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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

B/F in public, does anyone know what the legalitgies of it are????

99 replies

GoodGollyMissMolly · 10/10/2007 10:17

I am due my first LO on the 12th November. I really want to breastfeed, and dont fancy the idea of having to express before I take LO out so that I can still feed LO.

Is it illegal, like idecent exposure or is it legal to be able to whip my norks out and feed as and when LO is hungary?

I'm asking this so that if I am approched and reprimanded by someone I know my rights and the legality of it and tell them in no uncertain terms to fark off.

OP posts:
tiktok · 10/10/2007 10:21

MissMolly, you are highly unlikely to be approached and reprimanded, really....it's very rare. No one takes a blind bit of notice normally.

It is not illegal to breastfeed wherever the heck you want to - it's just that in Scotland it is illegal to stop you breastfeeding, and there is no equivalent legislation elsewhere in the UK.

FioFio · 10/10/2007 10:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

lemonaid · 10/10/2007 10:28

What tiktok said. And you can feel free to tell them to fark off anyway...

I never had any comments or even strange looks, though.

blazingsandals · 10/10/2007 10:31

I have only ever had a bad reaction once and I did tell the old cow to bugger off in my own inimitable way.

I wouldn't worry if I were you, most people would rather you nursed than held a screaming infant for an hour while you eat your lunch!

newgirl · 10/10/2007 10:32

i always used to find a quiet corner in a cafe - manily because i would be there for a while! i never had any negative comments - i thikn cafes would be more put out by huge groups of mums with travel systems in tow than a quiet breastfeeding mother or two

boots, john lewis and some other shops have feeding rooms in our town so you may want to check them out before baby arrives

and after a few months you feed far less any way so you can probably feed before you set out and you get an hour or three off!

Original poster
GoodGollyMissMolly · 10/10/2007 10:32

Thanks tiktok and FioFio, can you tell I'm a first timer??

Like the idea that they have in Scotland, sounds good.
I know they have those BF rooms in Mothercare but I didn't realise that other places had them.

Think I will do a bit of research on it.
I thinks it's worried me as I have been told by many people that cafe's and resturants and such will ask me to leave if I BF there. A friend of mine was aksed to leave our local M&S when she was BF in the cafe. I would have been so , she was really upset about it as it was her first shopping trip out after having had her baby.

OP posts:
PandaG · 10/10/2007 10:33

in the early days when a feed may take a while or you may need to reposition yourself a bit you may feel more comfortable knowing where the parent and baby rooms are so you have somewhere a bit private to feed. But only if YOU want to!

Once you are into the swing of feeding it is easy to feed in a cafe, on a park bench etc., and I've never had anyone bat an eyelid, apart to give an encouraging grin

lemonaid · 10/10/2007 10:35

I've fed in most of the coffee shop type places (Costa, Starbucks, Coffee Republic, little independent places) and in pubs. Never any problems.

SharpMolarBear · 10/10/2007 10:35

i have never been asked to leave anywhere while feeding. M&S cafe

SharpMolarBear · 10/10/2007 10:36

she should have complained, was she asked to leave by staff (surely not!) or interefering members of public?

PandaG · 10/10/2007 10:37

I know that McDonalds will move the person who complains about a woman bfing, not the bfer, not exactly a fan of McD's per se, but I like this policy

Original poster
GoodGollyMissMolly · 10/10/2007 10:38

lemonaid, I would normaly tell people to mind their own busines (much more direct though) but I imagine feeling very small and doormatish after just having LO IYSWIM.

Blazingsandals what did she say to you?

newgirl, I think I may ring the local shopping centre (Not that i do a lot of shopping there!!) and ask if they have a list of shops that have BF rooms.
A quiet corner sounds good imo. I'll no doubt be out with my mum anyway, and mum would deffo tell them to fark off.

OP posts:
SharpMolarBear · 10/10/2007 10:38

sounds good - deals with the problem

lemonaid · 10/10/2007 10:40

Any time a big-name chain has an incident like that there tends to be a backlash of negative publicity and you get a press release about how Company X is very pro-breastfeeding, this was one ill-informed manager, etc., etc.

So in the unlikely even that you do have a problem somewhere like M&S, stand your ground, keep asking to see the manager until you get to the store manager, ask politely if this is official company policy that you can check with head office, and get in touch with LLL / NCT / local breastfeeding groups / etc. afterwards.

Original poster
GoodGollyMissMolly · 10/10/2007 10:42

SharpMolarBear, this was about 3 years ago now and it was her first DC. My friend is normaly very forthcoming and would usualy tell anyone who had something bad to say to her to fark off. She said she was feeling very vunerable and was so shocked she just didn't know how to react.
BTW it was a member of staff who said that someone had complained about her BF.

I know I was v v v shocked too.

OP posts:
madamy · 10/10/2007 10:42

this site has details of local places that are breastfeeding friendly

www.breastfeedingsupport.co.uk/Articles/BreastfeedingFriendly.htm

SharpMolarBear · 10/10/2007 10:43

I can imagine
How awful though, expecting her to pull her LO off before finished

madamy · 10/10/2007 10:44

just realised not all counties represented

Original poster
GoodGollyMissMolly · 10/10/2007 10:45

Lemonaid, that is what I would normaly do in any type of situation where I'm not v happy in a shop for what ever reason.
Now I know that it is not illegal to BF in public I will deffo stand my ground, I just didn't want to go in 'all guns blazing' as it were if BF was illegal.

Thank you so much ladies, I am so looking forward to LO getting here and then showing him/her off while I am out.

OP posts:
theUrbanDryad · 10/10/2007 10:46

MissMolly - i've found it depends on your local area. in Northampton i've had a few negative comments, but in Dorking (nice, middle class area) most people either ignore it, or give positive comments. it really is incredibly rare that anyone says anything, i think your friend was very unlucky (our M&S cafe has a pro-breastfeeding policy)

look for stickers like this, most local government places (libraries, swimming pools. council buildings, museums etc) have them, or they do in Northants anyway! i found a vest/t-shirt combo worked well, you pull the vest down and the top up, and nobody sees a thing! most people just think you're giving the baby a cuddle!

the trouble with a lot of feeding areas is that they also tend to be changing areas, and i never really fancied feeding ds next to smelly bin of nappies!!

congratulations on your pregnancy, by the way!

Washersaurus · 10/10/2007 10:47

My midwife gave me a leaflet listing lots of local places that support bf when I had DS1, maybe it is worth asking yours if there is a similar scheme in your area?

Original poster
GoodGollyMissMolly · 10/10/2007 10:47

SMB, she was very upset, situations like that usually do not faze her at all, but I think she was so so shocked and at an M&S also.

OP posts:
Original poster
GoodGollyMissMolly · 10/10/2007 10:48

thanks Madamy, I am hoping our local centre has a list like this

OP posts:
theUrbanDryad · 10/10/2007 10:51

oh, i x-posted with about a million other people!

just wanted to add, a sling or wrap works well too. that way you can bf-eed your lo, and no-one's the wiser. it works well if you have a very clingy newborn, like i did. ds wanted to be attached all the time, and i'd never have moved off the sofa if i hadn't had a sling, so it worked really well for us!

milfAKAmonkeymonkeymoomoo · 10/10/2007 10:51

I've fed pretty much everywhere (hate changing/feeding rooms as they tend to stink of nappies particularly late in the day), M&S cafe, John Lewis are fabulous, local cafes I have always found to be particularly good - one even used to give me a glass of water, local library and even in our cathedral .