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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder what people really think about breastfeeding at a swimming pool?

116 replies

loveolives · 01/11/2013 22:14

It seems to be coming up a lot in the news recently. Well, twice that I can think of. I breastfed my first child until 16 months and currently feeding my second at 7 months. I happily feed in public whenever and where ever, albeit discreetly. I took my daughter swimming during the week and couldn't imagine feeding her in the pool or at the poolside. AIBU to think that doing so may generate .. attention?

OP posts:
newfavouritething · 01/11/2013 22:18

AT a swimming pool no problems at all, IN a swimming pool not good - don't want to be swimming round in baby puke.

MikeReepySpooksard · 01/11/2013 22:19

Meh, it's not just about food, it's about calming and comforting. A swimming pool is a big noisy place and babies can get a bit fretful, popping them on the boob for a bit will soothe them and then you can both have an enjoyable swim, yay. I really don't see the problem.

MikeReepySpooksard · 01/11/2013 22:20

Obviously if feeding makes your baby vomit then you wouldn't do it in a pool, but I think that's pretty rare tbh, particularly with bf babies.

Heartbrokenmum73 · 01/11/2013 22:20

Didn't we do this yesterday???

Have I been through a timewarp? What year is this? Where am I? Who's the President?

Bubbles1066 · 01/11/2013 22:21

By the side of the pool fine but not in the pool, no. It's full of sick/piss/spit. Gross!

Writerwannabe83 · 01/11/2013 22:21

Babies should be breastfed anywhere if they are hungry - and so what if it does being attention?? The more frequently that breast feeding is observed in public the more normalised it will hopefully become (it should be anyway) and the hope is that one day all the stupid negative attachments to breast feeding will be dropped. It honestly baffles me how even in this century, the most natural thing is the world is still seen by some people as something to be ashamed of Hmm

Original poster
loveolives · 01/11/2013 22:23

Sorry, not been online in a few days so not sure if this is being repeated. I'm always of the opini

OP posts:
Original poster
loveolives · 01/11/2013 22:23

Opinion that babies should be fed whenever and wherever, but IN a pool? Sitting on the side? I couldn't imagine it?

OP posts:
Bubbles1066 · 01/11/2013 22:23

You wouldn't BF or eat in a toilet though as it's not clean. Same with the water in a pool IMO. It's not a normalising BF thing, it's a hygiene thing.

bababababoom · 01/11/2013 22:24

Yawn, here we go again, hasn't this been done to death? Replies will fall into the following categories:

  1. Eeeew, that's disgusting, not necessary, boobs out and milk in pool.
  1. I support breastfeeding but it's not necessary, nobody else eats in a swimming pool which is full of piss.
  1. How dare anybody dictate where I can feed my baby?

Me? I've fed in the swimming pool many times and nobody's batted an eye. My youngest gets cold in the water - if I feed her, she can stay in the water longer and my older children don't have to get out. They swallow more water swimming than they ever would feeding, seeing as there's a seal round the nipple when they feed. And unless I'm going to sterilise my nipples afterwards, what difference does it make?. She is warm and happy in the water and would be cold out of the water, and changing rooms are hardly hygienic anyway. If anybody's bothered about milk in the pool they'll have to ban lactating women full stop. If anybody's offended by the sight of my boob, they are welcome to leave because I won't be.

AngelsLieToKeepControl · 01/11/2013 22:24

I wouldn't have done it in the pool either, but I wouldn't bat an eyelid at anyone else doing so. Its down to (or at least it should be down to) personal preference.

TooOldForGlitter · 01/11/2013 22:24

I can't really see the issue about feeding IN the pool tbh. Sure the baby might spit up and yuk to be swimming in it but you counter that with people coughing, sneezing, swallowing water and spitting it back out, peeing etc, whats a bit of baby vom added to the mix?

Would I feed IN the pool, no, but that is just me.

SeaSickSal · 01/11/2013 22:26

I don't care. But I do think that there are some people who are desperate to be told not to breast feed somewhere so they can cause a fuss and get their name in the paper.

As it seems a pool may be one of the few places you will be told not to I suspect they are being deliberately targeted.

Original poster
loveolives · 01/11/2013 22:27

I wouldn't bat an eyelid either. I love seeing
other babies breastfeeding. These stories do make me worry about breastfeedingy baby when she needs feeding though.

OP posts:
misspontypine · 01/11/2013 22:27

My baby wants to feed as soon as he gets a glimps of boob. We havn't been to a public pool but I feed him in the pool that we have in our apartment complex and in tge bath and in the sea/river/lake.

Ds is a puker but rarely right after a feed, usually 30 mins to 3 hours after a brightly colored meal.

notanyanymore · 01/11/2013 22:28

if the waters that dirty babies shouldn't be in it in the first place, having a feed won't make any difference to either the baby or the other members of the general public.
pile of shite IMO (but then i go to a posh pool where i get to sit on a sun lounger doing a feed while the waitress brings me coffee and toast... i wouldn't bother swimming otherwise! )

Writerwannabe83 · 01/11/2013 22:30

Why is it unhygienic to breasted whilst sitting on the side of the pool, or in the pool for that matter? The baby is sucking at the breast and having your sterile milk, not downing gulps of pool water..... Hmm

Or do you mean it is unhygienic towards the other swimmers??

Norudeshitrequired · 01/11/2013 22:30

My opinion is a baby should be breastfed anywhere that anybody else would eat. I wouldn't eat in a pool so wouldn't breastfeed in a pool.
You are not even allowed to chew gum in the pool.

5madthings · 01/11/2013 22:32

Yawn.

It's fine to feed at or in a pool and illegal to stop a mother from doing so.
www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2013_08_01_archive.html

UserError · 01/11/2013 22:33

I don't give a rats ass where babies are fed. I would be annoyed if a mother started to breastfeed in my lane when I was swimming. Anyone stopping in my lane annoys me. Go to the side of the pool!

CrocodileScream · 01/11/2013 22:41

Babies should be breastfed whenever and wherever. I personally wouldn't have breastfed in a pool but anyone spouting hygiene reasons is batty.

The baby will swallow some of the skanky pool water whether it is breastfed or not and quite frankly it'd be more hygienic to swim in a pool completely filled with breastmilk than the water we do swim in.

Bubbles1066 · 01/11/2013 23:03

It depends how you see BF. I see it as food so it's not weird to see it as a hygiene thing to not do it in a pool. I think it would be horrid to eat in a pool. Maybe others think it's just fine to eat in a pool. Each to their own.
Other people see BF as more than food, so you can do it anywhere. Again, each to their own. All depends in how you view it.

CrocodileScream · 01/11/2013 23:07

It might be perceived as unhygienic to eat / breastfeed in a swimming pool but the reality is we ingest the water in one way or another regardless.

What about the pools in swanky tropical resorts with a bar in the pool?

Writerwannabe83 · 01/11/2013 23:13

I don't think it's unhygienic to eat or drink in a pool - I don't understand why people think it is? The food or drink goes straight into my mouth. What do others do? Dip it in the water first and then ingest it?? Grin

I reckon there are a lot more unhygienic and dirty restaurants/cafes out there than swimming pools Smile

greenbananas · 01/11/2013 23:15

Doesn't matter what anyone thinks, babies now have the right to breastfeed in swimming pools.

The 2010 equality act says that mums can breastfeed their babies pretty much anywhere, with no limit on the age of the child. Can't link on my kindle, but a quick Google will confirm this - the maternity alliance have a good website.