My local radio station was discussing breast feeding in a restaurant last night, and the DJ said..........................................

[waterfalls]

Yes I know its natural, but so is taking a pee and I would'nt do that in the middle of the restaurant, the mothers should do it in the bathroom

I wonder how many complaint letters he can expect in the next few days.

breastfeed... not show my breasts to the world!

And yes, it is strange how it's ok for glamourous (& most probably airbrushed) women to be plastered everywhere, but not "normal" ones :S

I had my breasts out in the window of Starbucks yesterday.

Next time I'll try to remember to feed DD whilst I'm doing it. Snort!

because when feeding a baby they're fulfilling their biological purpose and you're not doing it to show them off (If they're in the state mine were showing them off was, believe me, the last thing on my mind)

wearing a bikini to school is not fulfilling their purpose! That's the difference, but I do realise that whilst it's perfectly clear to me, lots of people can't see that distinction, in the same way that many continually bring out the 'well going to the loo is natural too, but you can't do that in public'. Because that's the same obviously

Hey Blondie, if the women of the city 8 miles down the road from me can walk anywhere, anytime exposing all that flab - and we are talking bout more than breast flab here - then surely I can partly lift my t-shirt and breastfeed my dd.

I never said that you shouldn't.

Anyway don't want to argue with anyone anymore (will hopefully be coming and asking for advice on this subject ... think I will need it ... when the time comes). BTW does it hurt?

It's not meant to hurt but chances are it will for the first week. Then it starts getting easy.

Blondilocks, once it gets easy, it is the most natural and convenient thing in the world. If asked, I might have held your opinion before I had dd. But having since bf-ed dd for 17 months, it is clear that it is more a case of other people needing to be exposed [pun!] to bf-ing and thus more accepting, rather than the mother having to do it in private.

And it is nothing to do with the mother wanting to whip out her boobs in public. And there are babies who refuse bottles (like my dd) and so a bottle of milk (whether formula or expressed) is out of the question.

BTW, it didn't hurt for me at all

Really, I didn't know that they refused bottles (although logical given the amount of proper food my LO refused to eat!) I guess some may refuse breastmilk too?

What about when they get teeth tho? I think this is what puts me off most... bitten fingers seemed painful enough!

Just read this, haven't got timeto read it all, so apologies if I have repeated something that has already been said -
would that dj eat his meal in the bathroom the arrogant twonk!!!

Blondilocks. I suppose some babies are not as good at latching on at first - but that is not the same as refusing breastmilk. From a survival point of view, any baby that refused the breast is going to die (pre-bottles/formula).

On the contrary, from my experience, and from reading other threads on mn (esp from bf-ed babies whose mothers are going back to work), the problem of bf-ed babies refusing bottles is not unusual. I think in my dd's case, a latex teat felt very foreign because bf-ing is more than nutrition, there was also the comfort factor/closeness to mummy that it brings - ie more than nutrition, it was a whole package/relationship. That's of course, not saying that a bottle-fed baby does not have a relationship with their mother.

Agree that biting is not pleasant. But once you have been bitten once, you learn pretty quick what signs to look out for that signal baby is about to clamp down. And even a very young baby can be taught not to bite ie put them down right away.

For bf-ing to work, both you and baby must want it. I was the last person in the world to think that I would end up bf-ing dd for 17 months. But I gave it a go and it just happened and is one of things I feel quite happy about.

Soupdragon - hmmmm... am doing a b/feeding peer support course and the woman running it said it was now illegal to stop a woman breastfeeding in public anywhere in the UK...perhaps she's wrong?

Blondilocks, I found it a weird idea that I was going to lift my top up and put a baby to my breast and do this in a public place.

Was this before I had DS1 I felt like this? No. While I was pg with DS2. I bfed DS1 for nearly 17m and stopped when I was pg with DS2 - I had a gap of about four months between bfeeding my children - and in that time, the idea of bfeeding was really quite peculiar.

But as soon as DS2 was born, of course I breastfed him - and now if would be odd if I wasn't bfeeding a baby.

The idea of "getting your boobs out in a public place" is only strange if you think about it without having a baby who needs you to be providing their milk - once you do, it's the most normal thing in the world to latch that baby on, regardless of who is around and casting disapproving looks at you.

agree hunker, the thought of exposing myself in public is just .... unthinkable!! But b/fing in public is just not the same thing at all. Particularly as you don't expose anything! I demonstrated how to b/f my very lively 9 month old baby to a antenatal class of 9 couples and no-one saw a thing (and no I don't think they were just saying that to be polite ... )

mamaduck, it's illegal in Scotland but I don't think they've passed the law in England yet.

Yes Blondi,before I b/fed (even though I knew I would come hell or highwater) the thought of boobs out freaked me.
Once you do it,it feels so natural,and no,you can't see anything (unless you really look verey close and hard.)

People who claim to feel uncomfortable when someone else breastfeeds are ill-mannered. Didn't their mothers ever tell them it's rude to stare? If they don't like it, they can ruddy well look somewhere else, FFS.

They are also deeply selfish. Who is more important here, a grown adult with a hang-up, or a tiny, helpless baby who needs feeding? Helpless baby, every time.

Do the same people who object to breasfeeding write letters to the publishers of Nuts and Zoo/ The Sun/ advertisers complaining about naked breasts being shown in public? I think not.

Yes Edam,it is deeply deeply worrying to think there are adults who put their needs before a tiny babies.
Rather like fathers objecting to their children being breastfed too because the boobs are theirs.It turns my stomach. Yuck.

Mamaduck, the law was passed in Scotland last year but the rest of the UK are dragging their feet. More info here

Quite Moondog, men like this are clearly disturbed.

what a toss pot

Thanks for the link Snafu. I will pass it onto the woman on my course.

Apols to soupdragon... perhaps the woman got it wrong, or perhaps I wasn't paying close enough attention .

Did anyone actually get a proper reply to this? I didn't!

I did.
A long and complicated one.
It seems Graham wasn't slagging off b/feeders at all,but simply playing devil's advocate.
Hmmm,I should really have listened to it before wading in i think......

can you cc it to me? I would be very interested to see what they said?

secur77 @ hotmail . co . uk (without the spaces)

Righto!