Breastfeeding in a bank- ha!

[Samraves]

Well that was an experience, I went to the bank to try and sort some stuff out, and dd was sound asleep. They asked me to come back an hour later... Dd had been snoozing happily the whole time. Unfortunately she woke 5mins into the appointment and I knew the only way to settle her and be able to focus on sorting stuff out was to feed her. I asked the bloke and woman if they minded... (we were sitting ina cubicle) and they said no....

But then proceeded to avoid eye contact with me the whole time, ignoring me and talking amongst themselves till she'd finished... I know they may have been uncomfortable but I found it a bit rude and awkward- should I have not done this? Have I breached the etiquette and given ebf mums a bad name?

No, you've done absolutely nothing wrong! Public BF will never be completely accepted by everyone if people hide away to do it. If they were uncomfortable then that's their problem, you are legally protected to BF anywhere in public.

How strange that they would talk among themselves and wait for you to finish before continuing - most breastfeeding mums are pretty adept at multi-tasking, I think! Probably they thought they were being sensitive and respectful but it just goes to show how breastfeeding isn't that commonplace, I suppose .

You've done nothing wrong except perhaps ask them if they minded. Personally I would never have asked anyone. Ffs don't ask if they can feed their baby so why should bfs?

Sorry, rant over.

I agree, they were really quite rude!

I had a meeting at my oldest sons school and fed my 2 week old through the entire meeting, I didn't bother asking, I didn't even think to ask TBH. I'm glad to say no-one batted an eyelid:)

They were very rude.

You did the BEST thing by BFing there as it showed them it can be done and every time this happens it helps to normalise BFing.

I do it everywhere...

In the supermarket (in a sling while I'm shopping), in the park, at the swimming pool (sitting in the shallow end), in the bank in the same situation as you (I didn't ask, it was fine), at work in the office, at his nursery, at PTA meetings, in a meeting with my older son's teacher, and another time the head teacher, on a bus, on a train, on a plane, and once on the Police viewing platform at a fair. That was by accident though as I thought it was just a convenient set of steps .

Keep it up!

Lol, thanks ladies :-) I do breastfeed her out, but usually in cafes, although I dud breastfeed her at work when I took her in to show her off! All my colleagues were really great and barely batted an eyelid, although a couple of guys kept a distance, I think it wasnt them being rude but didn't want to make me uncomfortable by cooing over dd while she was attached to me.

I will continue to feed her when necessary as I don't think she should feel uncomfortable, but I do find it hard to ignore people's ignorance. I feel happy when people male or female just give me a smile!

You did not breach any etiquette, but I also think that the bankers were maybe just trying not to be rude to you by looking. I EBF for the first 6 months and now I've done it, it is easy to get on your high horse and say "what's the problem folks", but I forget that before I had DS and my sister breastfed, it didn't make me uncomfortable, but I had no idea where to look, although I had no issue with it whatsoever.

I think the bankers just didn't have much experience of someone breastfeeding, so didn't really know how to react for your sake.

It's a shame that more breastfeeding isn't done more widely publicly in this country as people are only going to learn how to react if they see this happening often.

Before I breastfed, my DH would prob have been a bit embarrassed at someone breastfeeding (again, not through any issue of breastfeeding), but only cause he knew nothing about it then. He wouldn't bat an eyelid now.

I recently bought a car and it took a long time to negotiate and to get everything sorted, so I ended up breastfeeding in front to the car salesman. He was great, didn't bat an eyelid and I got a great deal on the car! .

Don't be worried about breast feeding in public. If people are a bit funny, it is probably just that they are a bit unsure what to do, but I bet the next time they see it, they will deal with it a bit better.

sassles yes, you are right, and really I was being a bit harsh. It was almost certainly a new thing for them rather than them being actively rude.

For comparison, some banks are great. Okay, technically a building society... I had my baby and toddler with me and was queueing for a cashier when the baby got hungry. I got ushered to a free chair by a desk, provided with a drink, toys for the toddler and they did the transaction while baby was feeding.

To be fair they said it was ok but were probably just embarrassed, their problem, but i dont think they were beign rude

They probably weren't trying to be rude, but they did make it awkward!

In future I'd just start feeding without asking, and continue asking your questions or filling in forms or whatever - that way the other person knows you can carry on and everything doesn't have to grind to a halt.