attitude to breastfeeding in public in UK?

[Jodie.82]

what is the attitude to breastfeeding in public or breastfeeding in general in England these days? I ask as I live in South America and am coming to visit England in just over a week and I can honestly say I have never in the 27 years I lived in england ever seen anyone breastfeeding in public! here I feed LO anywhere and everywhere as it is the norm in the town I live in to see about 10 women breastfeeding by the time you have walked 4 blocks! I'm kind of worried about how I will manage feeding my squirmy little monkey who is almost one and whether I will have any problems with people as Ive seen some weird things written on here and other places!
so for the ladies that do it, do you ever feel uncomfortable and for anyone else do you ever see people breastfeeding in public or think there is a problem with it?

 

[Kristin52]

If someone says something to you, PUNCH THEM.
me and my husband were just having this convo the other day, as I FF.. I don't have the experience.. but it pisses me off when people give looks or have a stupid ass attitude about women feeding their child out in public!

I love seeing it, because it makes me happy that their's still people out there, that just say "screw it" to the losers.


you go girl. feed that baba

 

[fionagrace]

I am not sure about the rest of the UK but I have never seen anyone breastfeeding in public in my home town. In fact I don't know a single person in my age group who has breastfed their children. For some unknown reason a lot of people struggle to accept it and believe it should be done in private. I breastfeed my Son but am reluctant to do it in public for these reasons.

 

[angel2010]

Completely agree with pp. I couldn't bf Carter, and was only able to pump for 6-8 weeks with Carter. I wanted to bf badly and will try very hard with my next. I feel a sense of pride when I see a woman bf. I don't know how to explain it, I want to clap for them for perserveering and for not caring what others think. I say go for it and tell anyone that has a problem to get bent!

 

[Jodie.82]

I would die of embarrasment though if I saw anyone giving me looks, it took a lot of courage for me to breastfeed in public here and thats with it being the norm, now im very used to it here though but I think im going to find it hard back home in London
I mean I guess there will be places I can go in shopping centres etc but on trains or buses if she wants milk she will need milk! oh im dreading it

 

[Button#]

I live in London and I feed whenever and wherever. I have never had funny looks or comments and I don't particularly hide what I'm doing. I know other mums who are the same.

 

[readytotry]

I've never had any problems. There is a particularly British attitude that it should be done "discreetly" (whatever that means), but it is a protected by law right so people tend to not be too confrontational about it.
I think in London you will be fine.

 

[Ellbee78]

I've never had a problem, I just get on with it.

I was visiting family in Scotland last week and someone came up to me in a restaurant and a lady came over to say how nice it was to see someone feeding and that I should be proud of myself. That gave me a lovely confidence boost!

 

[yumosh]

Just do it! UK is generally unfriendly place towards mums & families so don't let it bother u lol. I feed everywhere & will threaten to expose my boobs to them if they say anything. The more we do it, people will have to accept that breasts are for feeding babies first and not to lure one's husband into an affair!

Sadly it's women who have a problem with it. I tend to stare back and smile.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[cat lover]

Hi hun i live in london and bfed in public when LO was younger and also on the train. You never get comments (actually i did once. I always used a cover and some guy went 'god is the baby really that ugly you have to cover it up?' which was pretty weird but i laughed it off) usually people either dont realise or look away to be honest. I saw go for it london is so impersonal in my experience that noone really cares! xx

 

[mistyscott]

I've never had a problem and bf anywhere and everywhere! Did it in a cafe once and checked with an old man (he was sat opposite) and he said he thought it was lovely to see a baby being fed that way! From Basingstoke to Norwich, and most service stations in between
As for noticing other mums doing it, I don't tend to - but dh does and thinks its lovely when he sees it. I think we tend to feel more exposed than we are as we look down and see a lot of boob and baby, whereas other people just see baby against your chest (until the little monkey pulls off to have a look around that is!)
Enjoy your trip

 

[karla1]

i am from manchester and i BF in public its not the norm here any more i am afraid to say (infact at the baby club i go to every monday i am the only one that BF) i have had the odd dirty look but nobody has ever said anything bad but to be honest most people either dont notice or dont care

on a positive note i did get an old lady tell me she thought it was lovely to see my little boy looking up at me looking so happy to be being fed by his mummy

if anyone did ever say anything negative i think i would punch them lol x

 

[MrsBea23]

I am in Edinburgh so not sure about London but I BF in public everyday and no one has said anything to me.
Initially I would take a bottle of expressed milk with me incase I was somewhere I didn't feel comfortable but it has always been fine so I don't bother anymore.
I often meet up with the girls from my NCT class and 6 of the 8 of us are BF so we are often all feeding at the same time and no one has ever even given us a second look.
Don't worry about anyone else hun just do as you do at home.

 

[Green Lady]

I've never been given any trouble for breastfeeding in public, but you should see the looks I get when taking the pushchair on the bus! And I don't even have one of those giant 4x4 sized ones. Some people seem to think that women with children under walking age should just stay home, I guess. I think you should be fine with BF though, really. When LO was younger I used a breastfeeding cover which I found easy to manage--I could feed her anywhere and it didn't matter who was looking. These days we tend to go to the feeding rooms though, it's quieter and not so many distractions for LO. If you're discrete about it most people probably won't even notice.

 

[ellie27]

I have only saw 1 person breastfeeding in the last few years!!

I feed LO whenever, wherever and have never EVER came across any stares/comments/frowns or anything like that!! In fact it has always been smiles!

 

[Siuan]

I've BF'd in public all over the place now and I've not even noticed anyone bat an eyelid about it! If anything they heave a sigh of relief when she's being fed 'cos it stops the noise of her crying for food! haha!

I've started covering up a little more these days simply because she is going through a phase of bouncing on the boob (she'll feed, come off, feed, come off etc etc) so it's harder for me to keep from showing off my nipple. But even then no-ones said a thing to me about it.

In fact the other week we were having a meal in a restaurant and LO started fussing. I went and changed her but she was still upset so I latched her on there and then and walked back to our table with her feeding. I don't think anyone even noticed

 

[maysiemoo]

I have seen a few people around my town. It might be a bit regional. At the last baby and toddler group i used to go to thee was usually someone feeding their baby at some point. I was in the m and s cafe feeding my little one last week. There was someone staring i could not work out if they were horrified or not bothered or trying to work out what was going on but every time i glanced up they were looking. I was doing the discreet thing. vest top lowered and wrap dress pulled to one side. We had a baby muslin at hand in the mix as well as when i burp her she can spit up a good mouthful sometimes.

I have bf my other 2 in town as well (when they were babies i hasten to add) my eldest is 15 and middle child is 8. I can honestly say never had a harsh word with anyone. I would not punch anyone if they did say something. I can be quite gobby when riled and probably do more damage with words anyway.

Just don't pick somewhere really busy ............like on a bench outside a school just before they kick out for lunch. Bad mistake and one nosy baby do not mix i did feel uncomfortable flashing my nipple every 20 seconds to teenagers. Normally a quiet spot. Never again lol

Google where you are going and breastfeeding friendly and i am sure you will find lots of places mentioned so you can be really comfortable.

Its against the law to discriminate and try to stop someone bf in most places so relax and enjoy your break.

 

[ljo1984]

I've never had anyone say anything or give me looks that I know of. I'm usually out with friends or oh though so usually too busy talking to them to look round, you'll be absoloutly fine. I'm off away next week and will be nip in Greece so I know how you feel, but I'm just gonna go for it and I'm sure after a couple of times it'll be alot easier. Xx

 

[emsie_123]

Ive never gotten a dirty look while BF but ofc people will look twice when they see someone whip their boob out, nothing to do with them being perverts or disapproving

If I got a nasty look while BF in public I would only be embarrassed for the person giving the look, what a sad little life that person must have.

I BF everywhere and Ive seen plenty of women doing the same.

 

[Kyliem87]

A friend of mine breastfeeds and will do so in public if her LO is due a feed. Usually no one pays any attention but she has had the odd women staring at her! She's discreet about it and doesn't just sit there with her boobs out so no idea what this womens problem was! It depends on how comfortable you are with doing it in public, if you're fine doing it then it shouldn't matter what others think or the looks you get