Breastfeeding to fight stigma

[Jlabute]

I’m all for breastfeeding, although I prefer milk refrigerated if I had a choice :-) It is better for kids too. Heck, it’s good for everyone.

[Scrobins94]

Do what is best for the baby, not some easily offended morons. There, I said it.

[Fancy]

poopy diapers are completely natural to and i can tell ya from experience you don't want someone changing there little trophies diaper in a restaurant at the table next to you. just saying

Comparing defecating to eating doesn't make sense.

[Fancy]

Was telling my husband, I wonder if men can show solidarity to females breastfeeding by exposing their baby-makers. Whenever they see a group of women breastfeeding, men can whip it out and stroke, stroke, stroke in solidarity! Or is that a double standard??

Comparing a sexual act to eating doesn't make sense.

[LTD]

of course you completely missed the point which is don't wish to see either of these natural things while I'm sitting in a restaurant if you wish to do this in the mall or on a park bench or the bus I couldn't care less as I said there is a time and place but some folks don't have the mental capacity to show respect for others

[Fancy]

No missing your point here though comparing the two still is puzzling as there is a separate room for one natural behaviour. How about showing respect for a mother feeding her baby? Feel free to eat at home if seeing an infant being fed in public is repugnant. I didn't realize this backward way of thinking still exists so no wonder breastfeeding is so newsworthy.

[Merry]

As someone who breastfed both my babies until they were 18 months old, and yes sometimes I did it in restaurants, I don't understand what all the fuss is about.

My kids are now both in their late 30's, yet all those years ago I was able to feed them in public and never received a single complaint. We lived in a small town and regularly travelled to a larger centre to shop, visit the dentist, etc. and while there my kids would need feeding. Where was I supposed to feed them? I wasn't going to sit outside in the truck in the middle of winter and do it. And I most certainly wasn't going to sit on a toilet in a public bathroom.

There are ways to breastfeed your children in public while still being discreet about it; a blouse that buttons up the front and a carefully placed receiving blanket usually guarantee privacy from prying eyes. But there is nothing "bad" about feeding a baby the way nature intended for a baby to be fed, and no mother should be made to feel as though there is.

[JayByrd]

Okay, to that woman in the restaurant who grossed out LTD with her fallen breast, please get a hooter hider or something. Nobody wants him/her barfing up a ham 'n' egger.

To everyone one else, feed your child at whatever time and place you need to. You'll get nothing but support from me.

[JLives]

youre right and while I have no problem with breast feeding I don't feel its appropriate at a table next to me in a restaurant that has also happened to me and much like the crappy diaper theres a time and place, unfortunately in the me me and me only society we now live in people tend to have no respect for those around them.

Are you for real taking the position that it's not OK to feed your child at a table in a restaurant? You are the one who needs to learn some respect.

[Silverstarqueen]

poopy diapers are completely natural to and i can tell ya from experience you don't want someone changing there little trophies diaper in a restaurant at the table next to you. just saying

How is a baby drinking milk equivalent to a poopy diaper change at the table (a place for eating, not pooping)?

Personally I would rather an infant contentedly feeds by any method (bottle, breast, finger food) in a restaurant, rather than listen to them cry or fuss from hunger.

[Silverstarqueen]

Dude if it's covered with a blanket who cares.
One thing I have noticed that when my daughter was born it was born there was a stigma if you didn't breast feed regardless of medical or mental condition. Some nurses and lactation consultants were brutal in the hospital.
Four years later this year my sons were born and it was a completely different story. Everyone was as long as the baby is being fed, that's what is important.
I think there was a huge backlash against the breast Nazis as women were feeling ashamed and depressed. The woman in Vancouver committed suicide and one of the reasons given was her depression because of her inability to breastfeed. I'm glad it seems more balanced now.

Having had three kids (all breastfed), I never experienced nurses being "brutal" in the hospital (well not about breastfeeding). Some were supportive, some were discouraging (actively, challenged my ability to breastfeed my baby). Regardless the children somehow thrived in spite of the misinformation or lack of encouragement. I don't recall anyone in public giving me any grief about breastfeeding.
I think suicide especially in a postpartum mom, is a little more complicated than a mother being unable to breastfeed. I'm sure there were mothers who were discouraged from breastfeeding who also committed suicide. If anything, a mother who is very depressed is likely to be told that she should not breastfeed, so that she can go on antidepressants.

[shordanna]

Was telling my husband, I wonder if men can show solidarity to females breastfeeding by exposing their baby-makers. Whenever they see a group of women breastfeeding, men can whip it out and stroke, stroke, stroke in solidarity! Or is that a double standard??

Last time I checked, penises were not used to feed children

[JLives]

Last time I checked, penises were not used to feed children

And last time I checked breasts don't make babies.

[the truth]

Off topic

[Merry]

One thing I have noticed that when my daughter was born it was born there was a stigma if you didn't breast feed regardless of medical or mental condition.

Back in the late 70's/early 80's there was a strong push to get women to breast feed, and your right, some women were subjected to a lot of pressure to conform. My friend wasn't comfortable breast feeding, but she was hounded by "well meaning" health professionals to "give it a try" which resulted in a very unhappy mother as well as a very cranky baby.

The bottom line is that breast feeding isn't for everyone, and nobody should be pressured into doing it if they don't want to.

For me breast feeding was the obvious choice, partly because I'm too lazy to mess around washing and sterilizing bottles and warming milk. It was both easier and cheaper to breast feed. It was also a lot more convenient when I was "out and about" - less stuff to pack around, and no worries about finding a place to warm a bottle. Heck I even fed my baby in church (admittedly to a few disapproving stares, but it sure beat having the kid scream through the entire service. LOL). But for those women who simply aren't comfortable breast feeding, for whatever reason, it should be THEIR choice and they should not be subjected to any pressure to change their mind. Not from anyone - not even a well meaning health professional.

I'd like to say that the days of people trying to influence mothers on this issue are over, but I know they're not. Some breast feeding mothers feel pressure to bottle feed, and some bottle feeding mothers feel pressure to breast feed. And that's wrong - in BOTH cases. People should just mind their own business and let women decide for themselves what's best for them and their baby when it comes to choosing how they're going to feed them.