Breastfeeding comments in public

[Emsy9898]

Got a nasty comment while breastfeeding today! First time so feeling a bit ashamed.
Was in a food court and baby needed feeding and hate doing it in my car. I wear a breastfeeding top that has zips but she's getting nosey and sometimes pops off, flashing purple! A old lady across from me was glaring in disgust and then says to her daughter very loudly that some people have no dignity anymore showing all their bits out for everyone to see. It's made me feel sad

Feel sad for the woman!!
Ignorant and rude... Bf won't make you either of those things!!

My mil was of the thinking that it was fine I bf her dgc sat on the lid of the disabled loo in BHS years ago. Can't believe I actually went along with it. Didn't after those 3 dc.. Happy to bf anywhere after that. As it should be...

Ashamed? - what the hell for?

Silly woman. You have the right to feed your baby wherever you like. Well done you 👏

Squirt some milk at her

(This is obviously a joke, no one needs to jump on me!)

I think you got unlucky - I breastfed both my DDs in public lots of times and never had any comments. The vast majority of people don't notice, and of the people who do, the majority don't care, and of the ones who care, the majority won't say anything. It's only a very small minority who will notice, and care, and say something.
Try and forgot about such an unpleasant woman!

Ignore her. She's being ridiculous. I breastfed mine everywhere for months. Only had a handful of comments ever and they were all positive ones.

Thanks everyone for your words of support!
Also nipple* not purple 😂
I think I felt ashamed as I was then more conscious and aware of if anyone else was noticing it and looking and feeling just awkward having my breast out in public even though my baby needed to be fed! I feel like people still make it such a taboo thing

I would definitely feel sad for this woman because of how ignorant and rude she is it makes her feel good to make a fellow woman feel like rubbish for feeding her baby, that's a very sad way to be!

She should be ashamed of her behaviour you have nothing to feel ashamed of!

I'm sorry you had to hear a horrible and ignorant comment like that. She's wrong, and it's nothing to do with "dignity". There's no need to abuse a mother just because this woman has a hang-up about something that is completely normal.

I’ve BF two children in public a million times and never received a comment.

Someone like this is really in the minority, all you can do is feel sorry for them and get on with your day.

Oh and to make matters 10 times worse, I had a very old man blatently staring at my chest area also while I was feeding her at the same time 🤦 just so overwhelming sometimes!

I'm sorry you had your deal with this ignorant woman. Sometimes solidarity between women is sorely missing.

I only had this once when I fed my first son.
I was tucked away at the back of a cafe and this older couple sat next to my table, when they realised what I was doing, the woman grabbed her husband and whilst glaring at me said 'I'm not sitting here looking at that ???'
Always being the feisty mare I am .... I said 'wow.... it's not a spectator sport you know....you'd make me very uncomfortable staring at me breastfeeding my son !!!'...loudly enough so the tables round about could hear.

They left quickly, and the owner of the cafe couldn't have been nicer.... she sat with me making sure we were okay and I even got my earl grey tea on the house !!!!!!

OMG that's abysmal behavior of an unhappy woman... Please dont take it to heart, or feel bad - you're doing an amazing thing for your baby. You should have flouted the law at her. Watch this video we've done in Hertfordshire for our Breastfeeding Friendly scheme - Feeding Out and About and keep at it hun !

PS Emsy where do you live that they were so rude? The breastfeeding programme I refer to is in Hertfordshire

I'm from Milton Keynes :)

There is only one person in this scenario that should be feeling ashamed and it's definitely not you OP!

In situations like this, It helps me to try to feel sorry for the mean person. It takes away their power.

I breastfed four dc anywhere - just shoved them up my t-shirt (I do appreciate some babies won’t feed like this). With my first couple I was all set to be militant if I got any negative comments. They never came. I did have quite a few older women telling me how lovely it was to see a young woman breastfeeding.

Then, with dc4, I was feeding her sitting in a supermarket (not in the middle of an aisle). An old woman came towards me, waving a stick. By child 4, I really wasn’t ready to make a big breastfeeding stance…. She barked at me: “I’ve just got one thing to say to you young lady. Well done.” She then marched off.

I think you’ve been unlucky OP. I think you just need to ignore anything negative.

If I had seen you, I would have smiled at you and praised you. It's hard enough looking after tiny babies, we should all be supporting new mothers whenever we can. Well done to you! Enjoy your lovely baby 👶

People are weird especially when it comes to feeding babies. I couldn't breastfeed so bottle fed ( expressed milk not that it makes a difference) and I got dirty looks for bottle feeding 🤷‍♀️ and even asked why I didn't breastfeed. I think people always have an opinion on how babies are fed and i have no idea why. Keep doing what you're doing you are doing great.