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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

would you breast feed on a bus

138 replies

ghostspirit · 06/06/2015 20:17

i was feeding my baby on the bus. some woman said i should not do it. i said he needs feeding its either i feed him or he screams.

OP posts:
griselda101 · 06/06/2015 22:16

yes and have done in the past, out of necessity! Not my first choice place to do so but sometimes you don't have a choice.

ghostspirit · 06/06/2015 22:17

tigger i dont think my breast feeding in properly established yet. im not sure. hes 7 weeks. but there is no way i would not breast feeding on a bus or where ever. and i hope to think most people on the bus would have thought she was a muppet...

yes i have noticed its woman that seem to have issues with other woman and children.

OP posts:
TiggerLillies · 06/06/2015 22:20

I hope so to, tbh after I finally learnt to feed in bed no where else is quite the same!

Thelastthneed · 06/06/2015 22:21

I would.

I've done it on the tube and the train...

Love51 · 06/06/2015 22:24

Would do, have done, would do again if I have another.
Re men and women - I think its because rearing children is seen as a female role, and because if you do it differently to someone else, it is perceived as a comment on / criticism of their way of doing things.

SakuraSakura · 06/06/2015 22:36

Yes, and I have done.

Norfolkbumpkin · 06/06/2015 22:37

Yep, and have done. Dd was in a wrap sling at the time, very easy to discreetly pop her on Smile

BackInTheRealWorld · 06/06/2015 22:38

I've managed to breast feed on buses and tubes without the person next to me even noticing that I've done it.
Except for the time I nearly missed my bus stop and as I hurriedly ripped my boob out of baby's mouth and tried to cram it back in my bra my breast milk squirted across the bus and sprayed quite a few people.
Which to be fair wasn't nice for anyone.

TheWhoOfWhoville · 06/06/2015 22:41

If he needed feeding yes, absolutely. I have done and dont see anything wiring with it.

MrsHathaway · 06/06/2015 22:43

Which to be fair wasn't nice for anyone.

::snort::

ByeByeButterfly · 06/06/2015 22:44

I would but would use a cardigan or something to block the view.

I've done it on planes and trains too.

cantseemtohaveitall · 06/06/2015 22:45

Have done a few times and wouldn't have any issues about doing it again. Have fed on countless trains and in cars (whilst stationary)
And in cinemas, shops, park benches etc
I've never had any issues from anyone and most of the time I think people don't notice.
So sad that women still do get rude comments when feeding though - seems to be the one personal thing that is always up for public consumption.

Picklesauage · 06/06/2015 22:46

I feel this could be a missing Dr Seuss book.

I will feed them on a bus,
I will feed them if I must,
I will not feed if I do not trust,
Drunken letches to stare at my bust!

Wigeon · 06/06/2015 22:46

Have BF on a train, the tube and a plane, but can't recall BF-ing on a bus. Think any bus rides with a BF baby never coincided with the need for a feed! I certainly would have if the baby had wanted feeding.

Can we list as many forms of transport where people have BF?! So far, I think we've got:

Train
Bus
Tube
Tram
Plane

Anyone got boat? How about punt? Monorail? Surely not bicycle...!

Wigeon · 06/06/2015 22:47

Very good Pickle!

spillyobeans · 06/06/2015 22:50

Well by law (think its slightly different in northern ireland though) you can and should breastfeed where and when you want/need.

You could have said "why is it offending you?" And when she replies with yes, just say " oh well thats a shame for you then" and carry on Wink

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 06/06/2015 22:50

I did on the DLR (london train) then DD vommed it up all over me. Last time I ever did thatGrin

TelephoneIgnoringMachine · 06/06/2015 22:51

I did it on a train once, it was full of kids coming home from school. Mostly 11-15 years old I think. No-one stared or commented. I didn't use a cover or face away, I was simply discreet. I also BFed DD when the Olympic Torch went past. Many, many people, and some tv cameras. (I did get her latched on in the house though, as I was still in the "ow bloody hell" phase each time she first started sucking. I didn't want people to see my pained expression.)

Lovelydiscusfish · 06/06/2015 22:51

Oh, Tigger, that's really shit. You are doing nothing to deserve it - it is absolutely their problem!
I often feel I was very privileged; my area must be some kind of bf utopia. I'd have hated to be exposed to the kind of judgment, and fucking rudeness, which I know many mothers meet, on occasion.

WoonerismSpit · 06/06/2015 22:52

I breastfed on a bus today! I've also breastfed on a train, and a black cab (asked the driver to pull over).

As well as the usual doctors surgeries, shops, when registering her birth.

Picklesauage · 06/06/2015 22:52

I have breastfeed on a ferry, so technically a boat, many times Widgeon.

Devora · 06/06/2015 22:55

I have bf on London buses, and got indulgent smiles.

I have also had two (yes, two) deeply embarrassing incidents involving toddlers and stinky shit on busy commuter trains. I'm still too traumatised to talk about them, but there I DID get disapproved of, and rightly so.

BackInTheRealWorld · 06/06/2015 22:58

Why did you have to ask the driver to pull over woonerism?

TiggerLillies · 06/06/2015 22:58

Wigeon, I breastfed on a ferry and continued to do so whilst getting off that boat and running for our steam train connection, in the rain. My ego was sky high that day! Grin

Tonberry · 06/06/2015 23:02

I've breastfed on the bus loads. Have also breastfed on a train, a coach, the car, a land-train, and a boat but it wasn't moving at the time.

I've fed in various parts of the hospital, the park, cafes, coffee shops, and restaurants, at soft play (but not in the soft play), in the pub with a vodka in the other hand, in the shopping centre, at Chinese New Year, at the beach, at the cinema, at a bowling alley, at several parties, in a book shop, in the library, and a hundred places in between. I've even had a cheeky BF at Nandos.

Oddly enough, the only place that asked me if I'd like to sit elsewhere was the hospital. I was in the waiting room in paediatrics and they offered me the feeding room, I said no because it was also the nappy changing room and I don't feed my baby next to bins full of shitty nappies. They then offered me an empty consulting room and I said no again, DD was happily colouring in, the baby was at the imminent milk coma point of his feed, and I was quite comfortable but "no, really, we insist that you'd be more comfortable in a private room". I was very Hmm