Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

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

Original poster

a mum was asked to leave local swimming pool because she was breastfeeding. Is this allowed?

201 replies

chocolateorange · 03/08/2009 15:19

just back from pool with my 2 dd. A woman and her friend were there with their babies who were about 5mo.

One of the women discreetly (wouldn't care if she wasn't tbh), began to bf. She was half in pool half out, in the very shallow end.

After about 5mins she was told to stop at once or leave. 2 men had complained, reasons given were

their children would see her breast and be offended.
their children would ask questions. wtf!
it's "disgusting"
there are germs in the water and she shouldn't do it there.

this was all echoed by the manager (a man) who then asked her to leave.

I am absolutely furious.

Can they do this?

tia

OP posts:
dorisbonkers · 04/09/2009 17:59

Wanted to add since I've moved back from Asia to the UK I actually live in a building that is a converted health centre and has an indoor swimming pool and the guy who cleans it is a friend. You would not BELIEVE what ends up in a pool. Even a private pool like ours used by about 35 residents. 5 mls of breastmilk is the LEAST of anyones' worries.

juuule · 04/09/2009 18:06

I think we all suspect there could be lots of things in swimming pools that are distasteful. But it's easier to ignore that fact if you don't witness it entering the water.

juuule · 04/09/2009 18:09

Thinking about that. I took my eldest to the pool once he'd had his jabs. But then I found that a day or two afterwards he always developed an ear infection (usually reached it peak at night). Attempted to go with my second but he developed ear infections, too. So, after that I didn't take my babies to the swimming pool until they were older.

dorisbonkers · 04/09/2009 18:21

Yeah, I hear you, I suppose. If I saw a large amount of milk dripping into the pool I'd probably swim round it. Like I said though, that was never my experience.

Mind you, I would find it preferable to the man milk I saw some lovely chap ejaculate into the deep end when I was 12....

juuule · 04/09/2009 18:43

Ewww Doris, I hope they cleared the pool.

LadyStealthPolarBear · 04/09/2009 19:01

was the situation not... erm...noticed before it got to that stage?

foxytocin · 05/09/2009 09:30

patronising. there is a word. whenever a better argument cannot be found. the other poster's comments are described as 'patroning'. it is a signpost of having run out of things to say.

brettgirl2 · 05/09/2009 10:17

lol

foxytocin · 05/09/2009 10:21

i rofl too whenever I read things like 'hilariously patronising'.

foxytocin · 05/09/2009 10:22

it is passive aggressive.

belgo · 05/09/2009 10:25

If you are squeamish about swimming in a pool which perhaps has one or two drops of breastmilk in it, then it's probably best that you don't use public swimming pools at all, because there is far worse then breast milk in that water.

THat's awful Doris!

Maria2007 · 05/09/2009 10:31

Doris!!!! That's awful!

Belgo, yes I'm sure there's loads of stuff in pools. I just choose not to think about it . As long as I don't see it, it's ok, if you see what I mean. (I know that's putting the head in the sand but there you go).

belgo · 05/09/2009 10:35

I've never bf in a swimming pool, but a couple of times I have come very close to inadvertently lactating!

I have to say for a second time, Doris that is just AWFUL.

brettgirl2 · 05/09/2009 12:41

If you want foxy you can change the word 'patronising' in my post to 'insulting' which is actually what I started with and deleted. I just decided the second was less aggressive, as you say.

It isn't really the point though is it? Perhaps you didn't mean your post to come over quite in the way it did but the bit about keeping babies warm was really .

brettgirl2 · 05/09/2009 12:42

Yes, I think Doris had definitely put the whole thread into perspective

Right straw poll is anyone thinking of going swimming ever again, let alone bfing while in the pool???

brettgirl2 · 05/09/2009 12:43

The first even!!!

foxytocin · 05/09/2009 14:17

i have no problem with the word 'insulting'. can you try to explain to me what you found insulting in my post?

foxytocin · 05/09/2009 14:30

it sounds like you haven't really had a baby in a pool then and tried to keep him warm when they start to show signs of cooling down.

i've not bf in a pool but we grew up in the Caribbean and children spend a lot of time in the water and even in the Caribbean you can cool down fast esp if you are acclimatised. cuddling up with adults when they are getting cold deffo helps to keep them warm. so I would bf in a pool if my child needed it and I would bf in the Caribbean too. [hopeful]

juuule · 05/09/2009 14:36

When my baby started to show signs of being cold I took that as a signal that he'd had enough and got out of the pool.

However, as I said before, due to repeated ear infections I stopped taking them when they were babies.

And in view of the discussion about the contents of swimming pool, I now think that I made the right decision and it's not surprising that he kept getting ear infections

foxytocin · 05/09/2009 14:38

when I have both dds with me, the needs of the baby also have to be negotiated with the needs of the toddler. hence why I may choose to feed her in the pool so that the dd1 can have 10 mins more.

tootyflooty · 05/09/2009 14:41

what a load of rubbish, the only reason she should not bf in the pool is for the reason of her child sicking up as many babies are prone to do after a feed. I also agree with the fact she was there to swim etc and no baby could be that desperate for a feed right there and then. But the reasons she were given were totally out of order.
At tumble tots a woman would regularly breast feed her baby whilst helping her child on equiptment, We other mums were just in awe of her dexterity!! Now if she had been doing back stoke and breastfeeding, that would have been something to talk about!!

juuule · 05/09/2009 14:42

When I had a toddler and a baby, I tended to take the toddler and leave the baby at home . We had more fun together that way.

But if I'm honest, we never went swimming that often when they were toddlers anyway as it was such a hassle getting dried afterwards.(not something you would have a problem with in the Carribean, I should imagine )

juuule · 05/09/2009 14:44

Tootyflooty, I'm more inclined towards your view of this.

foxytocin · 05/09/2009 15:27

when you have a dh in Abu Dhabi and no other rellies in a 200 mile radius, going out with one child or no child is rarely an option, juule. so either both came or we went no where.

"no baby could be that desperate for a feed right there and then" - see breastfeeding is not just about being hungry. sigh. breastfeeding is more than getting nutrition from A to B as formula feeding tends to be hence the much repeated quote.

juuule · 05/09/2009 15:32

Foxy it's rare that we have anyone to look after the dc (emergencies only). So when I said that I took the toddler and left the baby at home, baby was with dh.