breastfeeding in the supermarket

[wtfisgoingonhere]

Ok so I'm all for breastfeeding and think all mums should (assuming mother/baby are able to) but WALKING AROUND SAINSBURYS breastfeeding. . . Seriously? ?

Maybe it's only me that's shocked and I am not a mum myself if that makes a difference.
Don't get me wrong I certainly disagree with mums being ushered into toilets and the like but I felt a bit of modesty could have avoided awkwardness for both mum and others she may come across.

I have no issue with nudity either, i enjoy sunbathing topless and strolling around my home in various states of undress but I couldn't imagine ever feeling comfortable doing this myself

The last thing I expected on a Saturday afternoon trip to sainsburys was to round the corner of an aisle to come face to face with a woman with her top down and FULL BOOB OUT (I saw nipple and all!) strolling down the home entertainment aisle feeding baby. Yes I know this is what they are intended for but when men aren't allowed to enter shirtless is this not a bit much? Had she been sat outside the store on the benches or in a cafe (if they had one) I guess i or anyone else wouldn't have batted an eyelid

Just interested in others opinions

Is this taking things a bit far or perhaps it is just a multitasking achievement extraordinaire?

[LovesYoungDream]

Another goady thread on mn this evening

[CalleighDoodle]

A. If you could see the nipple, she wasnt breastfeeding. Just walking around topless, which op said she likes to do on holiday anyway.
B. Why would the elderly ever be unhappy abour breastfeeding. Surely they breastfed their children.

[Lateswim16]

Calm down dear.

Yep if you see the nip she ain't feeding petal.

Much rather a baby fed and quiet than bawling it's head off.

[AnathemaPratchett]

Well I'm afraid I judge when a mum doesn't breastfeed her baby whenever and wherever they need feeding,

There's a mum I see very regularly at the swings etc while we are both there with our toddlers. She is breastfeeding her youngest but only feels comfortable at home. Invariably the baby will wake and start crying to be fed. And crying, and crying and crying - all the while she is sorting the toddler, getting her ready to head home, chasing toddler, strapping her in her reins, dragging her off home for 10 minutes walk, all to feed the baby. There is a bench right there where she could happily park her arse while us other mums help the toddler and chat to her while she fed the baby. And the baby wouldn't have to wail all that time.

And I suspect she feels judged for breastfeeding in public, and that it's shameful, and she's already planning to swap to formula, even though she really wants to continue breastfeeding. And it's all so so sad. And yes she's judged for feeding in public, and judged if she doesn't. It's shit.

[AnathemaPratchett]

I have breastfed both my children in the supermarket. Generally found a quietism corner to face into (just perusing world foods doncha know), adjusted the sling so nothing could be seen, then carried on.
I've also walked around town inadvertently flashing nipple when I didn't realise dd had in latched herself! Oops! And flashed the postie when I forgot to put it back after feeding....
Postie assured me he had seen it all before, the blushed!

[Raveismyera]

I've found elderly people love babies and are more likely than anyone else to have a chat even if you are breastfeeding. A 70YO man I got talking to last week because he offered me some water as he knew nursing mothers got thirsty. So sweet. And I was using an apron which i use to save certain peoples blushes (dad, brothers, people I work with) and also makes me feel more comfortable

[Graciescotland]

Slightly randomly I've found that people talk to me when I bf in the supermarket. In a "well done you" sort of way not sure if it's a bf thing or a twins thing. Does anyone else get this?

[Raveismyera]

Blimey I'd be giving you a well done you if I saw you feeding twins too. Respect.

[Volenflo]

Oh another saddo getting offended by breastfeeding.

[Graciescotland]

I don't feed them at the same time whilst wandering round the supermarket, I just stick one under a pashmina and swap them around every once in a while.

[Raveismyera]

Well I sort of assumed you weren't wailing around with one on each nipple but it's still massively impressive as it's so much hard work

[Offred]

I did used to stop and sit and tandem feed my twins in public and really appreciated the supportive comments from strangers because it was hard and my HV was not supportive and neither were many other people tbh.

[PiperChapstick]

it makes people feel uncomfortable especially older people

How patronising and ageist! My grandma and great grandma breastfed in public. The former was still alive when DD was a newborn and was the least shocked when I BF in front of people. She would have thought it was ridiculous to cover up or stay at home

[mrstweefromtweesville]

it makes people feel uncomfortable especially older people
My breastfeeding experience was a long time ago, but older people were the most supportive.
As stated upthread, I breastfed everywhere I went (just my daughter...). Most people didn't realise it was going on, there was nothing to see, just a mum cuddling her baby/toddler/child. The people who did know, and would smile or give a few words of recognition, praise or encouragement, were the elderly. Women who had breastfed in the past, and men who had taken breastfeeding as normal because it happened all around them. If you were from a family of nine in the early to mid-twentieth century, you knew all about breastfeeding, and it wasn't a problem.
The problem arises now because people don't breastfeed and because society allows the real purpose of breasts to be hidden.

[Seffina]

I just can't imagine that before the invention of formula there was even a 'thing' about breastfeeding, considering the vast majority of babies were breastfed, even if not by their own mother. Is it not that BF is more 'noticeable' now because there are larger numbers not doing so (either because of FF or because they don't feel comfortable enough to breastfeed in public because of idiots)? When everyone was at it, it would have been as normal as seeing a baby with a dummy is now. We tend to notice something more if it's something we don't see all the time.

[STATUSQUO63]

Who breastfeeds with their whole boob and nipple out. Can't be bothered to read thread but yabu

[Bean89]

I fed my DD anywhere. When she was cluster feeding if I hadn't have done it whilst walking/shopping/eating etc etc I wouldn't have got anything done! To some women the needs of their child are more important than covering a bit of boob.

[00100001]

If people are allowed to eat whilst walking round supermarkets, why not babies?


This video is for you :) (well all of us really)

[Seffina]

Love that video!

[tobysmum77]

fwiw I don't think all older people bf at all, they used national milk before formula was available on both sides of my family. I didn't breastfeed either, it doesn't mean I think women that do should 'cover up' and 'be discreet'

[Offred]

Not sure what you mean by 'national milk' though intrigued!!

I am aware that breastfeeding your own baby has a looooooong history of being seen as lower class and that for wealthier families nannies and wet nurses were absolutely the standard practice and breastfeeding yourself would have been unthinkable socially. If a wet nurse was not available for some reason it was not uncommon to feed babies on solids.

During the 19th century people feeding babies on animal milks and strange concoctions based on them was also not uncommon and that infant formula as a specific product was invented as early as 1867.

[Passmethecrisps]

National milk was formula provided by the NHS was it not?

[Bambambini]

Found this.

"National Dried Milk was a roller-dried powdered, full-cream milk fortified with vitamin D [1]. It was intended for feeding to children at a time of milk rationing. It was also convenient for mothers. It freed them up from breast-feeding at a time when women had to go man the factories for the war effort. At first, it was available only to children under 1 year of age; later 2 years.

The National Dried Milk scheme had been announced by the fall of 1940; by then, physicians were debating how it should best be served to infants and whether full-cream was indeed the best for them.

The storage and distribution of National Dried Milk across the country was contracted out to a company called SPD. You needed ration coupons to purchase it with, and could only get it at chemists (i.e. pharmacies.) There was a proviso, though, which housewives learned to watch for: once the tin at the store was past the "Not for consumption after..." date, it could be sold to anyone, off-ration, providing a windfall bonanza to the lucky shopper.

A half-cream version was introduced in 1941. [2]

After the war, National Dried Milk was still being sold in 1965, though by that point, it was only 12 percent of milk sales. People on welfare could purchase it at subsidized prices, but there was a limit to how much you could buy at these prices. Everyone else could buy unlimited quantities at regular prices. In the mid 1960s, a 1 pound (450g) tin sold for 4 shillings, or 2 shillings 4 pence at subsidized prices.

National Dried Milk was finally discontinued in 1976, when there was no longer any point, as people were opting to purchase special infant formulas instead.

Many people in their Second World War memoirs confuse National Dried Milk with "Household Milk."

"Household Milk" was dried skim milk for general consumption; National Dried Milk was dried "full cream" milk aimed at feeding infants. "

[Passmethecrisps]

It must have gone on a bit longer in Scotland as my mum was telling me recently about my sister having national milk which will have been 1982.

[Offred]

Very interesting!