Topic : 10/07 The Latest Debates

I think that it is the woman's right to breast feed in public, but knowing that other people are going to be uncomfortable with this i think that it is respectful to cover it up while out in public.   

With the condoms in school, i am young and not as old fashion as some people may be and i will tell you with only being a few years out of high school teaching abstinence and only that  does not work.  For all the parents that believe that this is the only method you are wrong.  Your kids already know weather or not they are going to have sex before they are married before anyone even talks to them about it.  I think that sex education in schools is a great thing but preaching to kids that they shouldn't have sex and its a bad thing, doesn't work, and you only get tuned out.  Teaching them that abstinence is the best thing for them because it is 100% no babies and no STD'S but since children are having sex sooner then ever before the best thing for them is to teach them that if that is the path that they choose then they need to be armed with the knowledge of protection like condoms and how and where they can get them from the school nurse the counselor, or from a free clinic after an STD test. There  are ways to protect our children from un wanted pregnancy and STD'S but telling them that they cannot have sex at all what so ever will do nothing but push them away to where they will not feel comfortable to come to you when they are ready to.   

Don't be naive about this kids are going to have sex no matter what you do they have already ,made this choice, but you can do the best thing and arm them with knowledge 

It's unfortunate, but you obviously don't know what the latest research in the medical community is. As it stands now the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends nursing a child for a MINIMUM of a year. The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends a MINIMUM of two years. So nursing a baby for more than a few months is far from "unnecessary" as you seem to think. 

I have three children ages 5, 3 and 1.  I breastfed my children for a combined 3 years.  I would say that I was in public as much as any other average mother.  My children were on schedules so I knew exactly when they needed to eat, and if I could help it I would schedule outings around feedings.  Some stores, restaurants, etc... have very nice "lounge" type rooms adjacent to the restrooms.  This is always a great find for a nursing mother.  Changing rooms in clothing/department stores are comfy and you can fit your stroller in there too.  However if it could not be avoided I would drape a receiving blanket over my shoulder.  No one ever saw even a square inch of my bare breast.  I did not "hide" from anyone, nor was I ashamed.  But I respect other people, and I don't know how they feel, so it is always better to be respecful.  Mothers who expose their breasts, leaving it exposed while they position their baby, this is unnecessary.  Just because you have the right, or are not shy about it, or think it is natural...that's all great, but everyone may not feel the same way and it is not hard or take extra effort to be discreet. Even if you don't have to!  It's not always about you. 

I am currently breastfeeding my 3 month old, and also chose to breastfeed my first born, who is now 5 and battling Leukemia. I hold great importance in breastfeeding  my children but everyone holds their own opinion. I personally think its a beautiful sight seeing a mother nurse her child, this is something that does not nor has it ever offended me. the woman on the show who is so disturbed by breastfeeding in public? Try living in Ontario, where it is a womans legal right to go out in public WITHOUT a shirt on and not get charged for public indecency. that kind of puts things in a different light. a baby nursing discreetly, or a woman letting them hang out ... hmmm Nursing in public does not have to become a statement, but it should be acknowledged that just like the millions of children scarfing down hamburgers at mcdonalds, with food stuck to their faces and whatnot, ( which bothers me..) a hungry infant has the right to eat with her family without being ostrasized for it. in public or elsewhere. i do not expect women to send their kids to eat in the bathroom, we should not be expected to feed our newborns in one either.                            

Britsies comment that the breast is a sexual part of the body and that there is no controversy over that is a presumptuous and distorted perception.  I am in controversy over whether the breast is a sexual part of the body.  I believe that man has certainly treated it this way and have distorted our views of a natural body part meant for feeding.  If men had treated elbows the same way as they have treated the breast this controversy may not exist.  Our society has raised generations of people so insecure about their looks and the looks of others that a necessity of nature is now being demonized  by those who are viewing the world through a black and white lens instead of inviting all the colors of life available to them.  To say the breast is sexual may be one aspect, but it is only one and it is not defined by what others think of it but by what the posessor of the breast thinks of it.  I don't find the tits(teets) on an animal "inappropriate" or threatening in anyway, this is natural and similar to the breasts on a woman.  Nature has spent eons fine tuning her ways and your twisted perceptions are as transparent as your obvious insecurities with sex.  

Satisfying my baby's hunger will ALWAYS come before your feelings. 

I find it ironic that I'm still in the middle of this debate after 30 years!  The fact that the nurturing side of our culture has not kept up with the "expose all things sexual" side is frustrating.  When I first had my children, I felt that I would breastfeed "as long as possible" (because I heard that you just can't nurse as long as you want to for one reason or another) and never thought about being exposed in public.   

However, once I had my children, the length of time breastfeeding exceeded my expectations, and I also surprised myself in my overwhelming modesty taking a back seat to the reality of the situation. As I became more relaxed with the process of breastfeeding, I became more comfortable with (discreetly) nursing in public. I had never thought that breasts were soley sexual. (And how can that be, anyway? Does every part of the body that can have errogenous feelings have to be defined as sexual?) However, experiencing the actual function of the woman's breast puts everything into focus.  

Of course, a woman SHOULD be discreet while nursing, and women SHOULD be discreet in their every day attire, but there is always an exception to this.  However, it is a sad commentary on our culture when a woman who is breastfeeding is labeled "repulsive" or "unattractive." Personally, I cringe when I see a baby sucking on a rubber nipple out of a plastic bottle. For whatever reason, this child is being deprived of the special nurturing that breastfeeding provides, and is his/her right. The bottle fed baby should be the exception, NOT the norm.