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
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:
hunkermunker · 01/02/2006 20:28

Laughinglil, glad you don't think bfeeding a baby is wrong...

Sad you feel that bfeeding a toddler in public is though - why is it such a shameful thing to do?

Piffle · 01/02/2006 20:29

lil shes actually nearly ruined my life since then
she came from a large Catholic family where everyone fed everyones babies for yonks.
I know when we visited UK (we moved to NZ in 73) in 77, my cousins and an aunt who were older than me were still feeding.

ruty · 01/02/2006 20:29

are you sure fastasleep that the only reason they breastfeed so late in those countries is because they are 'starving'? isn't that a bit of an assumption?
Wantedmyboobsback fair enough its your choice.

JendleWendleBells · 01/02/2006 20:30

And we are enlightened in this country compared to others! In a big department store in Paris I asked where I could BF my baby. I was told the toilets. I said no since there was no chair apart from the lav itself. Then I was offered a janitor's closet - again with no chair - and in a public entry way to both the men's and ladies toilets. I felt like saying - do you have any idea how BF actually works? So I went and had a cup of tea in their posh restaurant and got a corner table and the staff were lovely and it wasn't a problem.

fastasleep · 01/02/2006 20:31

Why should BFing a toddler in public be wrong? I've seen it done and it's more discreet (unless you're a ninja feeder or whatever it was!)... would you rather have a child screaming for comfort in your cafe or someone with a slightly odd looking lump under their top and a very contented child? You don't see anything, and why should it matter anyway? breasts were never made as sexual objects they are feeding devices, you don't see cows rushing to hide their udders... what a nonsensical world we live in... So men like to look at them? We should cover them up then yes because we should be ashamed! Nonsense!

Not that I'm a nudist or anything

ruty · 01/02/2006 20:31

this thread moves so fast my posts are always too late!
Don't quite get why feeding a toddler in public is 'wrong'. that smacks of some kind of repressive thinking.

Piffle · 01/02/2006 20:31

my dd has a rare genetic condition and cannot metabolise fats and sugars well, so she needed feeding very suddenly. You see plenty of kids with bottles in prams and in public, is it really that different.
It's like one kid having raspberry and another having strawberry surely?

laughinglil · 01/02/2006 20:32

because i think it is a bit unnecessary tbh..they don't need it whereas a newborn baby does. If it is a comfort thing then it should be in a private place

fastasleep · 01/02/2006 20:32

No it's not the only reason of course not, they're obviously a lot more open minded too which is lovely... but to those children the immunity and the calories are still very very important in most cases

wantedmyboobsback · 01/02/2006 20:32

i also dont like seeing older toddlers drinking out of bottles either fair enough some still have there bedtime bottle but a 4 year old walking round with a bottle of milk or in some cases tea/coffee is not right either

wantedmyboobsback · 01/02/2006 20:32

laughinglil i agree with you totally

laughinglil · 01/02/2006 20:34

if I was in a restaurant and my toddler's wanted milk I would get them a cup of milk I wouldn't pull my top up for them to suck at my breasts as they don't need it..

fastasleep · 01/02/2006 20:34

Exactly!! Exactly! How many 3/4/5....even 7/8 year olds do you see with bottles?! Blooming loads. Raspberry/strawberry, exactly.

My DH's Uncle used to come home from school and get himself a bottle until he was about 10... they laugh about it, if it had been for a breastfeed they would have carted him off to the psychologist...

ruty · 01/02/2006 20:34

how can it be offensive to anyone else if a toddler is breastfeeding in public? I really don't get it.

JendleWendleBells · 01/02/2006 20:35

No I don't like seeing toddlers and preschoolers out in the day with bottles either. Especially not bottles of chocolate milk or juice! But do we make tv programmes about that? Well maybe if they were still doing it at the age of 8 we would!

fastasleep · 01/02/2006 20:35

I agree I don't like to see older children with bottles ... trying to get my DS off them atm... ugh, he's a toughy!

JendleWendleBells · 01/02/2006 20:36

Who sees 7 and 8 year olds with bottles? They have Nikes and hoodies and mobile phones!

Piffle · 01/02/2006 20:36

I had my first child in NZ, and I saw mothers feeding babies all over, I fed ds in supermarkets, on a bus, in McDonalds, restaurants.
When I had dd over here, I have to this date seen about 3 people bf in public.
This then impacted on my freedom to feed dd - most places there are good baby feeding rooms, but sometimes there is not, so you have little choice, a sucking child is way better than a screaming one

fastasleep · 01/02/2006 20:37

You wouldn't go up to the mother of the older child with a bottle and call her disgusting though would you? You wouldn't sit there with an ever increasing feeling of discomfort and turn pinker and try not to look at her... and that's the polite ones! I think society needs to have a rethink.

(that's from my experience of expressing in public, under a blanket, with a silent pump!)

laughinglil · 01/02/2006 20:37

i don't like seeing older children with bottles or dummy's walking along or in their buggies.. however at 22m my two have just finished having bottles before they go to bed and only have their dummies at sleep time.

wantedmyboobsback · 01/02/2006 20:38

im an evil mummy i just took them away and gave them beakers after a couple of days they realised they could actually drink their milk quicker

hunkermunker · 01/02/2006 20:38

It's a particular brand of narrowmindedness, IMO.

Wrong, indeed - I think people who mind seeing toddlers bfed are wrongheaded.

laughinglil · 01/02/2006 20:40

the thing is not to sound rude but why would you want to breastfeed a toddler in public? piffle I think in this country people can be narrow minded including myself however in NZ if that is the everyday thing to do and you see it everywhere then it isn't so much of a shock is it..however here things like this are very reserved.. but I wonder why?

wantedmyboobsback · 01/02/2006 20:41

bedtime feeding is ok dummies for comfort is ok and if women want to comfort feed there 12 month old that is ok but if bottle fed babies have given up comfort feeding generally by 2 or 3 then why do children still want breast feeds personally i dont know anyone who is still feeding there 3 year old or even 2 year old by breast or bottle

hunkermunker · 01/02/2006 20:43

Ah, LL, that old chestnut - the mother's doing it for her own gratification, right?

Why would a woman want to bfeed a toddler in public? How about it's the toddler who wants it and the mother doesn't have peculiar hangups about doing it?