There is a story that made headlines recently involving a woman breastfeeding her baby in a private pool. She was outraged when the staff asked her to leave the pool to nurse her baby. You can read the entire story here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/11/13/breastfeeding-pool.html
This woman irritates me and gives nursing a bad name.
First of all, as one person pointed out, nursing your baby after swimming in a pool is rather gross. You are putting chemicals and other people’s germs into your baby’s mouth by not showering first. I do agree with this statement to a point but if your baby is swimming in the pool too, chances are the baby already managed to get pool water in it’s mouth so this doesn’t bother me too much.
Second, it does bother me when people do just whip their breasts out in public. I can’t imagine she was covered up at all in a bathing suit. I feel like you should try to be a little discreet in public. I think the public, weather right or wrong, feels uncomfortable to see an entire breast out to nurse a baby. It gives us breastfeeding moms a bad name so I think everyone should try and cover up somewhat. Third, she was sitting on the step of the pool so that everyone had to walk around her to get in or out of the pool. This seems rude and could have been a safety issue.
However, all that aside, my number one complaint was breastfed babies should be treated the same as everyone else. I am outraged that she thinks that feeding a baby in the pool was okay. Is it okay for a bottle fed baby to have a bottle in the pool? How about her, can she swim around eating a sandwich? Would she give her older kids a snack in a private pool? The answer is very clearly no. I am sure that the pool has strict rules about eating in the pool. She was not being discriminated against in my opinion, she was being treated like everyone else. If I owned the pool, I wouldn’t want milk or food of any kind to get into my water. I am sure the pool prides itself on keeping the pool clean. If she was allowed to nurse in the pool, what would stop anyone from eating in the pool?
In my opinion, this woman is giving breast feeding a bad name and should shut up and apologize already.
Are you serious?
You write a blog about nursing and then condemn another mother for nursing on the step of a pool, where she is legally allowed to nurse, because she just “whipped them out”?!?
I am shocked, dismayed and actually really sickened by your post. Way to stand up for women/breastfeeders rights….
You, above all other people should not be writing a how to blog about nursing.
Im sorry, i think you misunderstood me. I think breastfeeding should be treated EQUALLY. I would be annoyed seeing a baby with a bottle in a public pool or a child eating a snack. My biggest problem was that NOBODY should eat in a pool. I also think that taking out an entire breast in public makes people bad mouth breastfeeding. I think a little discreetness should be used in public so that people stop flipping out about breastfeeding. However, like I said that wasn’t the real issue here. The real issue is shes FEEDING a baby in a pool! If she sat on the edge and took her entire top off I wouldn’t really care that much but nobody should be offended when they feed a baby in a public pool and are asked to leave. Every public pool I have ever heard of says you are not allowed to eat in the pool. Let’s strive for equality. Breastfeeding moms need to follow certain rules like no eating in public pools in order for us to get along.
I agree with this point about breatfeeding, my wife is very consevative when it comes to feeding and keeps herself covered when around company or in public. On the topic of breastmilk and blocked tear ducts; please feel free to quote me anywhere on your blog that this is appropriate, my son was born with a diaphragmatic hernia and a blocked tear duct, the former was repaired with surgery but the latter remained for a few months. We were told by an aunt with a child who had the same condition to put breastmilk in his eye. “What!” After we got over the absurdity of this notion we put a couple drops of breastmilk in his eye, the tear duct cleared and the problem NEVER RETURNED, EVER. We even gave a small amount of milk to a coworker who was unable to produce milk but whose baby had the same condition, WORKED FOR HER TOO! If your baby has a blocked tear duct, put breastmilk in the eye, it may work, it may not, but if it does you just avoided simple yet probably still invasive and expensive surgery.
Eric, father of Phillip, born 01/10/09