To think Ryan Air and breastfeeding

[boobirdblue]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-breastfeeding-mother-flight-anger-air-steward-flying-with-children-a8932931.html%3famp

I'm not sure if the safety aspect on take off and landing, it used to be accepted.

I think this however is trying to infer the problem is breastfeeding per se and not the timing?

Now if the crew were wrong and it's not breaching safety they need to be told,, it was certainly not the case of not being able to breastfeed at other times. I'm not sure if the not during take off and landing would make me overly anxious about flying, although a crying baby is stressful.

When I flew with my baby I didn’t bf her during take off but she had to have this silly extension belt around her. I think I’d have still been able to bf her (I mean that the belt would not have prevented that). If they were happy for her to bf during the flight it must be a safety issue, even if in reality it wouldn’t have made any difference. Those baby extension belts aren’t going to do much in case of a real emergency.

I can see the crew's point. During takeoff and landing you're expected to be able to move quickly, not have anything blocking your (or others) way etc. Pretty difficult when you've got baby on your boob.

She did feed through the flight, they weren't objecting to her breastfeeding.

Any sympathy I had went with her melodramatic language. She's after compo.

The only thing that mother is after is attention. This whole story is ridiculous.

@NoBaggyPants that's how she came across to me!

I've breastfed on take off and landing many many times with EasyJet and Jet2. I would be massively surprised if there wasn't more to this. Perhaps she wasn't able to feed with the seatbelt extender on?

From what I understand they asked her not to breastfeed during take off and landing. In my experience of flying with a baby is that they want you to have the baby forward facing on your lap when you are using the baby extension seatbelt.
I have always been able to BF with my baby in the belt but I usually ignore the advice to have him sitting up forward facing.

The belts provide NO safety to the child,it would be like buckling a car belt around yourseld and a child which is advised against.
The belt is to stop the child from becoming a flying object should the airline crash.
Airlines in Canada and the USA do not use these belts at all as they deem them unsafe.

Takeoff and landing are the most dangerous parts of the flight so it seems sensible to me that everyone is restrained then. I've never understood though why babies and toddlers are allowed to fly without being appropriately restrained in a seat. The belt doesn't seem like sufficient protection for them,though it might be enough to protect them to an extent and also in the event of issue or turbulence prevent them from becoming a human missile that could kill or injure another passenger.

(Note - I can’t read the article so tell me if I’m missing an important point!)

I flew with ds aged 4 / 5 months with TUI and breastfed going up and down. Not an issue - he had the extension belt on but didn’t let a minor thing like that come between him and food!

I bf my DC (1 and 3) during take off and landing every time we flew when they were babies, it was great - kept them occupied!
I've not read the article, but I'm positive no one ever told me I shouldn't bf during take off or landing, and it's completely manageable with the baby seat belt on.

During takeoff and landing you're expected to be able to move quickly, not have anything blocking your (or others) way etc. Pretty difficult when you've got baby on your boob.

lol I really don't think having a baby on your boob would make more than 2 seconds difference in an emergency. I always breastfed on take off and landing.

I always breastfeed during take off and landing to stop lo ears from popping and to soothe her.

I always breastfed my daughter on take off / landing. Helps with ear popping I think. She needed feeding at that time so I didn't think otherwise?? (first time she was just 8 weeks).

When I travelled with babies I definitely aimed to feed them during take-off and on descent - I grew up in a family with middle ear problems and as a child flying could be agony. Minimising the chance of ear pain was my number 1 priority if flying with small children! Now yes, perhaps the immediate first couple of minutes of takeoff it isn't essential but soon after, I'd want a baby to be sucking comfortably to help their ears adjust to the pressure changes.

The benefits of sucking /swallowing for equalising ear pressure is something I would expect cabin crew to be well trained in!

(I remember travelling Air NZ once as a child - we were given the opportunity to pass out boiled sweets to all the passengers before takeoff)

The baby will usually be on your lap (unless they’re in a car seat on a separate seat you’ve paid for) - how would breastfeeding the baby be any more dangerous than having the baby sat on your lap? What absolute nonsense. I’m glad she’s called them out on it (and before anyone starts with the milk mafia nonsense, I was not able to breastfeed my twins so it wasn’t an issue for me).

Feeding an infant at these times is recommended in resources about travelling with an infant since take off and landing can be noisy, scary and cause pain.

I too always breastfed ds during take-off and landing (flew when he was 11 months and 13 months while I was still feeding him). Wasn't a problem with the extension seat belt

Iirc, the first flights were Thomsons (to Greece) and the second flights were Air France (to South Africa) and ComAir (within South Africa).

In fact, feeding was positively encouraged as a way to reduce their discomfort at the changes in air pressure Having a contented baby on my lap would have been a lot quicker to deal with than having a screaming distressed wain that you are trying to shut up calm, in the event of an emergency.

I thought advice (NHS, HVs etc) was to definitely breastfeed on take off and landing to help ear pressure equalisation. It certainly was when mine were babies in the 80s and 90s.

I also bf during take off and landing and have done on a Ryainair flight. But they must not have noticed?

I was asked to turn my baby on a flight last year. I was asleep face down on my chest with the extension belt fastened around him. We debated it for a while but they were adamant. As a result he woke up and cried for a very long time.

I wasn’t breastfeeding at the time though so didn’t go to the daily mail with it.

I think Ryanair staff are too busy to randomly prevent women from breastfeeding their babies - but only on take off and landing - for shits and giggles.
It’s about passengers being seated optimally and being alert and in a position to move quickly during the riskiest parts of a flight. I have a disc bulge and I always make sure I’m sat straight, looking ahead on take off and landing. I once had cause to be thankful after we landed in the Caribbean with a horrendous jolt that had passengers screaming.
Understandably people view cabin crew as a customer service role, and that’s because the vast majority of their time it is, but safety is taken very, very seriously.

As she doesn’t mention any issues during the flight, it seems they were perfectly fine with her breastfeeding except during the time they also request electronic devices and headphones be removed, and trays and seats stowed upright.
Most of us ignore some of this, but that doesn’t give the cabin crew the right to ignore it too. The airline would face massive damages claims if injuries resulted from an incident and they were found not to have followed safety procedures.
I used to offer a finger to my DD1 when it wasn’t convenient or possible to give her the breast. A dummy would work for the more fastidious.