Breastfeeding in Public... When is it not ok?

[emyandpotato]

My theory is that anywhere that it is acceptable to bottle feed a baby, it is also acceptable to breastfeed a baby. Simple as. I would therefore say that pretty much anywhere is acceptable, although it is common courtesy not to cause someone an inconvenience if you can help it; like not sitting down in a busy door way or anything, not that I expect many people do! As for in a swimming pool, I think that that is acceptable too. If you have a baby in a swimming pool they're wearing a swim nappy. You know those don't hold wee, right?! So wee is going in to the pool. I doubt many people mind a bit of milk. Anyway breast milk is sterile anyway. It will do people more good than harm, if it has even the slightest effect at all in a highly chlorinated pool.

 

[emyandpotato]

If you take the breastfeeding out of the equation just for a second, would you ask for a chair and ff a baby so where like that? Would you pop open a jar or purée in a shop and start feeding an 8 month old? I certainly wouldn't, I would nip to the nearest cafe or just benches in the shopping centre, I wouldn't dream of sitting and feeding a child in a shop.

Now we can put breastfeeding back in, it seems this story has riled everyone because of the fact that the child was breastfed, but I wouldn't have fed in anyway one of my kids in the back of a shop

Babies don't go from perfectly ok to desperate for a feed that quickly, as a mum I always had an idea of when mine would need a feed and worked around it, but even if they did get fussy and need something without us planning for it, they always managed to wait until we got a seat in a cafe or something

Yes I would. I EBF and found it absolute hell to find somewhere to sit in busy shopping centres and things, especially as I usually used a baby carrier so I couldn't prop a bottle up. First of all, cafes aren't always there when your baby is screaming, and when they are, it costs a fortune to buy a drink to sit down in one every time a contrary baby decides they maybe would like some milk. Now maybe I wouldn't ask for a chair, but I would certainly give a bottle to my son while he was in his carrier, no matter where we were. As for saying babies aren't desperate immediately; some certainly are. My son could go from sleeping to screaming in seconds, and when you can't find a seat anywhere you just want to cry yourself. The ONLY issue with feeding a baby in a shop is perhaps the inconvenience to others, but if she had no other option or was out of the way, then it is absolutely fine.

 

[aliss]

This story is ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong, I am actually a NIP advocate and I happily NIP without a cover.

But CLAIRE'S, during Christmas shopping? The woman is an idiot. For those of you who do not know this store here in Canada, it's full of teen girl cheap jewelry and the 'aisles' are nothing but a few feet which you can squeeze through between multiple displays of earrings. There is hardly room for 2 adults to pass each other (and they are all designed like this).

To get a chair and sit down in the store is just being silly, she should have stood outside the store on a bench or whatever.

 

[TwilightAgain]

This story is ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong, I am actually a NIP advocate and I happily NIP without a cover.

But CLAIRE'S, during Christmas shopping? The woman is an idiot. For those of you who do not know this store here in Canada, it's full of teen girl cheap jewelry and the 'aisles' are nothing but a few feet which you can squeeze through between multiple displays of earrings. There is hardly room for 2 adults to pass each other (and they are all designed like this).

To get a chair and sit down in the store is just being silly, she should have stood outside the store on a bench or whatever.

But Claire's have a chair already on the shop floor anyway for ear piercing? Maybe she knew that and thought it would do no harm in asking if she could use it providing it wasn't being used.

Bit harsh to call her an idiot.

 

[special_kala]

I would not be comfortable feeding my child in a chair used for ear piercing in a place like Claire's.

Also breast milk might be sterile but baby sick isn't and n the swimming pool example I'd be pretty grossed out of a baby puked in the pool. I know babies are sick anyway but it's a lot more likely after a feed

 

[aliss]

This story is ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong, I am actually a NIP advocate and I happily NIP without a cover.

But CLAIRE'S, during Christmas shopping? The woman is an idiot. For those of you who do not know this store here in Canada, it's full of teen girl cheap jewelry and the 'aisles' are nothing but a few feet which you can squeeze through between multiple displays of earrings. There is hardly room for 2 adults to pass each other (and they are all designed like this).

To get a chair and sit down in the store is just being silly, she should have stood outside the store on a bench or whatever.

But Claire's have a chair already on the shop floor anyway for ear piercing? Maybe she knew that and thought it would do no harm in asking if she could use it providing it wasn't being used.

Bit harsh to call her an idiot.

Sorry but I do think she is an idiot. I have the right to feed my child in public without a cover if I want, and I do it all the time, but I don't feel I have the right to be a pain in the ass by doing something that would block traffic during the height of Christmas shopping.

The chair is for piercings, paying customers, during a busy season. It's really just inappropriate and entitled, there is no reason why she cannot go outside the store and into the mall area so she can feed her child and not disrupt the business at Claires.

 

[Lydiarose]

i dont BF anymore but i dont think theres anywhere thats not okay to breastfeed in public,unless its unsafe for mum/baby!

 

[overcomer79]

What in the off chance a fire happened? then the nursing mom would have to move before anyone could get out? I don't understand how this is showing discrimination to a breastfeeding mom like people like to think. I went to a mall with my knee immobilized when I was 30 weeks pregnant (sorry but that is harder than nursing) and I never expected a shop owner to cater to me specifically. I found a suitable bench.

ETA: I don't take babies to funerals so that's not even a problem.

 

[smokey]

I dont see any differant between it being a case of bf or bottle feeding tbh I woyldnt do either in the middle of a small shop like that.
While hes my world I dont expect others to care and id feel realy selfish and a inconveniance to bother others like this no matter how they are fed.
I wouldnt expect to change his nappy in the middle of a shop because he was crying about it being dirty and I wouldnt just stop the world to feed him.
I still dont let him have food or drink in alot of shops because its either there rules or its not safe, clean or conveniant.
I wouldnt say its inapropriat in the slightest but rather inconveniant.

 

[Scottish mum]

If it was me even tho I don't bf I would have waited. I bf for the first two weeks only but when I'm out and lo needs fed I find somewhere to sit maybe a cafe or something then feed! I know there could be other factors but I would rather be comphy. But to be fair ff is different in the respect that you generally know when lo will feed so you can prepair I know it can be slightly different from bf x

 

[smokey]

After a while yes you do start to get a idea of how much will last them and when its coming up to the time they are going to want more but in the first few weeks I didnt have a clue about his limets and when he would be hungry next.
Same with bf I had to just take his ques of when it was time and let him take what he wanted then wait again to see how long that would last him.

 

[RaspberryK]

I'm pro nip and I don't think there's anywhere inappropriate but perhaps in a cramped shop wasn't the most sensible choice. Perhaps she thought that she'd be more comfortable in a shop where usually only women go in rather than outside the shop where every man and his dog is walking past.
I personally would have moved outside purely due to lack of space.
I bf at a funeral in the crem and in the church, in the front row. No one batted an eyelid, got a few smiles at the gulping and the burp though no way would I have stepped outside and missed my nanas service. My vicar also said don't worry if he cried he'd just wait til he stopped or was quieter.
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