How come some women don't want to cover up while breastfeeding in public?

Question

i was just reading an article on how women across America are refusing to cover up while breastfeeding their babies.ok when i do have kids(god willing) i plan to nurse them.but I'm not going to be in public when my stuff hanging all out.how hard is it to use a blanket or at least a napkin to cover up?its disgusting.

what are your thoughts? and i would love to hear from nursing mothers on how they feel.

like i said there is nothing wrong with nursing in public.but please cover up.

and urinating is natural. so should people be allowed to do it in the open?

Answer 1

I can understand what you're trying to say, but the way you said it is offensive. Comparing feeding a child to urinating? That's repulsive and rude to mother's everywhere.

But like I said, I can see the point you're trying to make. It's fine for a mother to sit in a booth at a restaraunt, or on a bench in the mall, and nurse her baby. But it's not fine for the mom to do it in a way that draws huge amounts of attention to it. Like unbottoning your top all the way down and propping it open before you even unbuckle the baby from the stroller. Or pulling the tank top all the way up above her breasts, exposing both of them and her whole stomach and everything, and then getting the baby.

I have seen mothers do that, and those are the kinds of moms you are talking about, right?

I nursed my son for 3 months before my milk dried up and I had to stop, and I nursed him in public places penty of times. I never used a blanket and covered up the entire baby, but at the same time, I managed to do it in a way that everyone else in the building didn't know what I was doing unless they were openly staring at us.

I bought two nursing tops and several button down tops, and wore them all the time. The nursing tops had flaps in strategic places that gave access to the baby, but didn't expose everything to everyone. And the button down tops could be worn unbuttoned over top of them, so everyone who was just minding their own business would assume I was just holding the baby.

It's not disgusting to me to see a woman nursing if she's doing so in a polite way. When she's doing it like that, you know without a doubt that she's doing it because it is the best thing for her child.

When a woman is over-the-top about it, making a big deal, a big show of it so that everyone knows what she's doing, then I think 'Is she doing it for the baby, or is she doing it so that everyone is talking about her?'

Answer 2

A better question is.....Why do so many people jump to something so OUTLANDISH as to compare feeding a baby by breast to urinating or defecating in public?

Instead of comparing it to it's most reasonable equivalent which would be...hmmm, let's see....EVERYONE ELSE EATING IN PUBLIC?...I mean DUR children and adults don't have to hide or cover up when they eat, why should babies who are doing so the natural way? Oh because "culture" says where they get their milk from is shameful? A "sexual organ" of some sort? Culture is often wrong folks.

Why not compare a women exposing her breast in public to something more comparable like hmmm let's try our very best and think think THINK really hard!.....OH! How about males exposing their breasts in public and YES they are breasts (rather dormant ones but perfectly equal physiologically, erogenous and sometimes containing more fat and all that than some women's

It shouldn't even matter if the mother is so called "making a scene"...In all honesty a women can't "make a scene" by showing her breast to feed a baby if men are allowed to show theirs for no reason at all. It is other people who have flawed, perverted, hypersexual, sexist, misogynist, anti-baby, prudish, corrupt religious thinking that cause such scenes.

Why can men have their mostly non-functioning physiologically equal but underdeveloped mammaries out in public for no reason at all but women cannot even when theirs has a very vital common function such as feeding? Sure culture says cover up the set that serves as a buffet for babies but keep the useless one's out at will. Society is so sad and full of sexist morons.

Answer 3

You won't have to ask this question after your child gets old enough to start pulling off the cover up. It is EXTREMELY difficult to keep a blanket over the head of a baby when they keep pulling it off. It makes the blanket a nusance and distraction from feeding the baby. Also it is harder to make sure your child gets latched on properly if you are covered up. Women have been breastfeeding for centuries and now all of a sudden because 3 generations of women prefered to use formula today's woman suffers. What is it about a woman feeding her child that offends you so? It is that the child is eating in front of you? Perhaps it is because you think the only purpose for a breast is sexual? Sorry, but the breasts are there to provide food for our young. Any "fun" you get out of them is an extra. Personally I have breast fed 3 children and intend to do so with my 4th, and I do *try* to have a bit of modesty, but if the child refuses to stay covered there is not much I can do. I'm certainly not going to starve my child just so others can feel more comfortable. Oh and I know that this wasn't mentioned but I'll cover it just in case you did not know. It is COMPLETELY legal for a nursing mother to expose her breasts (to feed her child) ANYWHERE. They cannot throw you out or ask you to leave, if they do, they are just looking for a lawsuit.

Besides, how else are we going to break down the steriotype that nursing is unnatural and women should have to hide in a filthy/uncomfortable toilet stall to do it?

To tearsoft: Then maybe you should eat with your mouth closed? *chuckles* Just kidding.

Yes, urinating is natural. And people do that in the toilet stalls you want force breatfeeding mothers into. Urinating is getting rid of bodily waste. If people urinated in public think of the diseases that would circulate. What diseases does a woman breastfeeding her child (nutrients, not waste) spread? Also, speaking of urination, why is it that people are less offended if someone changes a wet diaper in front of them? Is it honestly better to see an infants genitals than to see a woman breastfeeding?

Answer 4

You have to admit that we're institutionalised to believe that breasts are sexual objects. We have to free ourselves from this mindset. Breasts are for feeding a baby. I'm always amazed at how there's never an outcry over page 3 girls but try feeding a baby in public and having your scarf/blanket slip and you're regarded as a dirty, obscene thing.
I'm shy, so have never exposed my breasts in public. But it is hard and I quite admire those women who feel free to do so - many of them walk topless n the beach, so why not?
This is your problem - a breastfeeding woman is doing no wrong and the problem is yours and your mindset. Free yourself, stop feeling "disgusted" - and stop forcing babies into the toilets to be fed. Would you want to eat your food in such a manner?
Most mothers are discreet. We try hard. But we need all the help we can get and this society is so straightlaces in the most odd ways, that we stifle natural and good things.
Just read your note about urinating - why would you compare the two? Youshould compare feeding a baby with eating your own food, not getting rid of body waste. If you complained about someone changing a nappy in front of you. I'd agree with you.
You need a good long look at your background and how you've been brainwashed!

Answer 5

Nursing is not disgusting, it is beautiful. However, I would agree that it is more beautiful when it is not a complete stranger. I have nursed two children and it is sometimes VERY inconvenient to find a corner in which to hide. When your baby is hungry and bottle fed, you don't have to hide. Everyone around you murmurs, "Oh, how sweet." It's unfair to be viewed as gross when you are only caring for your child needs in the most natural way. While I never nursed in the mall food court or the front pew in church and probably never will, I would never tell another mother that she couldn't. I would agree that a blanket is a good idea if the stares affect you, but if you are the starer, then give a little "hand cover". :)

Answer 6

First of all, most of the time when I nursed my daughter, you couldn't even tell. Your shirt covers the top part of the breast, and the baby covers the rest. So, unless you get in there really close, you won't even see skin.

Second, many babies do not like to have blankets over their heads. If you think about it, it's claustrophobic and hot. Would you like to eat with a blanket hanging on you? My daughter would refuse to eat, would kick, yell, cry and fling that blanket off, making me more of an attraction. I would very discreetly, slide her up to my breast and then barely lift my shirt. Even my husband was impressed that he couldn't see anything.

I also think that it's one of those "don't look and you won't see" things. People are just complaining, when they really don't know how many nursing moms there really are out there!

Answer 7

Wouldn't you think it's pretty rude and ignorant if people were to stare at you while eating in public?

It's just as rude of people to be staring at a baby and a mother's breast (its source of food) while a mother is breastfeeding. How dare an infant to be able to eat in public like a human being instead of being forced into a corner!

See how ridiculous it is? If you don't like it - don't look at it - but there is no vulgarity involved with the situation other than an individual's perceived notion that there is such an offense.

Answer 8

I guess I could say to you, how come you dont cover your face when you eat ? Why is something so natural, and a beautiful thing such as a mother feeding her child, and in a natural way be disgusting ? I am a mother of three, and breastfed all of my kids, there is an easy way for ppl who dont want to see it, dont look, look away.
women have been breastfeeding for millions of years, and its a sad state when it is deemed as disgusting, goes to show you that the religous right has huge control over something like this.
do you think that the victoria secret models who almost show their breasts on tv is disgusting too?
so, next time you eat, cover your head, ( cuz i have seen some ppl who are totally disgusting when they eat!)

Answer 9

It's a personal choice and women are comfortable without covering up then it should be fine. If you choose to breastfeed and cover up in public then that's fine too.
And it's not the same as urinating in public - you don't cause a health hazard to anyone else by breastfeeding your baby. Urinating or defecating on a sidewalk where people walk or potentially fall into can make them sick.

Answer 10

It's not hard to cover up but some babies won't nurse if their face is covered because it's too distracting and some pull the coverings off while nursing. I don't think it's disgusting. That's what breasts are made for. What's disgusting is people saying that one of the most natural things in the world is something to be ashamed of and hidden lest people see that breasts are more then sex objects. I cover up and do so out of modesty but if I see another mother breastfeeding and she chooses not to cover up completely or is unable to I am no disgusted. by it.