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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Breast Feeding in Public

39 replies

AlicePettitt · 19/04/2017 12:02

I have heard a lot in the media recently about women breastfeeding in public and there seems to be a lot of negative reactions from the public?!

I would really love to find out everybody's experiences with breastfeeding in public - positive stories and negative stories, things people have said to you, what you have felt at the time, any discrimination - from different genders or age groups etc. as this seems to be becoming a topic which is being spoken about amongst other people more and more!

OP posts:

milleniumhandandprawn · 19/04/2017 17:05

Ditto everyone else - have bf'ed both of my dcs anywhere and eveywhere and have only had nice comments/looks from people. If they even notice at all!

The only person I who has made me feel at all awkward was actually my much older dsis.
She has tried to cover me up when feeding in public and also made a bit of a thing of asking for permission for me to feed from a friend when we were at their house - I get why, I just felt a bit sad that the only negative experience I had was that.

Whatsername17 · 19/04/2017 21:25

Currentky bf dd2 and have never had a negative comment either. I agree with pp some of the 'bf outrage' posts on fb etc seem very contrived. The only time I ever had a negative comment was with dd1, who was ff after I suffered lactation failure. I pulled out a bottle to give her at a mum and baby group snd one of the mums said 'issue that breast milk?'. I said no and recounted my sad story about how I'd tried but failed to establish bf and had to ff due to no milk. She sneered that less than 1%of the population were unable to bf, she had bf'd twins and that I had 'no excuse'. I sobbed the entire drive home and never went back. Fortunately, that was the only mean comment I had.

drinkyourmilk · 20/04/2017 07:21

I'm bf my 4 week old, have done so in cafés, the pub, on park benches and no one has said anything - and we use a shield so often have a nipple on show for a minute or 2 while I grapple with the shield and the eleventy-billion arms she develops at feed time.

MrsWifey · 20/04/2017 07:32

The only negative responses I had were from family, but t :) eye quickly got over it when they realised of was going to do it my way! I was once at a horse sanctuary they were doing a talk about one of the horses when dc got hungry. I just took her out of the sling and started feeding while standing there listening. After a lady came over and commented how lovely it was to see someone bfing in public, just getting on with it. She worked in a hospital and said bfing in public was a common reason for many mums stopping.

Bringmesunshite · 20/04/2017 07:52

What a bitch, whatsername, so sorry you experienced that.

PenelopeParmesan · 20/04/2017 07:57

I've fed everywhere, never had a negative comment or look.

If anything, I struggled with people not noticing I was feeding, coming right up to admire the baby/touch the baby until I had to say BTW he's feeding atm and you are two inches away from my breast

PodgeBod · 20/04/2017 08:17

I've been bf'ing for 7 months and I've never had a comment, positive or negative from a member of the public. Plenty of negativity from my anti-bf family though.

milleniumhandandprawn · 20/04/2017 10:08

It seems the public is ready for breastfeeding but families are not.
Hopefully as time goes by and generations change this will become rarer.
In my family, the excuse for people not liking it generally is "they're from a different generation" which makes no sense when you actually think about it.
Women have always had boobs.
Babies have always breasfed.
The only thing that may have changed is that formula is probably more aligned with babies needs than it used to be.

MoodyOne · 23/04/2017 20:22

I am currently breastfeeding a 14 week old baby, I have fed every where , cafe , restaurant, watching sports in a field ... even walking while he was in a sling, and I have not had any cross words or even a odd look.

Northgate · 24/04/2017 11:30

Breastfed one DC till about 2 yrs 9 months, and currently breastfeeding a 5 month old baby.

I've breastfed in plenty of public places, and I've never had any negative comments. I usually wear a vest under a top so do the top up vest down technique.

I think a lot of the time people don't even notice - once baby's latched on, it looks very much like baby's having a cuddle. Recent example here - I was at a soft play party with the baby and older DC a few weeks ago, and breastfed the baby as he was hungry. After he'd finished feeding and was sat on my knee, one of the other mums - who had been chatting to me as I breastfed the baby - asked me, in all seriousness, whether the baby was breastfed or formula fed. She just hadn't noticed me breastfeeding the baby right in front of her.

Absy · 24/04/2017 11:36

I BFed for nearly a year. Never had any negative comments or experiences (and I was worried about that before I started). I did experience one incident where there was a woman whooping her boobs out - it was at a BBQ and she was wearing a wrap dress and would literally just get one of them out when her toddler came over for a snack (but you could probably see some nipple for about half a second, if you were looking). Nobody said anything (mostly because they were in shock).

libertyboy · 26/04/2017 22:55

Breastfed 10 years ago and still feeding my 1 year old now. No one has said anything to me. I think what is in the media tends to be the bad experiences only- who wants to read about everyone else that feeds without so much as a glance in their direction? Not exactly headline news.
These stories only serve to spark controversy and unfortunately scare some women.
I also don't like the way they club breastfeeding mums into the same brigade. I'm pro breastfeeding but I don't care if someone else doesn't do it. I also wouldn't sit in a mass feeding protest because another breastfeeder was offended at a restaurant or swimming pool.
I suppose it depends on what offends you too. Someone saying what you are doing is disgusting obviously needs to be told to F off but someone offering me a comfy chair somewhere a bit more private wouldn't bother me at all.

user1493479063 · 30/04/2017 20:45

Currently feeding my 11 month old. Never had a bad comment or look from anyone and my DD is easily distracted so i tend to accidently flash my nipple quite a bit when she pulls off.

I did feed in a toby carvery today and a 8-9 year old boy at the table next to me looked totally disturbed at what i was doing but his mum didnt react at all but i figure he might have had some questions for his parents on the way home.

Camomila · 30/04/2017 21:54

That could well have been me Absy, I'm a big fan of wrap dresses

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