Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not wear a mask when breastfeeding my baby

278 replies

Catsdogsandfoxes · 14/01/2022 17:54

Was feeding 3 mo DS on the train through London this afternoon and took my mask off so he could see my face properly and we could interact. I find BF weird with a mask on. AIBU?

OP posts:
Inastatus · 14/01/2022 18:49

@7Worfs

Young ones need to see faces. Throw away your masks, OP. You’ve got more important things to do than to please randoms to your child/your own detriment.
@7Worfs - 100%

I do worry about the effect mask-wearing will have on babies/toddlers development 🙁 but who gives a shit about all that because you know COVID 😡

MadeOfStarStuff · 14/01/2022 18:50

YABU

You don’t need to take your mask of to feed your child. It’s one feed out of thousands, they will be absolutely fine not seeing your face this one time.

ShinyHappyPoster · 14/01/2022 18:50

Of course YABU. The majority of your bf presumably happens at home, without a mask.
Wearing a mask for the few feeds you have to do on public transport isn't a big ask. I bet if strangers coughed on your DC, you'd be unhappy so you should accord strangers the same respect.

lanthanum · 14/01/2022 18:50

No need to interact when breast-feeding. If they're hungry enough to want feeding on the bus, they will get on with it whether or not they can see your mouth and nose. When I fed mine on public transport, she tended to be under a baggy shirt, so no eye contact.

Inastatus · 14/01/2022 18:53

@Plumbear2

You are required to wear a mask on the train. Other people's health far outweighs your baby seeing your face for one feed.
@Plumbear2 - so it’s not ok for a mum to make sure her baby is relaxed and contented whilst feeding but it is for someone to sit there the whole time scoffing crisps and drinking cans of gin and tonic??
rainyskylight · 14/01/2022 18:53

YABU.

I have taken my mask off inside public building when going up and down stairs when my baby is in a sling. I’ve done that because I have been unable to look where I am going properly and have felt unsafe - once I missed a step on a staircase so I started taking it off for stairs after.

I’ve felt guilty for doing the above and that’s coming from a position of safety. Your excuse is pretty weak.

sashagabadon · 14/01/2022 18:54

I think this thread is an example of where we have collectively lost the plot. There’s a thread right now talking about crazy stuff we all did back in 2020 and this thread is like a flashback to the ridiculousness of those times. Of course a breastfeeding mother should remove her ( probably ineffective anyway) mask to breastfeed her baby! This is Mumsnet for goodness sake. Op ignore all the other commentators, you did the right thing Smile

edgeware · 14/01/2022 18:55

Having been in this position, YANBU it is impossible to breastfeed a small baby with a mask on because you can’t see!

elelel · 14/01/2022 18:56

@edgeware

Having been in this position, YANBU it is impossible to breastfeed a small baby with a mask on because you can’t see!
It goes over your mouth and nose, not your eyes!
AgathaAllAlong · 14/01/2022 18:56

Babies need to read your expression and see you smile, it's how they know what you are feeling and how you reassure them. I wouldn't wear a mask at all around a little baby, and definitely not when feeding.

Somethingsnappy · 14/01/2022 18:56

@sashagabadon

I think this thread is an example of where we have collectively lost the plot. There’s a thread right now talking about crazy stuff we all did back in 2020 and this thread is like a flashback to the ridiculousness of those times. Of course a breastfeeding mother should remove her ( probably ineffective anyway) mask to breastfeed her baby! This is Mumsnet for goodness sake. Op ignore all the other commentators, you did the right thing Smile
I agree!
user1473878824 · 14/01/2022 18:58

@Lilianne2001

YANBU. There's been some research that mask wearing by adults may have negative implication on child development (especially speech) and that it should be kept to minimum.
I doubt the OP lives on a train.
HardbackWriter · 14/01/2022 19:02

It goes over your mouth and nose, not your eyes!

Put a mask on then look down at your chest. You won't have your full field of vision. I can't see my own breasts with a mask on.

Inastatus · 14/01/2022 19:03

@user1473878824 - I’m sure the OP doesn’t live on a train but she might use them frequently. As far as I’m concerned even one feed with a young baby having to stare at its mum in a mask is one too many!

I am a mask-wearing, generally covid-rule abiding citizen but this thread has incensed me!

Livpool · 14/01/2022 19:03

A mask for one feed won't affect your bond - leave your mask and stop being so selfish

Zombiemum1946 · 14/01/2022 19:03

You don't need to take the mask off. It's only one feed, and I doubt lo would really care.

Wizzbangfizz · 14/01/2022 19:07

Of course you can take your mask off - people are fucking bonkers Hmm

elbea · 14/01/2022 19:09

I can’t see down properly with a mask on, it blocks my vision. I’d have taken it off too.

Bagadverts · 14/01/2022 19:10

Yabu
There is a balance between comfort, and interaction for you and your DC and general health of everyone else on the train. If you cannot breastfeed because of sight in the mask that is different to a preference.

HalloHello · 14/01/2022 19:13

I certainly wouldn't wear a mask if j felt safe enough to take it off. Hardly bloody selfish, when everyone else is likely wearing one and you're sitting still, as if you were in a restaurant, not running around coughing in everyone's faces. No one expects anyone to wear a mask once sat down in any sort of establishment. People are mad!!!!!

WonderfulYou · 14/01/2022 19:22

Babies need to read your expression and see you smile, it's how they know what you are feeling and how you reassure them.

In the nicest possible way babies don’t give a shit how you are feeling, they just want to be fed.

No mother who breastfeeds sits there smiling at their baby for the entire feed every time.

Inastatus · 14/01/2022 19:24

@Livpool

A mask for one feed won't affect your bond - leave your mask and stop being so selfish
@Livpool - ODFOD with that fucking word!!!
AgathaAllAlong · 14/01/2022 19:30

@WonderfulYou maybe not the entire time, but when your baby looks up at you they want to see your face. I recon they do care how you're feeling, in the sense that if you look unhappy they think something is up, if you look happy and relaxed it sends them the message that everything is well, which in turn relaxes them.

When I was feeding it was important that when my son caught my eye I could respond.

maddiemookins16mum · 14/01/2022 19:30

Yawn

ParadiseLaundry · 14/01/2022 19:32

@sashagabadon

I think this thread is an example of where we have collectively lost the plot. There’s a thread right now talking about crazy stuff we all did back in 2020 and this thread is like a flashback to the ridiculousness of those times. Of course a breastfeeding mother should remove her ( probably ineffective anyway) mask to breastfeed her baby! This is Mumsnet for goodness sake. Op ignore all the other commentators, you did the right thing Smile
100% this.