quote:

Originally posted by uefa81glory:
what are you supposed to do when a beast-fed six month old is hungry?

Personally I think that mothers should never leave the house, just in case they annoy anyone - either by holding up the bus queue, or letting their kid cry too much, or by feeding them in public.

quote:

Originally posted by Midas Touch:
Most nursing mothers wouldn't feed their child in public anyway. But it would be nice to think that if you got "caught out" and your baby started wailing to be fed whilst you were out, that you could do so without being treated like some kind of slattern.

Hear Hear

There is something wrong with the World when porn can be seen as acceptable, smut on tv etc.etc. and yet some are offended by a mother feeding her baby. Personally I think it's a beautiful sight but wouldn't do it in public myself[/QUOTE]


____________________________________

The point is though that porn is avoidable. Breastfeeding on TV would also be avoidable. Your comparison would only be valid if it was made an inalienable right to have sexual intercourse on a table in a cafe.

I don't object at all to breastfeeding mothers or to the elderly or disabled who cannot help but drool their food. They do have rights but they also have a responsibility to see that those rights do not cause other people to be overly inconvenienced or upset.

My cousin used to take her cerebral palsy sufferer child into cafes but only when it was very quiet and only then if she could get a table facing away from other diners. She was not embarrassed but she realised that people paying to eat their meal didn't like to be put off. It's not quite the same as the breastfeeding issue but close enough.

All I would ask is why something that clearly does put off a lot of people is to be made a legal right when it is not a necessity.

As I said before the argument that a baby needs to eat when he/she needs to eat is not valid here. Being 'caught out' is one of those occupational hazards of motherhood that people just learned to cope with. The fact is that this is to help the mothers more than the child.

quote:

Originally posted by Anonimouse:
My cousin used to take her cerebral palsy sufferer child into cafes but only when it was very quiet and only then if she could get a table facing away from other diners. She was not embarrassed but she realised that people paying to eat their meal didn't like to be put off. It's not quite the same as the breastfeeding issue but close enough.

And if someone where to complain about your cousins child, would you think it acceptable for your cousin and her child to be asked to leave (whatever establishment they are in)?

I'm all for having tits out in public, the more the merrier and it should be encouraged

quote:

Being 'caught out' is one of those occupational hazards of motherhood that people just learned to cope with. The fact is that this is to help the mothers more than the child.

You can cope with it by only going out of the house for short periods, but that's not really practical for many mothers. Or you can use formula for convenience as more and more women seem to do - but breast milk is a more natural food so why not encourage it??

If people are put off or offended I'm afraid it is just because they have grown up with a rather skewed idea of human development. Breast feeding is completely natural and should be encouraged to be done much more so that it becomes utterly commonplace and of no curiosity whatsoever.

Of course it can be done discreetly so hardly anyone is even aware of it. I've seen zillions of mothers feeding in cafes and I've yet to see a glimpse of actual breast on display. It is surprising how a loose top of blanket can cover everything. Mothers are hardly sitting there topless you know!

quote:

Originally posted by fudgeface:
I'm all for having tits out in public, the more the merrier and it should be encouraged

You won't be interested in public breastfeeding then - the tits are never actually 'out'.

Quite a few of the cafes and restaurants I go in won't heat bottles up for Mums these days (something to do with H&S ), so using bottles (eith formula or expressed) is not an option these days either.

What they have to be heated too? Fussy buggers these babies aren't they?

I suppose a flask is out of the question?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ewellguy:
I find it very depressing that we eventually felt the need for a law on this. The british tradition si one of consensus and pragmatism not having to dictate things from on high. How did society get to the point where breastfeeding becamew something that we ahve to legislate on. Now I don't like looking at breastfeeding so I deliberately look away. But when a baby needs to eat it needs to eat....[/QUOTE

But you could say 'how did we get to the point where race/gender/orientation discrimimation became something to legislate on'. Because without it we know what would happen, due to the views of certain people? It's similar with things like brastfeeding imo albeit on a much smaller scale.

Some people have a problem with the idea of a baby being fed (even very discreetly) in their vicinity. They complain and it is the mother who generally loses out as she is told to leave or made to feel so unwelcome and awkward she has to leave. Legislating is necessary to discourage the whingy complainers who are in the wrong in the opinion of me (and the government).

quote:

Originally posted by queenstomper:
What they have to be heated too? Fussy buggers these babies aren't they?

I suppose a flask is out of the question?

The milk would go off if kept warm so it is fridged and then warmed up when required! Except in the case of breastmilk of course which comes ready heated.

quote:

Originally posted by queenstomper:
What they have to be heated too? Fussy buggers these babies aren't they?

I suppose a flask is out of the question?

Actually boots do one - that is designed to heat the bottle.

quote:

Originally posted by miss_allin:

quote:

Originally posted by queenstomper:
What they have to be heated too? Fussy buggers these babies aren't they?

I suppose a flask is out of the question?

Actually boots do one - that is designed to heat the bottle.

things have moved on...

I used to have one of those in-car warmer things that plugged into the lighter wotsit. Worked fine but took a while!

quote:

Originally posted by seeker:
I used to have one of those in-car warmer things that plugged into the lighter wotsit. Worked fine but took a while!

I dunno - a bit impractical having to park the car in the middle of a cafe so you can heat your bottle up

We're getting back to my comment of having to take half the contents of your house with you whenever you go out.

I just always think about the Ab Fab episode where Miranda Richardson plays an old friend of Eddie's who used to live in a pristine, white minimalist apartment with no furniture to speak of and then when they have a baby everything's gone completely t*ts up.

quote:

Originally posted by Amber Nectar:

quote:

Originally posted by seeker:
I used to have one of those in-car warmer things that plugged into the lighter wotsit. Worked fine but took a while!

I dunno - a bit impractical having to park the car in the middle of a cafe so you can heat your bottle up

Perhaps I'll ask Ruth Kelly to enshrine the in-cafe car-park as a basic woman's right in law.

quote:

Originally posted by uefa81glory:
what are you supposed to do when a beast-fed six month old is hungry?

Stay at home.

quote:

Originally posted by Anonimouse:

quote:

Originally posted by Midas Touch:
Most nursing mothers wouldn't feed their child in public anyway. But it would be nice to think that if you got "caught out" and your baby started wailing to be fed whilst you were out, that you could do so without being treated like some kind of slattern.

Hear Hear

There is something wrong with the World when porn can be seen as acceptable, smut on tv etc.etc. and yet some are offended by a mother feeding her baby. Personally I think it's a beautiful sight but wouldn't do it in public myself

____________________________________

The point is though that porn is avoidable. Breastfeeding on TV would also be avoidable. Your comparison would only be valid if it was made an inalienable right to have sexual intercourse on a table in a cafe.

I don't object at all to breastfeeding mothers or to the elderly or disabled who cannot help but drool their food. They do have rights but they also have a responsibility to see that those rights do not cause other people to be overly inconvenienced or upset.

My cousin used to take her cerebral palsy sufferer child into cafes but only when it was very quiet and only then if she could get a table facing away from other diners. She was not embarrassed but she realised that people paying to eat their meal didn't like to be put off. It's not quite the same as the breastfeeding issue but close enough.

All I would ask is why something that clearly does put off a lot of people is to be made a legal right when it is not a necessity.

As I said before the argument that a baby needs to eat when he/she needs to eat is not valid here. Being 'caught out' is one of those occupational hazards of motherhood that people just learned to cope with. The fact is that this is to help the mothers more than the child.[/QUOTE]

Anon I cannot believe for one second that a normal mature human being could possibly even begin to be offended by a woman feeding her baby.

I suggest that those who do have the problem not the mother(s)

quote:

Originally posted by queenstomper:
We're getting back to my comment of having to take half the contents of your house with you whenever you go out.

I just always think about the Ab Fab episode where Miranda Richardson plays an old friend of Eddie's who used to live in a pristine, white minimalist apartment with no furniture to speak of and then when they have a baby everything's gone completely t*ts up.

YES YES YES! I loved that one - they pile into the house with the husband buried under a mountain of nappies and baby plastic nicknacks and she starts manically washing out bottles at the designer sink. It strcuk a chord with me at the time. heeehehe

quote:

Originally posted by queenstomper:
I am just as perturbed seeing a child over the age of about 2/3 being bottle fed or using a dummy for that matter. Nothing to do with me though granted.

I so agree

quote:

Originally posted by Ras Berry:

quote:

Originally posted by uefa81glory:
what are you supposed to do when a beast-fed six month old is hungry?

Stay at home.

Ah yes, but who will take the rest of the children to and from school and extra-curricular activities if not the 'little woman' eh? Not to mention shopping for hubby's dinner and shirts. You haven't thought it through love.

quote:

Originally posted by Amber Nectar:

quote:

Originally posted by uefa81glory:
what are you supposed to do when a beast-fed six month old is hungry?

Personally I think that mothers should never leave the house, just in case they annoy anyone - either by holding up the bus queue, or letting their kid cry too much, or by feeding them in public.

I once overheard an old lady tut tutting and saying (to herself) "goodness, children and buggies shouldn't be allowed in shops"

no I do not jest and yes I had something to say because it was my buggy in her way

quote:

Originally posted by Midas Touch:
I once overheard an old lady tut tutting and saying (to herself) "goodness, children and buggies shouldn't be allowed in shops"

no I do not jest and yes I had something to say because it was my buggy in her way

Buggies annoy me

But then again, so do a lot of things!

quote:

Originally posted by seeker:

quote:

Being 'caught out' is one of those occupational hazards of motherhood that people just learned to cope with. The fact is that this is to help the mothers more than the child.

You can cope with it by only going out of the house for short periods, but that's not really practical for many mothers. Or you can use formula for convenience as more and more women seem to do - but breast milk is a more natural food so why not encourage it??

If people are put off or offended I'm afraid it is just because they have grown up with a rather skewed idea of human development. Breast feeding is completely natural and should be encouraged to be done much more so that it becomes utterly commonplace and of no curiosity whatsoever.

Of course it can be done discreetly so hardly anyone is even aware of it. I've seen zillions of mothers feeding in cafes and I've yet to see a glimpse of actual breast on display. It is surprising how a loose top of blanket can cover everything. Mothers are hardly sitting there topless you know!

*applauds*