BREASTFEEDING IN PUBLIC

Tuesday

BREASTFEEDING IN PUBLIC

Whatever forum I go to, wherever this subject comes up, it is one hot topic.

First I will say that as a mom of two, I did breastfeed for a short time while my kids were babies. So you know I am not anti breastfeeding. However, like everything else I believe there is a time and place.

Rumor has it there was a woman thrown off a plane because she refused to put a blanket over herself while she was breastfeeding, of course some fanatics will have you believe that she was thrown off the plane because she was breastfeeding. I think she just should have taken the blanket to avoid the whole headache. I also think she was right to breastfeed on the plane in her seat. I have never flown but I understand there really is no other private and clean area to do so, and bringing breast milk in the bottle has become a huge hassle on planes.

I also think that in other more "grounded" places, mothers should be a little more sensitive to the fact that it does make some people uncomfortable, especially those that insist on feeding children over the age of two.

I could care less if you feed your child till they graduate from college with breast milk, but I do think moms who do, have a problem if they continue to let the child suckle, instead of drink from a sip cup or bottle like they would any other liquid.

They say they do it for bonding, but that is a poor argument because bonding implies a special intimacy between the mother and her child. How intimate is breastfeeding when done in the middle of the mall, or restaurant to be shared with the general public?