Breastfeeding in Public....

ldrosophila

I say YAY! When the babies are hungry, feed them!!

I have a question. I'm not trying to start anything by asking this, but just genuinely curious.

I get that if a baby is hungry you feed it. Breast feed, bottle feed, whatever floats your boat. I don't care.

But what about 2 or 3 year old or whatever who don't use breast milk as their primary or sole form of nutrition? Since they don't NEED it and have more self control do you still whip it out whenever they want it or wait until it can be done in private? Is that even a different standard?

The older the child gets I imagine the more uncomfortable people would be seeing it. So yeah... just curious.

Infants need to nurse every two hours, and it's their only source of food and water.

Toddlers eat food and drink water and cows milk and all kinds of stuff. Usually if a toddler is still nursing it is only a couple times a day and at very specific times such as bed time or first thing in the morning. So, usually by that age it would not be in public.

Thanks.

This...
Plus the amount of growing an infant has to do that first year is astounding and without constant nutrition they can't successfully grow.

Fr3shStrt

Give me one good reason to be topless in public if you are a woman?

Give me one good reason to be topless in public if you are a man?

Hexahedra

I don't see what the big deal is. Common respect goes both ways though. If you are reasonably discreet, most people would avert their gaze. The ones who don't are either genuinely curious or jerks.

RllyGudTweetr

Give me one good reason to be topless in public if you are a woman?

Give me one good reason to be topless in public if you are a man?

For both: Because I can, and do no injury to anyone by the choice to do so.

Fr3shStrt

Give me one good reason to be topless in public if you are a woman?

Give me one good reason to be topless in public if you are a man?

For both: Because I can, and do no injury to anyone by the choice to do so.

Exactly what I'm trying to say. A man can walk around topless, why not a woman, neither are doing any harm.

Trueray

This thread is still alive!? lol

aalhasan

If you don't feed the baby when it's time to feed it its body will go into starvation mode and hold on to its fat

alfiedn

My mom is a lactation consultant. Feed the babies!

ashleyhigg396

Any Latina ladies here? I used to feel embarrassed when women would nurse their babies in public. I mean, embarrassed for the women. As I got older, I started spending more time with a lot of Mexican families and it doesn't phase them. I got so used to it that I don't think twice when I see a lady in public breastfeeding. It has a lot to do with cultural boundaries, but I don't understand why a women can't throw a blanket over her shoulder and feed her child. You're not seeing anything.

"Step away, folks. There's nothing to see here!"

UnwrappingCandy

but I don't understand why a woman can't throw a blanket over her shoulder and feed her child.

Would you like to eat your meal with a blanket thrown over you? I know I wouldn't.

hotmomma0612

I am a very new mother to a preemie baby. I have never wanted to nurse my baby, personally. That's just me. However, I have no problem with women nursing, and nursing in public. It's natural!!

Faery_Dust

It's as nature intended and A-ok in my book. When I fed my babies, I did feeding on demand so it happened all over the place.

UnwrappingCandy

I am a very new mother to a preemie baby. I have never wanted to nurse my baby, personally. That's just me. However, I have no problem with women nursing, and nursing in public. It's natural!!

'Breastfeeding is great for all newborns, but it's even more important if your baby arrives early. That's because your body will automatically produce milk that's specially designed to nourish your premature baby, with extra calories, vitamins, and protein. What's more, the live cells in breast milk that protect babies from infection can be even more important for premature babies: Preemies face a higher risk of infection because their immune systems are particularly immature. You will find artificial formulas and supplements made just for preemies, but they can't provide the antibodies and other protective factors that are in your breast milk and are so beneficial to a fragile premature infant.' - http://www.babycenter.com/0_breastfeeding-premature-babies_8480.bc

knitwit0704

Wow...

missveeoh

Infants need to eat. Breasts contain breast milk which is a food source- it is a necessity. (Apart from formulas)
There are some mothers that cover themselves when they're in public and there are others that don't.
I do not mind it. So I say yes, go ahead and feed your baby! Btw I always thought its a beautiful thing, like, a bonding experience with your newborn

ldrosophila

I am a very new mother to a preemie baby. I have never wanted to nurse my baby, personally. That's just me. However, I have no problem with women nursing, and nursing in public. It's natural!!

Oh your sweet baby lots of prayers to him.

Terryism

If you don't feed the baby when it's time to feed it its body will go into starvation mode and hold on to its fat

LOL!!!

BinaryPulsar

I say YAY! When the babies are hungry, feed them!!

I have a question. I'm not trying to start anything by asking this, but just genuinely curious.

I get that if a baby is hungry you feed it. Breast feed, bottle feed, whatever floats your boat. I don't care.

But what about 2 or 3 year old or whatever who don't use breast milk as their primary or sole form of nutrition? Since they don't NEED it and have more self control do you still whip it out whenever they want it or wait until it can be done in private? Is that even a different standard?

The older the child gets I imagine the more uncomfortable people would be seeing it. So yeah... just curious.

Infants need to nurse every two hours, and it's their only source of food and water.

Toddlers eat food and drink water and cows milk and all kinds of stuff. Usually if a toddler is still nursing it is only a couple times a day and at very specific times such as bed time or first thing in the morning. So, usually by that age it would not be in public.

My daughter is going to be 3 in October and we still nurse several times a day. As I mentioned in an earlier post it is no longer her sole source of nutrition (obviously), so when she asks in the middle of Target or at the farmers' market or wherever we are I tell her "No baby, just wait til we get home. We're in a hurry." This is more for convenience than for anything else, but I also know it's not widely accepted around here. When I'm running errands with my 2 kids I want to get in, out and done as quickly as possible, so I am not going to drop everything to nurse my daughter when I know I have just fed her a good hearty meal before leaving the house. :laugh: Now if we're at a friend's house for a play date and she asks, I will totally nurse her, the caveat being that I'm at a crunchy mom's house and "extended" nursing is well received. I don't like it, but I know even a lot of "pro-breastfeeding" people are weirded out by extended bf'ing, so I reserve it for home or around like-minded individuals. That's just ME though. For me it's not worth the hassle and the judgement I get from close-minded people when I can just as easily hand my daughter a banana---or just snuggle her if comfort is what she's after. If I were to see a mom nursing a toddler I would think "more power to you!" and I'd smile in approval, not that she needs it.

Yeah, I agree with all of this. This is a longer, more detailed explanation of what I meant. I was just trying to help people understand the distinction between the first year or two of nursing and nursing beyond that. An infant has a more urgent need to nurse. For an older toddler, it's usually something that can wait and would occur at home or at a friend's home or at a play group with other nursing moms and is usually just a few times a day, not every two hours. It starts off every two hours and reduces slowly over time, until eventually just one or two times a day and then weaning from there. And all mom and baby duos are not the same of course.

amyk0202

I'm all for nursing in public.

With my 1st, I was nervous about it. I would usually bring a bag of pumped milk. This was a hassle--asking for a cup of hot water to warm it up in & waiting until it could be served to my hungry infant (I never used formula). I would sometimes nurse in public with a nursing cover--a huge hassle.

By my 4th child, I never bothered with a nursing cover. It was easier to wear easy access clothing. I always wore a nursing bra, usually a nursing top too which has slits in the front so you can just uncover one breast at a time for nursing. By the time the baby is latched on, there is really very little to see. I've seen more cleavage at the mall & definitely at the beach then I ever exposed nursing in public.

There are some pretty good reasons not to use nursing covers. All my babies were preemies--#1-33 weeks, #2-31 weeks, #3-32 weeks, & #4-35 weeks. I had a strong let down (which is when you milk actually starts flowing). I generally had to make certain I wasn't drowning them when my milk let down---they were swallowing & not turning blue around the lips. Since my breasts are a little large, I also had to push the tissue down around their nose so that they could still breathe & eat at the same time. Babies like to look at things--especially their mother's face while they eat (until they fall asleep) so many of them spend time they should be eating trying to pull the cover off.

I breastfed all mine over a year--my 4th was a little over 2.5 years old when he weaned. In all that time I never had anyone say anything rude to me, stare, or give me the stink eye. Most people never noticed. I was also a babywearing, cloth diapering mama & I would say that got more attention then NIP. I nursed at parks, in restaurants, shopping, walking around Disney (in a ring sling), just about everywhere. I NEVER fed my babies in a restroom.

I feel really sad for people who think it's disgusting, especially the women.

skinnybunny_x

Breastfeeding is great -so is sex. And scratching a really bad itchy butt. But I don't do any of that in public.

I have no issues about doing it discreetly. But these women who think they're Super Mom because they're allowing every guy in the room to see their tit ... well, that's pretty trashy. Cover it up! I don't want to see that ****.