Men and Women Alike... What do you think of Breastfeeding In Public?

Question

This is a question based on public opinion. The answeres used will be put in a paper for researching this topic.

What are the positives and negatives of Breastfeeding in General?
What do/don't you like about breastfeeding in public?

Answer 1

umm who the hell cares? People who are uptight about it need to get with the 21st century.

Answer 2

I could write a book about this so I'll try really hard to keep it short. I think women should be allowed to breastfeed in public without having to worry about everyone around; however, when I breastfed I was always discreet and covered up to not expose myself. I had a nursing shawl (a blanket with a snap to go around the neck) which was wonderful. I didn't like the stares from strangers when they figured out that I was breastfeeding in public, most people never knew because I was careful. I don't really care for the women who whip it out and show the world their breasts. I'm all for breastfeeding in public but have a little humility and politeness for others. The positives of breastfeeding are the bonding experience, not having to carry bottles and formula around because it's always available. The negatives are ignorant, judgmental people and there is time when you are really sore and have to get past that but once you're done it's easy to breastfeed.

Answer 3

Feeding a baby is quite natural. The act itself should be encouraged and treated with respect by the general public. However, I think it should be done with discretion on the part of the mother.

Benefits: I found when I needed to feed my baby in a public place, it was best done in a quiet corner in a comfortable chair. Stores and establishments where such an environment was easily accessed were more frequented by my family as a matter of necessity.
Another great benefit is that moms everywhere no longer feel trapped in the house until the child is weaned.

I do not agree with women who feel obliged to make a spectacle of themselves by not covering themselves up at all.
This would be like refusing to close the door when you use the bathroom. Yes it's natural, but it's also personal and should be treated that way as a matter of respect for others.

Answer 4

A woman's right to breastfeed or express breast milk in public is protected under law in this country. In my state it is illegal to interfere with a breastfeeding mother. I am a nursing mother, i feed my son when hes hungry. I would much rather see a woman nursing her baby than hear one crying because they were hungry.
As for people saying that they show too much, the low cut shirts that women wear show more skin than a nursing mother does.
Why should a woman have to hide simply because she chose to breastfeed her child rather than bottle feed? Breastfeeding is what is best for a healthier child (im not bashing bottle feeding, my daughter was on formula after i had to stop nursing).
How a woman chooses to feed her child shouldn't be any ones business but hers. I have stated this many times on this forum: People need to mind their own business! If a woman feeding her child the way nature intended offends you then DO NOT LOOK! You can cover your head with a blanket or take your lunch to the bathroom, because I REFUSE to do this to my son!

Answer 5

Breastfeeding is a wonderful and amazing thing to be shared between a mom and her child. Not a mom her child and an entire restaurant.
That being said, I don't think in my 27 years on this planet that I have ever seen a mom breastfeeding without regard to her privacy. Everyone I have seen or spoken to has tried to cover up. It's a difficult thing to do. But us breastfeeding moms do what we can.

Maybe the naysayers should try to lend a hand instead of pooping on the oldest and most healthy form of feeding.

For example, I went to my little sister's hs graduation, outside with my 4 week old. I had to sit in the chairs (because I needed my stroller) and those were only available in the handicapped, front row, center aisle.
I was mortified when my baby started making the I need to eat now sounds. But I very quietly started to latch him on. He was in the sling and I had the excess covering him, and a blanket. I thought I was doing a very good job until some old man across the aisle started talking to his wife about what I was doing. (silently and seated might I add).

I was mortified. I was trying to hide my breasts. Hell, I wanted to hide most of my gigantic body at this point! Just then, a woman behind me reached up and helped tuck in my blanket cover up into my opposite bra strap to secure privacy. I was so relieved. I was able to get Jack to sleep and my boobs didn't get too much sun.

So, for the jerk across the aisle...suck an egg and to the woman behind me... thanks so much!

Answer 6

The only negative to breastfeeding is the attitude of other people that condone advertisements and images of half naked women selling beer, but they find nourishing a child "disgusting".

Children are healthier and happier when they are breastfed. It is also the healthiest choice for the mother. If a child needs to be fed in public, then that mother and child should be allowed to be comfortable and respected.

Answer 7

Breastfeeding is best, there is nothing else that is comparable for the baby's health and development. It is also more healthy for the mother.

Breastfeeding should be welcomed anywhere anytime. We all have free access to sexy boobs all the time, but heaven forbid a mother tries to feed her baby in public. That baby should starve...

I think certain members of our society should get their heads on straight.

Answer 8

Breast feeding in public is every mothers right. Its protected by the constitution. Individual counties and states wish you pass laws which limit it, or even make it illegal in certain areas. Its not right, and their laws should be fought and changed.

Breast feeding is natural, its best for the baby. A mother who breast feeds in public is as normal as a mother bottle feeding in public. I dont see where a mom needs to have her boob flopping all over the place, but once baby is latched on and covered no one even notices.

I nurse in public all the time. Even in so called "illegal areas" such as certain towns or shopping malls. I defy anyone to tell me I cant.

Breast milk is alive with antibodies, necessary biological agents, white blood cells, complex enzymes, nutrients and immunities that babies cannot get from formula or any other baby food. Most of them cannot even be synthesized or metabolized by the infant body until well into toddlerhood.

Babies who are breast fed are 1/3 less likely to die in their first year, and 3/4 less likely to need hospitalization in their first three years. THey get less infection, grow quicker, and have more ability to gain physical and cognitive skills before their formula fed counterparts.

Our nation is the only industrialized nation in the world with an infant mortality rate that blows all other nations out of the water. Simply because children are not beast fed, and pregnant mothers are not given proper care. Its a blight on our nation, and a shame to us all.

I believe more should be done to break down the social stigma against public breastfeeding, to encourage more mothers to practice whats best for her children.

Answer 9

I personally do not see anything wrong with it. Breast feeding has been given a bad name recently and truly shouldn't in my opinion. It is a natural act of providing nutrient for an infant, that is it. It isn't sexual, it isn't obscene and I don't feel it should be looked down upon. I think the people that find it offensive should spend some time in other countries where this is the only means of nutrient for the children.

Very interesting question that I am going to tag to watch the answers. You are going to get a wide variety.

Good luck on your research.

Answer 10

I breastfeed my baby whenever my son is hungry, wherever I am. I will not force my son to wait, crying because he is hungry, because some people have hangups with the extreme sexualization of the breast due to society. People would not bat an eye at someone pulling a bottle out and feeding a baby, but if I were to sit down and nurse my baby, as nature intended, then it is suddenly disgusting.
My son refuses to be covered with a blanket, and I refuse to rush off and hide somewhere like I am doing something shameful. So I will put him in the sling and start nursing him wherever I am, whether I find somewhere to sit or continue to walk around wherever I am(shopping, etc). If someone has a problem with it, I would be more than happy to direct them to the nearest bathroom to hide, or offer them a blanket to put over their head until my son is done.

As for breastfeeding in general, it is the best thing for babies, it is what they are designed to eat. It is the healthiest thing for them, it provides them with emotional comfort, it provides an extra bond between mother and baby, and it provides health benefits for mother as well (decrease in risk for breast cancer, for example.)

http://www.kellymom.com has a ton of great information about breastfeeding.

Answer 11

I've had 3 babies and I bf in public all of the time. My youngest is 5 months old. I'm very discrete although I'm sure if people really wanted to know what I was doing they could figure it out. I rarely get glares for bf in public. -But then again I'm not looking for them and it doesn't really bother me if it is that offensive to someone. Like I said, I try to be discrete but I'm going to feed my baby wherever I am. I've got two other small children so going into a bathroom/dressing room, or wherever is just impossible when we are out together.

It's a completely cultural issue. Breasts have been sexualized in America to the point that some people just have a hard time seeing them for their actual physical function. It's like appreciating a womans legs for their sex appeal and then being offended when you see women walking, jogging or kick boxing -whatever. Or perhaps enjoying a womans shapely stomach but being repulsed by a pregnant belly. When you think about it, it doesn't really makes sense.

I have a friend, (who has never had any children) who is slightly jarred by breastfeeding in public. I often remind him that the only reason he enjoys looking at and feels the need to assess a womans chest is because of his hard-wired desire to figure out what kind of provider she'd be for his children.

Men are really good at that...now if they'd only realize what they are doing...

I say let's enjoy the beauty of our body parts but let's not forget they also have a function. It isn't fair to the stressed out, exhausted post-partum woman to push her to the sidelines and call her weird for feeding her baby. She's got enough to worry about.

-I gotta go feed my baby now, (yes, with my breasts).