Topic : 10/07 The Latest Debates

I am 22-years-old, and a new mother of a 4-month-old baby girl. Watching the show disturbed me today. Where should I begin? 

I have to respond to several comments the woman opposing breastfeeding in public made. 

Here's where I stand.......needless to say, I breastfeed. Do I breastfeed in public...no, not necessarily. I usually go to the bathroom. If I had to B.I.P.  I, personally, would cover up. That's my preference. However, should I have to...absolutely not. If one day, I have nothing to cover with....too bad...for everyone else, but my baby. She has to eat. How selfish is it for everyone to deny babies this natural, urgent right. It's pathetic. If I'm at the beach, my car isn't always accessible, neither is a restroom...so my baby should starve? How insane. As the woman argued on the show...how would you like to eat your food in the bathroom...everytime you have to eat...."excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom to chow down." I'm going to see you eat, and say...."oh my gosh, your mouth is open, can you leave?" How stupid! A baby has to eat!!!!!! They can't control where they are! Someone on the show commented on the mother exposing the breast in preparation for the feed. To be honest, sometimes that's necessary. If my baby is enraged, it's not easy to properly remove my shirt and bring her in effectively. 

About the comment on it being not as beautiful to everyone else, just to mommies and babies....it's not about being beautiful. No one's thinking, because this is so beautiful, let's show everyone my stuff. Trust me, they are just thinking about taking care of their babies needs in a timely fashion. 

It is absolutely no comparison what-so-ever to a man eating food off of a woman's breast. She literallysaid, "I hope it's not  sexual thing," but made the comparison to something directly sexual....how foolish! 

About the portable comment....we breastfeeding mom's can go to the bathroom....well she seemed to forget....she is just as portable, perhaps even more....all she has to move is herself alone. Along with lookin the other way, as she would in any other circumstance, she could just as easily, move to a different table. Why should I have to leave? 

I have my personal discretions....howver, if I'm uncomfortable with someone breastfeeding around me....too bad... for me, they're babies' needs come way before my comfort, no matter how awkward it makes me feel!  It seems, though, that you have to be a mother to really understand the concept....forgive me to whoever this doesn't apply to. Now excuse me while I go breastfeed!
 

I believe women have every right to BF in public.  Unfortunately, we have those who make extreme statements such as "pop the boob" making it sound like they should be able to bare ALL for others to see. 

My son was nursing with his legs hanging off of me months ago. He is now 15 months, and I still nurse him in public all the time. He also has 13 teeth or more. He is not only old enough for "real food," he has been getting REAL FOOD since before he was born. You make yourself seem really silly by saying a child past a certain length is too old to nurse and is disturbing to you. Is this because you think children past a certain age will develop a sick love of boobies or something? Personally I nursed until I was 2 and a half and my sister, until she was almost 4. My brother is less comfortable with me nursing in front of him, but I do it anyway. He was bottle fed. He is the oldest and my mom didn't breastfeed him because her doctor gave her a dry up shot in the hospital on the off chance that my mom might go back to work. He is also the only one in my family who has any sort of problem with public nursing, and his wife always only fed her baby at home, and the baby was crying a lot but she still wouldn't feed her in public unless it was a bottle. 

I admit before my son was born I had a lot of ideas about how I would use a cover or not nurse in front of people, but once you get used to it it's really no big deal. It takes about half a second to latch the baby on and after that the only skin you see is about what you would see if I bent over while wearing a normal top and you happened to be peering down my shirt. Usually my shirt is tucked around everything and you can't see anything, but I personally think it's ignorant for you to say I shouldn't feed my son because he surpasses your age or length threshold. Should I go around in the restaurant and ask permission from every single person before feeding my crying squirming kid?Should I hold a commitee meeting to watch me do it and make sure I'm doing it modestly enough? 

It's all so ridiculous. Some people say, just cover up, or just don't latch on in plain sight or just go in the bathroom or just go to your car or just go home. I would rather just go ahead and feed my hungry kid and eat my meal while it's hot, thank you! 

I totally agree with you on this one. No one is telling breastfeeding moms to starve their children. I think we can agree on that these women on today's show were a bit extreme. We need a middleground here. It isn't as black & white as these ladies think.  Breastfeeding may be "unattractive" to some but so can other things in life. Everyone can find something or some action they find unattractive but breastfeeding, in my opinion is one of the most beautiful and wonderful experiences I've had. I breastfed 2 of my children but I was discreet about it. I feel that breastfeeding is between a mother and a child. I used to breastfeed my children in the privacy of my home or, if I was out, in my car or a bathroom.  It is not glamorous to breadfeed a baby in a bathroom stall but it did not, in any way, take away the bonding moments we shared or made it less beautiful for me....only more uncomfortable!  

I've posted once but must post again. 

I want to address all of you who are saying "BF is fine, as long as a mother doesn't flaunt her breast"... 

As a mother of a wiggly baby, I don't think I would have time to stand up and attach a flashy dangler from my breast and wiggle it around in circles for everyone to look at.  Nor would I have Justin Timberlake pull off part of my wardrobe while I was dancing in front of millions of people. 

Besides that, if you find a mother who is desperately trying to sooth or feed her crying infant or toddler holding her breast to try and assist it into their childs mouth as milk is dripping to boot FLAUTING or some how SEXY then I honestly think you are a sick sick person. 

How can you say you care about children if you care so badly they are being fed?  Looking across a restaraunt at a mother nursing her child... if that's all it takes to ruin your day, or offend you, then you are extremely uneducated.  What better place for a child to eat and feel comfortable than at a table with family and friends.   

I'd like to tell any breastfeeding mamma--way to go!  Don't let anyone push you around.  Keep up the good work, your baby is so blessed, so so blessed.   

**And about schools passing out condoms**  I do know a good handful of kids when I was in h/s that did not have sex because they were too embarrassed to go buy them at the store.  The other kids that did have sex, did so with out protection.  I think it's NOT the schools job to worry about it, but a parents.  But if it came to a school passing out condoms, then with the child PRESENT, have the administrater call the mother AND father, or each guardian on the call list/contact list and say, "Hi, mr and mrs brown, I have Suzy here, and she is requesting 6 condoms, so we would like to clear that with you and if you could please come down and sign this waiver that states you understand your child may be participating in premarital sexual intercourse, and that we are not responsible for her partner raping her, or any pregnancies or std's that occur if the condom is not used properly et cetera."     Ya, I'm quite certain my parents would not be signing that waiver.