Claridges Breastfeeding Policy

[ifgrandmahadawilly]

Aibu in posting this here, in the hopes that the people of mumsnet let Claridges know how unreasonable they are being?

www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/11267989/Mother-forced-to-cover-up-with-large-napkin-while-breastfeeding-at-Claridges.html

pinkfrocks I think you are being selfish and inconsiderate to not think about the fact that I am offended by your posts and don't want to see them? So shall I ask you to stop posting and leave the thread (or at the very least stick a napkin on your head?)

ime elderly people don't mind about breastfeeding at all - it was extremely standard to breastfeed babies in the 1940s afterall.

Its younger people who have the issue.

The napkin made it look miles more obvious that she was breastfeeding than the non-napkin photo.

Comments on here about farting are just ridiculous.

But fwiw I've breastfed 6 babies for many years and have never had one negative comment.

pinkfrocks - it really is not worth debating. You will not win in any shape nor form, even though some people agree with you but are too frightened to post because they will get slated.

Breastfeeding in public has a militant following on MN, and no-one else is allowed to have an opinion.

But woe and betide any man or woman who openly stares with disapproval. They also are relegated to fires of hell.

Just saying.

I don't think I have ever seen more of a woman than I need to when she been breastfeeding.

I may have seen a bit of aereola (you know, that area of skin that is slightly darker than the other skin) and maybe even a bit of nipple, but it was nothing some smelling salts and a lie down couldn't sort out.

FWIW I have breastfed on and off for the last 5 years, in all sorts of places. No-one ever seems to even notice, no matter what their age. The only time anyone commented was when I fed my baby at the back of a church at a wedding to stop him crying during the vows ... one of your "elderly ladies" (you know, the ones who like us to keep our boobs in the bedroom) came up to me and said it was lovely to see a mother feeding her baby in God's house and would I like a more comfortable chair (I was perched on a windowsill). Far from dropping dead with horror, she seemed to think it was quite nice and, you know, normal.

But woe and betide any man or woman who openly stares with disapproval. They also are relegated to fires of hell.

But why do you want to stare? Can't you just register your offence and then get on with your lunch (with a napkin on your head, for decency).

Feel sorry for having their Christmas do at Claridges - they're going to be descended on by a bunch of veiny titted lunatics aren't they?

pinkfrocks I can't understand why you repeatedly refer to watching someone breastfeed. No one expects you to watch it being done! It's neither performance art nor a spectator sport. The woman in Claridges was not exposing her breast anyway.

Some people do stare Emily. Some people would find it sexual and stare. Other people may never have seen a stranger's boob.......and stare. People stare for all sorts of reasons.

Offensive to 'older people'?? Waaaaahhh!! No! I'm seventy, and actually have never been able to have children, sadly. But the sight of a mum breastfeeding warms my heart. If I'd been near that woman in Claridges, I'd have become a right OLD battleaxe on her behalf.
Why think of supporters of public breastfeeding (which includes the judiciary!)
as a kind of militant Nazi group? Good heavens, as a previous poster says, in the forties one breastfed in public with total confidence. I remember my mum doing so (my sis was born when I was six) anywhere and everywhere, as the new baby was a bit demanding. (She still is, hahaha!)

But woe and betide any man or woman who openly stares with disapproval. They also are relegated to fires of hell.

Ok, this makes no sense. If your retinas are so burned by the sight of a baby being fed, why would you stare?

I have breastfeed in lots of swanky London hotels and never had any issue. In fact once a waiter came over and said - let me know if I could get you a drink of water or another beverage while you feed your baby ....

I really would be up for a an afternoon tea feed in at claridges....

Well if I inadvertantly caught sight of something I found unpleasant, the last thing I would do is carry on looking at it. That would be a bit masochistic wouldn't it?

No-one has ever stared at me. Have they stared at you? Or are you the one doing the staring? I'm confused.

When I breastfeed, you can't see my breast. So what exactly is causing you to want to stare? The mere hint that I probably have breasts under my top? By that logic you'd be staring at all women all day.

It's a bit like cars in the opposite lane of a motorway accident - people stare. They just do.

pinkfrocks I am vegetarian and find it uncomfortable to watch people eating meat. So if I saw you tucking in to a big steak in a restaurant, can I ask to wear a shawl over your head whilst you are eating? You wouldn't want to make me uncomfortable would you?

Who is 'you' Emily? I presume you mean 'people'?

Wow!! At some of the attitudes here- I didn't realise so many women have such hang ups about breastfeeding.

Wow, Nancy. 'Veiny titted lunatics.' Nice. And they wonder why breastfeeding rates are so low in this country.

I'm wondering how all these mythical 80+ offended people were fed as babies???

Breast feeding was pretty much the norm until the 50's wasn't it?

I breastfeed my two. Anywhere. I always tried to be discrete, not because I was embarrassed, simply to be considerate to others.

It is in the nature of toddlers to climb over things, run and shriek. That's toddlers. It is innate to them. In somewhere like a playgroup, that's fine. In a restaurant, it's not fine and the parent should attempt to distract to minimise the disruption. So I can't see how breastfeeding is different. Like toddler behaviour it is natural and there is nothing wrong with it. However that doesn't mean we should just think that everyone else should suck it up.

Likewise, when I have my period, someone also natural, I wouldn't change a bloody tampon in the middle of claridges.

There is nothing wrong with being considerate. Claridges weren't asking the lady to stop, they were asking her to be considerate to others. If someone had rocked up in shorts and a t shirt, they would have been told to dress more appropriately.

I find it a bit embarrassing the reaction to this. Women shrieking that it's their right. Their baby neeeeeds it. It makes my toes curl.

I'm just jealous that she was able to attempt to bf in public. I struggled bfing both of my children and the only position I could do it in was with my top off , baby lying down me on all fours with me cupping babies head and pushing baby onto a boob. That method certainly would have raised a few eyebrows in Claridges or indeed anywhere. It's no surprise that I didn't make it past 6 weeks with either of them.

I don't even notice bfing women and nor does anyone else. I can normally see both points of view but it's hard in situations like this because Claridges are quite clearly wrong. To me bfing is the same as feeding a baby a bottle and you wouldn't ask somebody to cover up a bottle would you?

It would probably be better to ban infants and small children altogether. If I'd paid a lot of money to have tea at Claridge's I wouldn't want to be surrounded by infants being fed. Whether bottle or breast.

I don't buy the mums whipping out their breast in full view - to be honest most mums I see BFing are doing it discretely.

But if they show boob so what?

It won't hurt me to look away.

And yes I was biased against this before - no way am I now.