Breastfeeding in public, your experiences?

[boogiewoogie]

I'm doing a bit of research for a debate I'm taking part in on bf in public. Arguing for bf in public to be allowed of course.

Personally, I've never had any problems with anyone objecting me breastfeeding my baby in a restuarant/ cafe/ bench etc so I've never been made to feel embarrased. If someone told me to feed in private such as the toilet, I would have got quite defensive and just stay put!

Where have you fed your baby and did anyone experience any objections? What did you do about it?

Thank you

I've not experienced any objections

Fed DS is restaurants, cafes, church, supermarket, clothing shops, US embassy, clifftops, train, plane, tube etc

I've never had any problems bf in public. Have bf at swimming baths, restaurants, pubs, beach, parks...

With ds2, I just fed him wherever I was. With ds1, I did start off looking for feeding rooms, but they were all toilets, so never bothered. I always asked people too if there was somewhere that I could go to feed him, and I always had the same reaction. They'd run off, get me a chair, and were happy for me to feed him anywhere. This was from older ladies to 18 year old lads.

Good luck with your debate.

What a stupid woman on BBC to equate nappy changing with breast-feeding.

She obviously doesn't know one end of a baby from the other (or her arse from her elbow, for that matter.)

Glad someone with a braincell was there to slap her opinions down where there they belong.

Interested by the whole do you BF in church thing. I did - and took as encouragement the fact that there are many images of the Virgin breastfeeding Christ, right back to the really early church.

I guess if she did it then God won't mind!

I too bf anywhere, including church, a wedding, in the registrars office while we were registering the birth, and in the waiting room of A&E.
I am actually a bit embarrassed now at how little inhibitions I had, but at the time I just thought of it as feeding my baby.

Message withdrawn

I've fed everywhere, all forms of public transport and all kind of events, all kinds of clothing. I just get on with it, it was only an issue for the first few months and now i dont have any issue apart from, is there somewhere to sit!

The only time someone "suggested " i move away was at MIL's house when we took dd to meet the rellies - she said oooh i've made you a nice comfy chair upstairs, i was too polite and nervous cos it was early on to just stay put, but i would now. And once i did feed her in a toilet because i was out late in a restaurant and had to sit up at the bar and it was just too exposed. But i hated the idea of feeding in the toilet and that strengthened my resolve to never feel like i should hide away again.

KathyMCMLXXII - I think people might have objected had I breastfed my daughter at a funeral, she tends to make 'corr' noises really loudly whenever food is imminent and breaks off now and then to say 'ah-goooooo' at the top of her lungs.

But I've fed everywhere really now, was really uncomfortable at the start, but the only people you tend to get odd looks from are old women who can ocassionally 'tut'. One old biddy stared at me for ten minutes until I said 'look, it's your choice, I can feed her or she can howl at full volume while you discuss your piles with your mate, I don't really mind'. They left immediately.

I have fed everywhere too .. You can do it discreetly. I was always anti breast feeding in public until i had DS. I think as long as mum is discreet, no one should object.

I've fed loads in church (and other places.)
I see a church as a place whee it would be most,not least encouraged.

I fed anywhere and everywhere and never had a problem, that's to say no-one had a problem with me.

I fed walking round London Zoo, on the tube into central London, in restaurants, carparks, parks, anywhere and everywhere.

I have a beautiful crinkled silk wrap thing that I wore as a scarf or carried it with me and just covered us a bit but I wasn't great at the covering up bit tbh!

I also used to have a papoose sling thing that she lay in and I used to walk round with her latched on and spent the whole day at London zoo like that.

Mmmmmm, I miss those days

Ive bf in a few different places; tbh most of my issue was with my own shyness, I never actually experienced any negativity (yet)
must admit I am expecting it more as dd gets older, shes 7mths now, but it wont stop me. If im at MIL i tend to go into an empty room to avoid embarrassment with FIL and if dd hears talking she boinks off and rips off my nipps!!!! so I find its best to be in a quiet area.

fed in many places but had filthy look from staff in pret a manger at the channel tunnel.. the place was deserted and I'd had the audacity to choose the table they usually sat at for their break, (DH was ordering from the counter), and they very huffily said 'oh RIGHT!' and moved to another table..

also couldn't quite bring myself to feed at Christmas church service, mainly cos I genuinely think it might offend: I wouldn't eat either in church...

I BFed my dd for just over 2 years and during this time i fed her whenever and wherever she requested it!.. i only ever experienced 1 comment during this whole time - which was from an elderly woman and was positive. She basically said it was beautiful to see it and that i was doing the best thing for my baby. At this time dd was 3.5 months and it gave me such a boost and made me so proud that i wished more people commented on it.

I fed ds2 in synagogue during a Bar Mitzva service recently. The only comments I got were, afterwards, "wasn't he good!" In a total so far of nearly 3 years of bfing I've never had any negative comments, and only occasionally a positive comment or an offer of help from staff. If someone has looked at me while bfing I have chosen to interpret that look as pleasure or approval, and smiled happily at the person. Perhaps that's why no-one has ever commented negatively.

i've bf my dcs everywhere and rarely noticed a problem. however a couple of months ago i bf my ds, then 2 months old at the table in a hospital canteen (not my local one). he had a splint on his arm to keep a drip in place, so i suppose we were quite noticeable and i was a bit put out when i got disapproving looks from a group of women sitting at another table. they were hospital staff, i think canteen staff. i just carried on but it made me feel like i should be ashamed.
4 out of 5 of my dcs would not take a bottle so if i couldn't bf in public i would have had a v restricted life
my sister bf her first ds til about 6 weeks and when she bf at her mil's house, the mil would quietly come and place a scren around her

sp - should be "screen"

A screen???!
Wot,and she accepted this??
Wtf has a spare screen in the house anyway?
How bizarre!

lol moondog. sadly they got divorced. she was the mil from hell which put a strain on the marriage. she prob went out and bought the screen when my sister was pg "just in case"

I've breastfed pretty much everywhere. On the bus, in shops, in the supermarket, in church during Mass (it felt particularly appropriate at Midnight Mass, and I've seen load of mums give their babies bottles during Mass, so I figure it's just the same so long as you don't flash the priest), at stately homes, halfway up a hill in Wales, parks, other people's houses, doctor's waiting room, dentist's waiting room, restaurants, motorway service stations... pretty much everywhere I've been. I've never had a rude comment or even a hostile stare, never been told to go somewhere else, and I have had several positive comments, including one slightly embarrassing time when a lady came right up, stared at my breasts and told me ds had a good latch. I like to think if I had a rude comment I'd argue back, but I'm actually a rather timid person so I might not.

I've fed my dd all over the place.

In parks
cafes/restaurants
Legoland ( on a tree stump next to the fire engine ride)
on planes and ferrys
in the car( parked)
at toddler groups/soft play
on a chair in the M+S food section
at the doctors in waiting room etc
at a christening, in church

I've never had anyone say anything negative to me. Funnily enough when I was at the doctors the gp and a receptionist (diff times) asked if I wanted to go in a pirvate room. I said I was fine where I was thanks.

The Asda baby change room is awful . Theres a chair next to the dirty nappy bin and it stunk. Awful.

I used to take a muslin, but that was to cover my tummy up. When Dd was born my stretch marks were very red and I was very selfconcious(sp) of them .

Oh yes, the only person that tried to cover me up was my Mum. She was worried people were looking at my breasts etc. She was fine about me feeding. She just used to keep pulling my top down and try to wrap cardigans round me