Workplaces going to be urged for private Breastfeeding areas

[HermyaAndThePomBears]

Here!

The government are going to give mothers the right to Brestfeed at work.

I don't know about anybody else, but I think this is great news.

Shopping days I think most people who EBF use a carer tbh; how many people can get someone into work? That's going to be a HUGE rarity IMO.

I don;t think feeding is a bonding time that can;t be replaced some other way in all truth; I never particularly liked BF even though ds4 still does, I bond far more when we read together or sing songs.

Besides- is there any reason a working Mum who gets a lunch (as people are entitled to do) can;t have her FF baby brought to her anyway? It doesn't require provision for a special room or fridge space does it? I could ahve sat in my quiet-ish office and FF my sons, had I whopped out my boobs though several warehouse workers would have complained / gathered around / laughed immediately. OIt doesn;t ahve to be a value judgement, just a practical one.

secondcoming 'my child should not suffer formula because i work' maybe you can't have it all ways...
not spoiling for a fight but choosing to bf is as much a parenting choice as using washable nappies- should none disposables users get time off to wash&dry nappies etc.

Um I think breastfeeding is slightly different to nappies! And someone else can change the nappies for you...

at boffinmums baps. In that early stage where you leak and spray everywhere I have accidentally sprayed someone a bit during a meeting. Now that might be going a bit too far

onlyonejimmy, it's not one thing versus another, it's about letting all mothers feed their babies and have the same time with them at work, whichever type of milk they're feeding with.

I'm fully in favour of supporting BF mothers provide breastmilk; I'm also in favour of supporting FF mothers if they also wish to have this time with their babies in the workplace.

I'm not being obtuse, but you are being passive-aggressive by making such an unnecessary accusation and then putting a smile after it.....

Sorry, aiming at sarky rather than than p-a!
You see for me it isn't anything to do with letting mothers feed their babies the way they want to, its about the need of the baby not the mother. So it just doesn't apply if you're ff.

Sorry, aiming at sarky rather than than p-a!
You see for me it isn't anything to do with letting mothers feed their babies the way they want to, its about the need of the baby not the mother. So it just doesn't apply if you're ff.

ISNT - this certainly wasn't a policy when David Cameron got elected as leader of the conservatives. His policy was to reduce red tape for small businesses and promote family friendly working policies that worked for everyone. Making companies do this is not helping anyone - it's just causing huge amounts of resentment from both sides as aptly demonstrated on this thread.

Breastfeeding mums get negativity because employers hate it and were made to do it. Bottle feeding mums think it's unfair they don't get the same treatment. Everyone else in the office thinks you are skiving. I can't actually think of who this policy benefits...

I think a lot depends on the environment. Personally, although I am very pro-breastfeeding I couldn't imagine feeling at all comfortable expressing/feeding at work (it is an extremely "corporate" environment. Also, couldn't imagine having the time - some days are literally back to back meetings and conference calls

er, babies? BF milk is still considered better for them than formula, isn't it (providing it's working for the mother and child, etc), so if the mother wants to, the time/facilities to express will help provide it.

(I know there are many situations in which it is best for mother and child to use formula, I'm not trying to get at anyone ff)

On a slight tangent, how many men would want to SAH with a breast fed 6m old ? and bring it to it's mother for a feed ? Strange idea. I think time to go home in the middle of the day is a much better idea and more practical.

My DH would have jumped at the chance to do that, actually.

Oh and should add I fed Dd at work( on site creche) before work at 8 and after work at 4. I occasionally got to do the midday feed, but she usually had a bottle tbh.

Each to their own I guess. Dh and I have decided against a 3rd baby for this very reason

Totally agree to a private place for bf'ing (or just expressing). A separate fridge might not be a bad idea instead of the usual skanky office one though not sure it should be mandatory - maybe a guideline. Not so sure about the talk about someone leaving work to go home during the day to do it - sounds a bit impractical given commuting times and costs.

As for hours worked (or not worked) - it's about time people started measuring time by output and not input. Too many places believe that if the bum is on the seat for N hrs a day say from 9am to 5.30pm with a 1hr lunch and maybe 2x15min breaks their staff are productive. Rubbish. There's no point in telling people to sit at their desks when all they want is a quick walk because they are tired, or want to make a quick call, or bf, or toilet, etc. As an employer/manager you should be able to tell who's taking the (and deal with it) and if someone who's bf'ing and is at their desk for 6 hours produces more output than someone who's there for 7.5 hours - then great - because when they stop bf'ing, they're going to produce, say, 20% extra output because they have a better balance and the company assisted that.

so northern girl, are you saying that the conservatives are now doing something different to what David Cameron said they would when he was elected as leader of the conservatives? i.e. are you saying that he said he would cut red tape for small employers and now he is not. Are you saying that now he is re-inforcing 'red tape' which encourages employers to be breastfeeding friendly?

Caz, do you think your co-workers attitude to you meant you were to tense to let-down? Why do people have to be so horrible?

'OK, as long as the breaks are unpaid. THough why women who want to bf can't just take their maternity leave'

So are smoking breaks unpaid then amothersplace ? I don't think so.

I am still bfing my Dd at almost 4 years old. I chose to take a career break after my years mat leave was up and if I decided to continue to bfeed until Dd was 6 and was doing it on demand (say half hour before school and directly after school) it would now not be allowed because the government wants us back to work when the youngest is 5yo.

No one is going to be 100% happy are they, but I do think that allowances should be made for nursing mothers in the workplace.

After a few times sitting in a dirty toilet cubicle to express in 1998, I commandeered an office, locked myself in and expressed my way through lunch and put it in the fridge used by about 35 other staff for cows milk, lunches, drinks etc. I was lucky to get a space in there tbh.
Dd wouldn't accept a bottle. At all. Even if she would have, I couldn't express with her, which was a shock after the gallons with Ds.
Breast feeding will never become the norm if we as mothers can't agree will it. :(

"On a slight tangent, how many men would want to SAH with a breast fed 6m old ? and bring it to it's mother for a feed ? Strange idea. "

DH will be doing just that with a 7.5 month old if expressing doesn't work out.

That's great gaelicsheep, if your work place lends itself to that. Sadly, they don't all...

T'will be in the car...

As someone who employs people, I don't see a problem with it at all - given the choice of a valuable employee coming back to work, and needing a bit of private space/time to feed or express or that employee being of work for longer, or not coming back at all (meaning I have to find and train a replacement) why on earth wouldn't you just find some space and buy a comfy chair for them?!?!

And from the other side, why would you want to work for anyone who wouldn't make those simple accommodations for you as an employee?

The only trouble I see with bringing the baby in to work to feed is how are you ever going to get a nipple in its mouth with everyone else cooing over it :)

nice post chunky thanks for sharing

"On a slight tangent, how many men would want to SAH with a breast fed 6m old ?"

My husband did want to, but I managed to get 15 months leave (was moving between foreign assignments, only 3 months paid leave)

But my child was still being demand fed at 15 months, which meant feeding up to 12 times a day.

He found slinging her made it easier. Used to go out for the day and swing by my place of work so I could feed her at least once in 9 hours (shift is 8 hours but the other hour is travel)

It was his active choice. Now at just over 2 he loves it more than ever.

It is so refreshing to hear someone talk of a valued employee and not just another cog in the machine Chunky. FWIW I've had to go into the office a few times while on mat leave and last time I fed DD at my desk to keep her quiet. Not even my colleague on the neighbouring desk noticed.

Good post Chunky and probably very representative of a lot of good employers and managers, who believe in the benefits of staff retention

Northerngirl: "Breastfeeding mums get negativity because employers hate it and were made to do it. Bottle feeding mums think it's unfair they don't get the same treatment. Everyone else in the office thinks you are skiving. I can't actually think of who this policy benefits..."

Well clearly it benefits Mums and babies.

Have you any evidence to support your view that employers hate it?

My experience of spending 4 years BFing whilst working was that I got no negativity either from my employer, my colleagues or anyone else I worked with. They all respected me for persevering and acknowledged how much it would benefit my LOs to be BF.

It seems that you feel a lot of resentment towards BF mums but there is no actual evidence that employers/colleagues generally are as resentful about it as you are.