Topic : 10/07 The Latest Debates

 I have a five month old daughter that is exclusively breastfed.  I do breastfeed in public, and at first I covered up with a blanket.  When it started getting too hot to cover her up, I just did it discretely... I understand that there are mothers of older children who may not want their children seeing it.  However I was shocked to learn that Tennessee, where I learn, does not have a law stating that breastfeeding in public is NOT considered public indecency.  I have never found it indecent to see a mother breastfeeding, even long before I had a baby myself.  

I have heard people suggest feeding my daughter in a bathroom stall because they thought it was indecent.  I thought this was absolutely ridiculous.  I don't eat in a bathroom stall... why would I feed my daughter there??  I think America should be much more accepting of this issue.

I agree with you there.  sadly a large percentage (60-70 %) of young teenage girls 14 and under report that they had their first sexual experience AGAINST THEIR WILL.  basically, they're being raped. it may be date rape, maybe they give in, but it's still rape.  SO let's give them condoms so that when they get raped, they (maybe) won't get a disease or get pregnant.  great logic there! 

and we say we're liberated.  ladies, we are not as much as we'd like to believe.  we're inadvertantly handing our children over to become someone else's sex object.  and not just our girls, but our boys too.   

we as parents need to stand up to the "establishment" who says this is a "good idea" and let our voices be heard.   

Abstinence teaching and parental involvement - the best form of pregnancy and STD prevention.  it does work. 

  

when I think of a mother breastfeeding in a public bathroom stall, it makes me want to barf!  YUK!! 

Of course you do. Eating is a natural thing. Just like when a kitten nurses off her mother in the middle of the living room when company is over or a mother orangutans nurse their babies in the zoo. People fail to remember we are animals. Nursing is normal, and doing so in public is normal. I would never force your child to eat his baby food or formula ( Seeing how breastmilk is surperior to both of these things) to eat it in a bathroom, where people urinate and deficate.  I should not be shamed into a bathroom because my child needs to eat. Amazing how over sexed this country is. Breast are for babies not men (or women, whatever floats your boat).  Breast were made to nurish a growing child.

Anyone who is uncomfortable with breastfeeding should not watch women breastfeed.  I nurse where ever I am regardless of whos around and I have never put my breast in anyone elses face.  You saying you are uncomfortable with breastfeeding is like me saying I am uncomfortable with someone bottle feeding in public.  It is a choice for each women to make (hopefully an educated choice).

As a kid just done with my teen years, I've heard what my friends were told and knowing what my parents didn't tell me about sex, it is apparent to me that not all parents can be trusted to teach their childern unbiased information about sex and choices - if it was up to my parents i would be single until i was 30. School is a place where kids go to learn and not all  of life is poetry and science - this is about a kids health. Parents will not be able to talk about all things relating to sex and frankly I think it's harder for kids to talk to their parents about the subject. Schools don't tell you what choice you should make about sex they are just giving the statistics and information and the tools you need to make a right choice for you not encouraging it - just because you give a kid a broom does not mean they'll clean.

Just curious-so if you plan to breastfeed, but not in public, will you just never leave the house, and have someone else do all your shopping, errands, and whatnot for you?   And you'll be okay with never getting out to the park or anywhere else outside the house? Is it really so much easier to spend a bunch of time on the breast pump or buying and mixing formula because some complete stranger might disapprove of you feeding your child? That's all it is-you're feeding your child!  There's absolutely nothing sexual or offensive about that.

It doesn't matter if you just nursed your child right before leaving the house-growing babies and toddlers go through growth spurts and lulls, and sometimes they WILL need to eat while you're out and about, even if  I take it that you probably do not have any children yet because I think I had some of the same misconceptions in my head before having my first-that my baby would eat, sleep, and poop on a perfect schedule, and that I should really care about getting permission from others to feed my baby.  Well, as I quickly learned, babies make their own schedules, and that schedule may be completely different from one day to the next.  I promise that there WILL be times when your child needs to eat when you are out and about with them, despite best laid plans to perfectly time breastfeeding sessions to avoid nursing in public. And when that time comes when a new mother's baby get hungry in public the first time, who should decide what is best for the baby's health?  Please, please don't make a decision out of fear and allow a stranger who has a distorted view of public nursing as sexual or inappropriate to make that choice for you. 
 
If a pregnant woman plans on breastfeeding, and she wants to be successful, she will need to nurse on demand which in turn keeps supply up.  Obviously, some women pump because they have to for work or because they want to to let their husband/partner parcipate in feedings and/or to get out of the house--I've fallen into that latter category.  But that's completely different from pumping and bottle feeding any time you're going to go out, or skipping that altogether and offering formula out of fear of judgement from strangers who don't matter anyway.  This will decrease milk supply since it's based entirely on supply and demand-the less you nurse, the less milk your body will be signaled to make.

 Yes-nursing in public (and nursing in general)  can be challenging at first--and guess what?  Just "covering up" and "being discrete to make others feel more comfortable" doesn't always work with a newborn who is as new to breastfeeding as you are.  In the beginning, when the mother and baby are still learning, it can make it MUCH harder to latch on when you're dealing with a nursing coverup garment between you and your baby for the convenience of strangers who might see a bit of skin while you're working at getting the latch right.  But it gets easier the more you do it, and if you do as I did and actually WATCH yourself nurse in a mirror, you'll see that once the baby is latched on, there's absolutely nothing to see!  I breastfed my two younger children on the job (as a teacher in a child care center), and I can't tell you how often parents would come in to pick up their children and would not even realize that I was nursing!  They'd think I was just cradling my sleeping child or something.  The few times anyone ever noticed, the reaction was always "cool-you're still breastfeeding?  That's great!"  I know there are people out there who have had bad experiences with public nursing but honestly, I've never had a bad reaction in public!   I usually just smile at people and they smile back.  If I ever did get a nasty comment, I would likely ask the person if they'd like the idea of eating their meals hunched over in a public restroom!

My baby has a milk allergy, and while it restricts my diet I know he benefits from nursing. He had formula a coupl  times in the hospital at birth and all it did was make him fussy and miserable. He is my third child and I nursed all three of my children, for 12 months, 19 months and this time for as long as he wants. I let my other two children lead their weaning and there was no emotional trauma to it at all. As for nursing in public, I feed my baby when and where he is hungry as you would any child. Making them wait to eat gives them bad eating habits and makes them miserable. It is a perfectly natural thing to feed a child no matter how you do it so why do people discriminate against nursed babies as opposed to bottle fed?  Mothers know what works best for their child and them so others should back off and let them do what is best for their child and themselves.