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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

^^Extraordinary breastfeeding - tonight on C4 ^^

843 replies

harpsichordcarrier · 01/02/2006 17:27

new thread for RTKM

OP posts:
ruty · 03/02/2006 11:40

in Germany i'm told its common practice. But then in Germany its common practice to sunbathe naked in city parks. What is the thing with nakedness in this country? Why are we so hung up?
And Milkior and Boobior? Aren't they characters from Lord of the Rings?

ruty · 03/02/2006 11:41

in Germany i'm told its common practice. But then in Germany its common practice to sunbathe naked in city parks. What is the thing with nakedness in this country? Why are we so hung up?
And Milkior and Boobior? Aren't they characters from Lord of the Rings?

ruty · 03/02/2006 11:42

in Germany i'm told its common practice. But then in Germany its common practice to sunbathe naked in city parks. What is the thing with nakedness in this country? Why are we so hung up?
And Milkior and Boobior? Aren't they characters from Lord of the Rings?

tiktok · 03/02/2006 12:09

er....ruty, we heard you

misdee · 03/02/2006 12:52

i watched the repeat on more4, i found the woman b/f twins totally normal and found it hard going to see the twins asking for 'molk', the lady breastfeeding in public totally normal. but the 7yr old, oh dear. i just felt sick. it turned my stomache, and when the kid said when she has milk in her own boobs she'd feed herself i thought 'what about your baby?' lol.

Eulalia · 03/02/2006 12:53

nulnulcat - err, yes formula is cow's milk - what other kind of milk could it be?

ruty - I agree we are hung up on nakedness. Have been to Sweden and they will happily go around naked. Not down the high street but out in the country.

Personally though I've rarely fed any of mine out in public past about 18 months. NOthing to do with being shy but more about setting boundaries, ie the child learning that there is a time and a place for breastfeeding. I have done it discreetly though in times of necessity. Like when my son was 3 and was hysterical going on the plane on holiday - he was really scared of the plane and as soon as we were seated I fed him. He was sitting in the window seat and me next to him sort of leaning across so no-one could see. He calmed down after a minute or two. It's times like that when I think thank god I am still breastfeeding as its such a useful 'tool' to help with calming a child.

nulnulcat · 03/02/2006 12:59

didnt really know what it was all i knew was she went from breast milk to follow on milk at 6 months and was ok but when i introduced cows milk at 12 months she kept being sick and vile nappies put her back on follow on milk til she was 2 and she was ok she doesnt have any milk at all now doesnt like it just loads of cheese and yoghurt

ruty · 03/02/2006 12:59

computer went funny!

Aloha · 03/02/2006 13:04

Every day I give thanks that we are more 'hung up' about public nudity than the Germans. How many idyllic spots have been visually polluted by hideous, wizened or obese, entirely scarlet naked Germans standing up ostentatiously with their legs apart, hands on hips or prancing about with a volley ball. Ghastly.
The idea of seeing lots of naked people prancing about in local parks makes me feel faint with horror. It's bad enough experiencing the expanses of wobbly heavily tattooed flesh that appears in London every summer. I sometimes thank heaven for the winter coat and its beautifying properties.

ruty · 03/02/2006 13:08

wow aloha, perhaps they should pass a bill that only those who look like Claudia Schiffer should be able to bare flesh?

alliep30 · 03/02/2006 13:10

love it aloha!!! the pressure of wearing a vest top brings me out in a cold sweat... showing my dimpled bod in its full un-glory would push me over the edge...

nanneh · 03/02/2006 13:11

ruty - I remember seeing quite a few naked women in a park I went to once in Berlin...it wasn't a pretty sight !

But totally agree about us Brits being hung up about nudity. But I can see why in a country that has produced Bennyhill, Carry On's, the Sun, etc people have such a problem with a woman's boobs feeding her children.

That is actually part of the problem though isn't it ? Tits and bumbs are all bit nudge, nudge, wink, wink over here and poeple just can't get over their obssessions enough to see breastfeeding as a different matter all together.

Aloha · 03/02/2006 13:13

Ruty, I actually think even the Claudia Schiffers of this world should (and IME DO) keep their clothes on in public. In fact, it is almost invariably the least alluring bodies that get displayed the most.

Aloha · 03/02/2006 13:14

I really loathe elderly men waving their walnut whip genitalia in my face on the beach.

alliep30 · 03/02/2006 13:15

button mushrooms is also another good comparison..

Hausfrau · 03/02/2006 13:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ruty · 03/02/2006 13:20

i'm not sure it is such a different matter. i think the repressive mentality that finds a stranger [or even one's own] nakedness repellent is a lot to do with the discomfort at seeing a woman breastfeed in public - seeing [partially] a bare breast and seeing a child suckle at it. yes, society has made breasts solely sexual objects, but it has also completely sexualized nakedness - i'm not trying to be naive, i know seeing an adult naked body is associated with sex, but actually, on the whole, it doesn't have to be, as different cultures' different perceptions of nakedness prove. Right, i'm boring myself now.

ruty · 03/02/2006 13:21

but agree aloha i wouldn't like old men's genitalia [walnut whip??] being waved in my face!

emkana · 03/02/2006 13:31

Why is that, Hausfrau? Are you being pursued by Germans waving their genitalia about, even in this weather?

Oh yes actually I will just strip off to pop to the corner shop, weird nakedness-obsessed German that I am ....

Honestly, people, don't be frightened - there are Germans around who occasionally keep their clothes on, it's not that bad!

ruty · 03/02/2006 13:32

and` if you go to Brazil you'll see plenty of Claudia Sciffer types with only a suggestion of a thong to conceal their modesty. [No i haven't been, but I saw it on the telly, honest.]

ruty · 03/02/2006 13:33

really emkana? oh i'm disappointed now.

Aloha · 03/02/2006 13:51

Claudia Schiffer is German, and invariably wears quite a lot of clothes!

ruty · 03/02/2006 13:52

i know aloha, that's why i mentioned her, but i thought we were talking about nakedness generally, not as the sole territory of the Germans!

Eulalia · 03/02/2006 13:57

ruty - very true - the UK has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Europe. Sweden I think has the lowest and the Netherlands v low too. So being more naked does not mean you are more likely to have sex - put rather simplisticly.

What I find offensive is why people find seeing breasts offensive - I truely feel offended by this - like what is wrong with my body! And we are supposed to be all for equal rights for women, gays, the disabled etc. In fact it would be OK to go around kissing a member of the same sex quite openly... but to feed a baby - horror!

Hausfrau · 03/02/2006 14:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.