When a Texas breastfeeding mother was told by a store employee that it was inappropriate to nurse in public and she should go to a fitting room, what did that mother do? She turned to Facebook!
Mothers around the nation gathered at local Target stores to nurse, showing the store that mothers should be allowed to feed their child wherever, whenever.
Here's one of many news videos on this:
Have you participating in a nurse-in? Do you think they are effective at getting the word out about public nursing?
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Comments (121)
I have not participated in a nurse-in, BUT I have been told by a dressing room attendant at Target that "they do not allow women to go into the dressing room just to nurse." In other words, I had to try something on. So with screaming baby in hand, I grabbed a shirt, and came back. She look displeased... but did let me in. Geesh.
This is the USA, and milk tits make people feel uncomfortable. WTF is wrong with going to a fitting room?
I vlogged about my Target nurse-in experience http://youtu.be/gKogjPNK3vA
@ItIsAllGravy@xanga - Because I won't eat my lunch in a fitting room so I don't think a baby should either.
I'm pretty much on the "let the baby eat when it wants" boat and not being prudes about breastfeeding. BUT it seems weird to breastfeed in a store when you are shopping. If it's a mall or something, then yeah, but wouldn't it be easier and more comfortable to just go out to the car (and wait until you are done or leave your shopping partner)? Unless you can breastfeed and shop at the same time...
@seriously_meredith@xanga - Fair enough, but what's wrong with feeding a baby out of a bottle when in public?
It seems like the line should be drawn somewhere. By that same logic you should be okay with anybody taking their boobs out in public.
@ItIsAllGravy@xanga - The explanation for that is, a lot of babies that are breastfed will not take a bottle. It's not the same thing and if they haven't had a bottle before, they won't eat. Or, they will eat from the bottle but then refuse to breastfeed. It's called nipple confusion.
How on EARTH did people LIVE before bottles were invented?! Oh me, oh my.
I just cannot understand what is wrong with the US, that they are still skirmish about children being breast fed. It is very good that there was a nurse-in at Target.
Why can't they have a seperate room so mothers who breast feed could do it privately.
@ItIsAllGravy@xanga - I live in the Midwest, and it's legal for women to be topless in public. Pretty much any late spring or summer day that it's nice out you can find women topless, especially if there are festivals/concerts/etc. Maybe that colors my opinion, but if I can go downtown and get my nipples painted with stars or suns and walk around that way, I really don't understand why I can't breastfeed at Target.
As for the OP - I think the only thing the original mom did wrong was sitting in the middle of the floor (according to the story I read). That's weird and annoying, even if she wasn't nursing. She's just blocking people from shopping. I generally try to find a bench or a seat (and I think all Targets have those mini food courts, right?) and if not I'll sit down in the furniture or patio section, ha.
@ItIsAllGravy@xanga - I can't speak for every nursing mother but pumping milk messed with my supply. Besides not all mothers have given their child a bottle and some babies don't know how to drink from a bottle. A plastic nipple and a real nipple are different and require different sucking so it's not an easy thing to just use a bottle because someone might get offended.
I blogged about this, not too long ago. I'm all for nurse-ins. I'm all for eliminating the shame that comes with public breastfeeding, so more mothers feel encouraged. One would think that the US would get over their hangups, but as long as people keep equating it with things like, oh you know pooping, they aren't going to get it. Which is sad and pathetic. People need to learn the differences and moms shouldn't be shamed into doing it in "privacy". We don't ask moms who are bottle feeding to go into a bathroom/fitting room, so why are we asking those who breastfeed? It's asinine. Plain and simple.
my friends sister breast fed her baby. and she pumped also for when she went back to work. and i remember my friend call me telling me she was trying to give her a bottle and she would not take it. even with it having breast milk. if the women who bottle feed can go sit somewhere to feed there baby why cant babys who are breast fed. the mothers cover them selves up and most times you cant even tell the mother is breast feeding. it looks like they are holding there baby and "keeping the light out of there face". even though i bottle fed my babies i see nothing wrong with women who breast feed it is your choice. and you should be able to feed your baby any where just like a bottle fed baby.
Breastfeeding moms are actually protected in that they have the choice of where and when to nurse. In other words, if someone wants to say it's inappropriate and that they should do so in private, they're in the wrong. Breastfeeding mothers won't receive indecent exposure charges based on nursing in any public place at any given time. If I would've had the chance to breastfeed my little one, I would've taken the chance. And, I can promise you that I would've done so anywhere and every where I please and if someone tried telling me that it wasn't allowed or it was inappropriate, I'd politely tell them where to go and what to do when they got there.
>>>WTF is wrong with going to a fitting room? <<<
WTF is wrong with doing it in public?
Have you breastfed? Do you know that a breastfeeding session can normally last about half an hour? Sometimes up to an hour? Some babies feed on and off? It's extremely inconvenient to have to drop everything and go to the bathroom/fitting room and sit there every time you need to breastfeed.
Even if it weren't inconvenient, I don't see the point in anyone getting offended by a breastfeeding baby and making mothers feel like they "should" go somewhere "private". It's a BOOB! it doesn't affect you! Most breastfeeding mothers don't even show their boobs anyway! Is it just the THOUGHT of someone down there sucking on a boob that offends people?? That's pathetic!
.Carrie Ann.
@Digital_Angel21@xanga - It's easy to nurse hands free if you've got the baby in a sling!
.Carrie Ann.
I support and encourage nursing and have done so discreetly in public. However, for some reason, every time I hear about a nurse-in, I get really pissed off. It just rubs me the wrong way I guess.
wow. i'm so glad to see that i'm not the only person who can nurse discreetly without needing that big blanket on. wtg, ladies.
btw, anyone ever nursed at a public pool? it's laughable, really. i wear a burka type swimsuit and was sitting poolside nursing while everyone else was in these cute little modern stringy things and I'M the one getting funny looks. lol@ItIsAllGravy@xanga - show me your tits ;)
To bad they didn't have this thing going on in July of this year, I would so do it!
Good for them! Nursing in public should not be considered offensive or disrespectful. A baby's gotta eat!
I don't eat in the middle of the floor in Target nor do I have a kid attached to my boob 24/7 so I have no right to speak about my disgust with this.
I don't think boobs should be out in the open. Covered up is fine with me but I'm all set with seeing someone else's tit. If it's okay to breast feed out in the open then I'm just going to start walking around topless. Let's see how long it is before someone has an issue with that.
if she was sitting in the middle of the aisle i mean...that's not right. but if she was sitting on a bench i see no problem with nursing at target or anywhere public. duh. or i would have walked and nursed but that's harder. i'm all about ease.
@ItIsAllGravy@xanga - it takes like 30 minutes sometimes to nurse a baby.
Do you want to sit in a fitting room for 30 minutes? Would you want your wife to have to go into the fitting room, and you wait on her for that long? It's unrealistic.