or to take it somewhere else, or to cover her up. My daughter has the same right to eat in a clean and open environment just like any other patron. The same goes for any other woman and child. If you don't like the 'problem' then do something to make a reasonable solution.
And before people say it's not the restaurant's responsibility to make themselves baby accessible, have you seen those carrier holders they offer you when you walk into the door to place beside the table? They know parents come out to eat and therefore so do children.
/rant off.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Breastfeeding in Public
Posted by Jaime at 10:40 AM
Labels: Life breastfeeding, Idiots, Peeves, Restaurants
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
one thing that i have never understood is people expecting nursing mothers to do in the bathroom...do you like to eat on toilet?? i know i sure don't and i would not expect my child to.
it's really sad in this day and age when so many people are making poor health choices that breastfeeding...a HEALTHY thing...is frowned upon. breastfeeding mothers should be getting a pat on the back for making such a health conscious choice...not berated because someone feels uncomfortable about it.
i don't understand it.
good topic girl!!
The problem with nursing rooms is, they're always freaking occupied! And the one in the mall here is always baking hot for some dumb reason. I don't know about other mothers, especially new ones with all those hormones still running through your body...but I was ALWAYS hot. Having a baby cuddled up to me while she ate didn't help the situation any. Especially one who was so hot natured. I would sit in that room and bake for 30 minutes, it was torture. I dreaded going in there. It would have been wonderful to sit out in the nice, cool food court, letting Hailey eat while I ate too. But God forbid somebody notice my baby tucked under a blanket and freak out because she was drinking milk from my boob like God intended. SHEESH!
Even worse...Hailey's first dr. appointment, we'd been out of the hospital 2 days...I'm sitting in the waiting room at the dr's office, a pediatrician's office no less, with other babies around, and Hailey starts freaking out crying, starving to death. I discretely tucked her under my shirt and covered her with a blanket and fed her. OMG the horrible looks I got from these other women sitting across from me. Completely disgusted that I was feeding my newborn baby RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM...
It's so sad that society today is so sex-based that boobs are seen for one purpose and one purpose only, and that purpose is not breastfeeding.
I couldn't even breastfeed in front of my own family, my mother included. Makes it sort of hard to do when you can't even do that.
Hey Shannon ;) And Erin ;)
The thing that drives me insane is how sexualized our nation is. It's OK to post pictures everywhere of a woman with fake breasts pushing out at you. And it's OK for magazines to publish crotch shots of celebrities who go out without underwear.
BUT god forbid you show a baby eating on a magazine or a picture of a woman nursing her child. How dare women do what nature intended, in PUBLIC no less.
Don't we all know what should be private? Geesh, keep that stuff at home. Who wants to see a baby eating??
Now, if you want to come out in public in a skin tight outfit with those girls pushing out for the world to enjoy. That's just fine!
Our society has their morals all screwed up.
I totally agree w/ your last comment.
Maybe if some of these celebrities that breastfeed would be caught in public it would all of a sudden become ok? But they would never let that happen...for them it seems like it's cool to say you breastfeed but never actually demonstrate that you do it.
Post a Comment