Breastfeeding pics - Curious

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Replies

  • mamakira
    mamakira Posts: 366
    I breastfed all of our four children and I breastfed them long but I never put out pics of it. I wouldn´t put out a pic of myself with a fork in my mouth.
    But I never had a problem nursing them in public. I come from Europe, we have way less problems with that than in the US I think. We are exposed to nudity all the time without sexualising it all the time.
    Nursing can be done very discretely, no cover needed. It is a very natural thing to do, don´t see the big deal. That is what the boobs are for.
  • jg627
    jg627 Posts: 1,221 Member
    Good god this is the most stupid thing I have read in a long time...
    Go on then - explain the error in my logic :).
    Trying to draw a comparison between feeding a baby in public and making love in public (or using the bathroom in public--that's also a natural function), would be comparing apples to oranges.
    I was not specifically comparing them, but the argument used to justify one.
    If you use the argument "it's natural" to justify one, it can reasonably be used to justify the other. Meaning that argument alone is questionable.
    What we are talking about here is EATING in public. Is it normal for you and I to eat in public? Yes. Is it normal for a baby to eat in public? Yes.
    To say that an artificial nutrition source (a bottle) is ok, while the natural nutrition source (breast) is not ok is just... illogical.
    On the face of it, it would seem illogical, until you add in that our society (UK and US anyway) considers exposed nipples to be taboo. At which point it seems quite logical that using a bottle would be ok, but doing something otherwise considered taboo would not.

    Again; me I have no problem with it. But I can quite see why someone that doesn't want breasts to be shown in other cases would expect the rule to cover ALL cases.

    I have been amused* at people who put topless pictures of themselves up on facebook after breast cancer or whatever and are then surprised and angry when they are taken down - taking a step back and understanding the rules our society works in gives a good sense of perspective.
    * Yes I know it's a serious subject.
    Breathing is natural too. Good luck trying to procreate without breathing.
  • Manda86
    Manda86 Posts: 1,859 Member
    Regardless of whether it's "right" or "wrong", I personally felt that it was immodest to nurse in public without a cover. I wouldn't have been okay with exposing my breast in any circumstance so I worked to provide privacy for myself and make sure the baby was satisfied. I didn't have long to worry about it, at any rate, I dried up at 5 months postpartum.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I don't see it as any different than this:

    9323_1148466344242_2008180_n_zps12d31614.jpg

    Breastfeeding is natural and beautiful. I would have no problem with a friend or family member breastfeeding at my house, in public or posting a photo on FB. I don't have kids or any maternal instincts towards human babies. I have no vested interest in it. But... WTF, it's just a boob. Everyone has them. That's what they were designed to do.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    To me, a lot of really personal stuff goes on Facebook. Not saying that I would do it, but considering the amount of other stuff people share, there's really not much difference to me.

    Couples kissing pics. Pics of mum and baby just after the birth. Bare pregnant belly pics. Baby bathtime pics. There's a ton of things that I've heard people argue that are "private" but still go on Facebook, even just talking about your personal life. No not everyone will want to see that, but have there never been any times that you don't really like reading / looking at what one of your friends posts? Don't like it that much, delete them IMO.
  • SuperstarDJ
    SuperstarDJ Posts: 441 Member
    (OK, so firstly I've been sick all weekend and am therefore extremely cranky so the part of my brain that usually censors my outbursts, bad language etc. isn't working so well. So apologies in advance if I come across as being, well, slightly aggressive here BUT...

    ...it is 2012 so why the h*ll are we are having this conversation??? Seriously, breastfeeding is STILL a taboo subject for some people? What exactly would you like a mother to do with her hungry, SCREAMING baby? Should we just not leave the house at all until our children are weaned off breastmilk? Just lock mother and baby away? Sure. As for those who suggest nursing in a public toilet.... Oh dear god, I am lost for words here. Bottle fed babies have their bottles and equipment sterilised before use but breastfed babies? Well, we'll just shove them into a disease-ridden, foul-smelling WC for their sins. Seriously people, this is just embarrassing.

    It seems to me that this is more about what is appropriate to put up on FB and what is not. Why is it OK for 14, 15, 16 year old girls to put up pictures of themselves, dressed in nothing more than a few postage stamps and some dental floss, posing, duck-faced, as if they're lap dancers in training, but a mother feeding her child.... Put 'em away you awful woman, it's offensive don't you know???
    I don't like seeing it when I'm having dinner at a restaurant.

    Yes I can look away, but it's the crash scene effect where you sometimes can't help, but look.

    I think it should be kept between her and the child, but it's not my call to make as I'm 99% sure it's legal thing to do anywhere.

    As for the facebook picture, yeah I don't know why she would post that and think her friends would want to see it... ?
    The "crash scene effect"? What? It would appear to me that obviously the problem here is your discomfort with being unable to control the urge to look at a strangers' breasts as she's feeding her child.
    ...as I'm 99% sure it's legal thing to do anywhere.
    I'm guessing you're <18 yrs old, no?
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Look a woman breastfeeding in public. Scandalous:

    IMG_5044.jpg
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    I don't see it as any different than this:

    9323_1148466344242_2008180_n_zps12d31614.jpg

    Breastfeeding is natural and beautiful. I would have no problem with a friend or family member breastfeeding at my house, in public or posting a photo on FB. I don't have kids or any maternal instincts towards human babies. I have no vested interest in it. But... WTF, it's just a boob. Everyone has them. That's what they were designed to do.

    *love* Cute kittens!
  • Trying to draw a comparison between feeding a baby in public and making love in public (or using the bathroom in public--that's also a natural function), would be comparing apples to oranges.

    What we are talking about here is EATING in public. Is it normal for you and I to eat in public? Yes. Is it normal for a baby to eat in public? Yes.
    To say that an artificial nutrition source (a bottle) is ok, while the natural nutrition source (breast) is not ok is just... illogical.

    I would like to go on the record and say ladies I am totally ok with EATING in public. :wink: :tongue:
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
    Does seeing cute baby animals nursing freak you out as well?
  • Diana35bha
    Diana35bha Posts: 292 Member
    No problem at all
  • emtjmac
    emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
    I love lamp.
  • karenjoy
    karenjoy Posts: 1,840 Member
    I did some modelling when I was younger, and when I had my children carried on, somewhere in the big wide world are a set of pictures of me naked, breastfeeding my son, they are very tasteful, there is no money shot and they were rather lovely, I really wish I still had them because I would have them blown up and posted on billboards round the place.

    It is natural, can be done discretely and I have less of a problem with it in a restaurant than people who think it is ok to wear a hat indoors and don't know how to use their cutlery correctly.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    Can't understand what's wrong with it - this is a totally mad thread. OMG women have NIPPLES?!? For feeding BABIES?!? Why have we never been told?
  • SONIA820
    SONIA820 Posts: 208 Member
    I love it!
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
    Boobs are there for feeding babies, so I don't see it as a big deal. I was at a friend's baby-welcome-to-the-planet party and was talking to her and she was nursing her son the whole time. I barely noticed because I see it as a normal part of parenthood. People shouldn't be offended by something that's been happening since the beginning of time.
  • missym357
    missym357 Posts: 210 Member
    I have no problem with it at all. I find it beautiful. I was an anytime, anywhere (and gasp! without a blanket) sort of nursing mom. No big deal.
  • heatherloveslifting
    heatherloveslifting Posts: 1,428 Member
    Providing said people don't have a problem with other similarly naked breasts appearing in similar positions, I have no problem with it.
    If they do, I reserve the right to shout 'hypocrite' and 'get real' :).
    Men can go topless. Women should be able to as well as far as I'm concerned. As far as breastfeeding goes, if I ever catch anyone complaining about it, I will choke the life out of them without hesitation or guilt.

    Like!

    In fact we are mammals and the purpose of mammary glands is to feed young. I see no reason why breasts or breastfeeding should be taboo. Especially not when sexualized breast images are so pervasive. What is so offensive about non sexualized images of breasts? And another thing I find odd is that it often seems like people who regularly post and/or admire sexualized images are the ones who are most likely to find breastfeeding offensive.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    On those mentioning "it's natural", "intended purpose of a breast" as an argument...
    How do you feel about people making love in public?
    This is certainly 'natural' and the "intended purpose" - how else do all those babies get made?

    To me, the major difference is necessity and greater good--even if people feel like they can't wait, they can wait a minute to find a private place to do what they need to do to make their babies. (I actually would personally consider their own car a private place.) But actual babies need to eat every couple of hours and don't wait. Asking a mother and baby to sit in a public restroom to eat and feed is just unreasonable, disrespectful, and sad. Asking a couple to wait to find privacy to take out their genitals and make a baby is respectful to those around them.

    Some of my post got deleted, and I don't want to re-write it all, but if I were in a place where open lovemaking was legal and socially acceptable, I would either need to leave, look away, or challenge my own discomfort, not make it the couples' problem.
  • heatherloveslifting
    heatherloveslifting Posts: 1,428 Member
    Okay in my humble opinion intercourse and other sexual acts are acts of * intimacy* (like a very private conversation) and therefore mostly should be private. But I do not buy into our cultural idea that the act itself needs to be a source of guilt and shame. And quite frankly I would much prefer my children stumble upon an act of lovemaking than an act of violence.
    On those mentioning "it's natural", "intended purpose of a breast" as an argument...
    How do you feel about people making love in public?
    This is certainly 'natural' and the "intended purpose" - how else do all those babies get made?

    To me, the major difference is necessity and greater good--even if people feel like they can't wait, they can wait a minute to find a private place to do what they need to do to make their babies. (I actually would personally consider their own car a private place.) But actual babies need to eat every couple of hours and don't wait. Asking a mother and baby to sit in a public restroom to eat and feed is just unreasonable, disrespectful, and sad. Asking a couple to wait to find privacy to take out their genitals and make a baby is respectful to those around them.

    Some of my post got deleted, and I don't want to re-write it all, but if I were in a place where open lovemaking was legal and socially acceptable, I would either need to leave, look away, or challenge my own discomfort, not make it the couples' problem.
  • joybedford
    joybedford Posts: 1,680 Member
    I have photos of me breast feeding all my kids. I am a midwife and I have taken photos of me feeding the twins to breast feeding study days. I don't have an issue with it I fed the twins in front of my father on law and he wasn't bothered at all. It is natural and a beautiful thing I wish more people would do it. It is the hardest thing I have done and part of the problem is that there is a stigma attached. This is what boobs are intended for.
  • Its really a personal thing. I breastfed my son, however, I didn't publically make a big deal of it. I have friends who will breastfeed in public because THEY can.

    Mom's who feel like they are owed something because they nursed, drive me nuts. Its natual, and its a personal choice.

    Some mom's take it to the extreme, some dont.

    however, I would not have posted one of myself nursing.
  • 1258936
    1258936 Posts: 115 Member
    Breastfeeding was one of the most rewarding and fullfilling things I have ever done in my life. I have many pics of my daughter and I in a quiet corner of own little world, because it is a memory I want to cherish forever. It is not one I posted on my FB. I find that my fellow Americans are too squimish for sharing on that level. When my daughter and I were first figuring out how to nurse we stayed at home. I joined a BF support group (best decision ever) and let me tell you, I quickly got over any hesitation about nursing my child whenever it was needed. I learned quickly how to get my baby latched without flashing nipple and breast for the world see. I firmly believe that if it were more common to see breast feeding in public, no one would be offened by it. But it just isn't the American norm to breast feed your child. Especially where other people can see you.
  • Meg_78
    Meg_78 Posts: 998 Member
    I have no problem with it at all. I find it beautiful. I was an anytime, anywhere (and gasp! without a blanket) sort of nursing mom. No big deal.

    Yep me too.
  • jg627
    jg627 Posts: 1,221 Member
    Thinking of comparing breastfeeding to sex? bad move. Moms don't have sex with their children. If they did, it would be a crime against nature with an underage person, which is criminal sexual conduct, in a public place makes it indecent exposure. So you want to starve them or make them eat in the toilet? Nice job. There aren't enough dead babies in the world or incarcerated moms getting murdered by prison gangs, so by all means, let's criminalize this sinful act once and for all. How would you like it if your mom had to register as a sex offender everywhere she goes just because one time you wouldn't shut your bratty, little mouth so she fed you in public? Great work, humanity. My faith in you diminishes a bit more every day.
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
    Thinking of comparing breastfeeding to sex? bad move. Moms don't have sex with their children. If they did, it would be a crime against nature with an underage person, which is criminal sexual conduct, in a public place makes it indecent exposure. So you want to starve them or make them eat in the toilet? Nice job. There aren't enough dead babies in the world or incarcerated moms getting murdered by prison gangs, so by all means, let's criminalize this sinful act once and for all. How would you like it if your mom had to register as a sex offender everywhere she goes just because one time you wouldn't shut your bratty, little mouth so she fed you in public? Great work, humanity. My faith in you diminishes a bit more every day.

    QFT! Anyone who compares nursing in public to screwing in public needs therapy.....seriously.
  • Priincess_Natalie
    Priincess_Natalie Posts: 367 Member
    I have no problem with it at all. I find it beautiful. I was an anytime, anywhere (and gasp! without a blanket) sort of nursing mom. No big deal.

    Yep me too.

    Agreed. To each their own. If she is bothering you, that's YOUR problem, not hers :)
  • lamoursuffit
    lamoursuffit Posts: 267 Member
    The pictures, personally, I don't think I'd put on Facebook, just me though. It's one thing to be unashamed, because there's no reason to be ashamed, but it's another to post it on my Facebook.

    As far as BF in public, I really don't care. Kids gotta eat. I'm on the "don't like it, don't look" team. And if you do like it, at least try not to blatantly stare. You wouldn't like it if someone at a restaurant asked you to take your plate and eat in the bathroom because they didn't like the way you were eating, so why should you ask someone to feed their kid in a place where people go to void their bowels? It's just stupid. I'm terribly sorry you're a prude, sir, now please excuse me while I pull out my giant bag of flesh to feed my kid.
  • WeekndOVOXO
    WeekndOVOXO Posts: 779 Member
    (OK, so firstly I've been sick all weekend and am therefore extremely cranky so the part of my brain that usually censors my outbursts, bad language etc. isn't working so well. So apologies in advance if I come across as being, well, slightly aggressive here BUT...

    ...it is 2012 so why the h*ll are we are having this conversation??? Seriously, breastfeeding is STILL a taboo subject for some people? What exactly would you like a mother to do with her hungry, SCREAMING baby? Should we just not leave the house at all until our children are weaned off breastmilk? Just lock mother and baby away? Sure. As for those who suggest nursing in a public toilet.... Oh dear god, I am lost for words here. Bottle fed babies have their bottles and equipment sterilised before use but breastfed babies? Well, we'll just shove them into a disease-ridden, foul-smelling WC for their sins. Seriously people, this is just embarrassing.

    It seems to me that this is more about what is appropriate to put up on FB and what is not. Why is it OK for 14, 15, 16 year old girls to put up pictures of themselves, dressed in nothing more than a few postage stamps and some dental floss, posing, duck-faced, as if they're lap dancers in training, but a mother feeding her child.... Put 'em away you awful woman, it's offensive don't you know???
    I don't like seeing it when I'm having dinner at a restaurant.

    Yes I can look away, but it's the crash scene effect where you sometimes can't help, but look.

    I think it should be kept between her and the child, but it's not my call to make as I'm 99% sure it's legal thing to do anywhere.

    As for the facebook picture, yeah I don't know why she would post that and think her friends would want to see it... ?
    The "crash scene effect"? What? It would appear to me that obviously the problem here is your discomfort with being unable to control the urge to look at a strangers' breasts as she's feeding her child.
    ...as I'm 99% sure it's legal thing to do anywhere.
    I'm guessing you're <18 yrs old, no?

    That explains it. You should read the entire thread before you decide to go off on a tantrum.
  • Jkmumma
    Jkmumma Posts: 254
    I want to see more of it. Women proud of breastfeeding I mean. I want to see more pics, more talk, more public breastfeeding. I want to see the American Taboo against it vanish. This taboo was created by the food industry, to make money. Baby formula producers make a fortune. To make that fortune, they've destroyed was is completely natural, and put a ton of advertising into formula. It was more harmful to women advertising in the beginning, but once the formula idea was wholeheartedly adopted by the people, it was a landslide into a fortune. Look at the prices of formula for a year. Now compare that to the price of a pump (for those that prefer) plus the 500 calories a day needed to produce enough breast milk for a baby. Most people don't even need to add 500 calories for that, with a well balanced and nutritious diet, it's really just the deficit you need to get rid of the baby weight.