Mum asked to stop breastfeeding a TWO YEAR OLD in shoe shop.

[GinaDavva]

Mixed feelings with this one. Shaming a mother publicly breastfeeding a small baby is never acceptable but breastfeeding a two year old child in a shop? Surely at that age a bottle is more convenient in the middle of a shop? My first thought was that this was more about attention than the actual principle of the matter. After breastfeeding 3 of my own I can honestly say there has never been a time where it felt necessary to start breastfeeding any of mine in the middle of a shop at two years old. Frankly at that age they wouldn’t find much in mine anyway!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3z31jn7v1o

I’ve breastfed my just turned 2yo out and about if he needs it. Breastfeeding is not just about nutrition it’s also about comfort and connection. If he is distressed and wants a feed for 30seconds to then be calm and carry on with his day what is the problem other than other people’s judgement?

Marketing. It’s sad.

It comes across like OP wants to sneer at a woman from a newspaper article for her choice on how to feed her kid. (The capital letters etc, incorrectly saying a baby bottle is better, etc.)

But the actual point is the shop owner breaking the law. There's no excuse for this and they should be prosecuted.

Why would a bottle be more convenient in a shop than a literal breast?

Of course it was a performance she was putting on. I am surprised she wasn't in the DM making a sad face 😂

Who wants to breastfeed in the middle of a shoe shop of all places?
It still can't beat the one who decided to breastfeed in a swimming pool 😂

What is wrong with these people?

Yes it's natural, so what? Many things are natural, it doesn't mean you shouldn't have a bit of decency and self respect. Many of us have breastfed, it's not necessary to do that in the middle of a shop, or a supermarket or some ridiculous place.

Then someone will pop up to pretend that toddler and pre-schooler still need to be breastfed. We'are going backwards sometimes.

A two year is eating solid food and likely 3 meals a day. There is absolutely zero reason for them to breastfeed in a shop, and likely it was due to to comfort over a necessity for nutrients. Let's be honest there is a time and a place, and a two year is not going to starve if not immediately breastfed in a shop. They could waited and gone somewhere more private.

Just to state....yes I would say the circumstances and viewpoint would be different if this was a baby who was fully reliant on being breastfed.

It will never stop amazing me what we will accept over women's bodies in advertising but then completely freak out about a boob and a feeding child.

I never expected to still be BF and definitely not in public at 15 months now. It's mostly an at home thing. But I recently did BF in public. Why? My toddler was overwhelmed as well as hungry and it was the quickest way to make him happy.

The law allows her to breastfeed her child in a shop, so she should not have been challenged - it's as simple as that.

Is this where you compare breastfeeding to pissing in the street? Go on, you know you want to.

The shop keeper broke the law, absolutely and what he said was disgusting.

but can we not go down the ‘my kid has never taken a bottle’ route as if that’s some source of pride?

I was a passionate breast feeder, I fed all mine until over 2 years of age. But I had my kids in the days of 3 months maternity leave so they had to be able to drink from a bottle to drink expressed milk while at the childminder. That said, they all preferred a cup from about 6 or 7 months onwards! And of course continued to drink directly from the breast any time I wasn’t at work.

Going backwards? Do you think two year olds were all weaned a hundred years ago? Or that they are now in countries with less prolific marketing of unnecessary products like formula?

Your post is sad. Consumerism has a lot to answer for.

I am saddened that this response happened, even though breastfeeding at that age is a minority. Offering a private space (which could be accepted or not) should have been the only comment.

So you think this response is judgemental but your OP wasn't?

The fact that you've not responded to anything else clearly shows your only purpose of this thread was to sneer at a breastfeeding mother and hoped everyone would join you in being an unpleasant person. Do better.

Is OP going to respond to us all in turn to tell us we shouldn't judge her for trying to start a pile on of posters to say how the shop manager was right to tell a breast feeding mother to stop?

The poster she replied to was being appropriatly jusgemental, the OP was being ridiculously judgemental. Waiting for my telling off now.

Im in Scotland where we have the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland network - premises sign up to be part of this to support breastfeeding mums. In Aberdeen all the public libraries are part of this scheme.

I breastfed my then-2 year old on a bus once, nobody cared. I fed my son until he was 4 and once when he was 3 I fed him briefly in a public park. They were both times moments of calm and connection in a hectic day, and nobody died from seeing 2mm of my tit. It’s perfectly normal and people should get the fuck over it.

What exactly is the problem with what she was doing? People who are offended by breasts being used for the purpose for which they exist are wholly ridiculous

I saw the thread title and just knew there would be the usual misogynistic posts about 'performative' breastfeeding.

Unless you're doing a full on musical number or tapdancing as well there's nothing performative about simply sitting and feeding your child.

I don’t really get your point?

Why would you be giving a 2 year old a bottle?

Surely by that age most of their nutrition doesn’t come from milk anyway.

I could understand breastfeeding if the child was upset (and haven’t read the article so don’t know if that’s the case), but I would also think it unusual to breastfeed a 2 year old for nutrition in public. But up to the mother, of course.

Its simple... if you don't want to see a mother breastfeeding, you simply don't look at them. Its not compulsory to stare at them.

Not your boobs not your problem