Breastfeeding in Public
By foxyfire33
@foxyfire33 (10005)
United States
February 8, 2007 2:14am CST
Breastfeeding a baby is a natural function that many mothers choose to nourish their child. Studies show that breast milk is, under normal conditions, the ideal food for infants. Unfortunately, the breast has been oversexualized to the point that many people are uncomfortable seeing a woman breastfeed.
I'm currently breastfeeding my almost three month old. Other than a few stares, I haven't had any trouble while out in public but I know that many women do. I always make sure I am adequately covered, and by that I don't mean a heavy blanket over his head. How would you feel eating your dinner in the dark under a blanket? I simply don't feel that my choice to breastfeed while, say, grocery shopping, is at all different than another mother's choice to give her baby a bottle while out in public. If the child is hungry it should be fed in a timely manner regardless of the feeding method.
My intention is also to continue to breastfeed for as long as I can and as long as it is a practical feeding method, whether that means until he is 4 months, 12 months or 16 months or beyond. I feel that it is a completely natural thing to do and have no desire to give in to what I see as society's restrictions. Most seem to feel that breastfeeding after the one year mark is unnecessary and in some cases somehow deviant. But what makes an eleven month old different from a thirteen month old? Does some major physical change occur in either the baby or the mother on the child's first birthday to make breastfeeding obsolete?
My question for all of you, women and men alike(where applicable) is how do you feel about breastfeeding in public. ie: Should a mother be entitled to perform this function at anytime, at any place she needs to? Is there an age limit on your comfort level? Do you feel it should be kept strictly private or that laws should be made to protect or prohibit public breastfeeding? What would/did all of you mother's choose to do?
1 response
@season888 (21)
• Philippines
12 Feb 07
yes, a mother should be entitled to bf her child in public! refusing to would be like refusing an adult at a restaurant!! i'd bf my baby in public but when he turned a year old, i stopped doing it outside the house. i bfd him in a sling so it was hardly noticeable.