NIP Article - reader's comments
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NIP Article - reader's comments
| Sun, 09-09-2007 - 10:53pm |
Here's an seemingly innocent article on a nurse-in at an Applebees. However, if you read the reader comments...boy oh boy! Talk about some ignorant remarks. One of them even equated NIP to smoking! Unbelievable. I thought it would be a good thing to discuss on here, especially since our resident FF/anti-NIP'ers are feeling underrepresented.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/0908breastfeeding--ON.html
BF'ers, be prepared to be astounded.























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So you went out of your way to pump so you would not feel uncomfortable in case some rude person in your vicinity might possibly feel uncomfortable and glare at you or make a comment? You made yourself physically uncomfortable just so someone else might not feel slightly emotionally uncomfortable??? You lost sleep so they wouldn't have to turn their head and experience momentary discomfort??? Do you honestly think that these people would have given you even a fraction of the same amount of "consideration" if you had chosen to NIP? Would they have gone out of their way in any way to make sure that YOU were comfortable?
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So you let the comfort of rude and unreasonable strangers that you may or may not meet in the course of your day impose on your personal well being (lack of sleep)? How is catering to the comfort of inconsiderate strangers worth getting up half an hour early to pump??? You CHOSE to appease the hang-ups of random strangers by getting up extra early and losing sleep. That's your right, of course, but it seems a bit silly to expect other nursing moms to do the same just because you did.
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I think that's a very rude statement. I have nursed six kids in public, and never once was "unwillingness to be prepared" a factor in my decision. Nursing (even in public) ensures that the appropriate food is always available in the best possible form. Pumping and putting milk in bottles actually decreases the quality of the milk and interrupts the normal interaction between the mother's body and her child's that prompts her to make antibodies in response to her child's needs in a timely manner to quickly and effectively deal with any illness they may have been exposed to instead of giving it time to multiply and invade the child's body. This is especially important when your child is out in public and being exposed to all sorts of viruses and illnesses. Giving pumped milk and waiting to nurse until you get home gives viruses time to incubate and multiply and increases your child's chances of getting sick. Nursing prevents the possibility of breastmilk becoming contaminated, no problem with dirty bottles or nipples, no problem with not packing enough milk in case you are out longer than anticipated or having a baby who wants to eat more than you packed. It keeps the mother from becoming engorged when a baby receives a bottle at a time when he/she would normally be nursing, as well as the potential embarrassment of leaking and soaking the front of her clothes. (I've managed to soak right through breast pads, so much for being "prepared"!) NOT NIP increases a woman's risk of getting mastitis unless she excuses herself to go somewhere and pump. (in which case she could just go and nurse, couldn't she?) More work for lower quality and higher risk to an infant and mother to keep from making a stranger mildly discomforted. How is this a good idea?
I refuse to compromise my child's health or my own for the foibles of some unknown stranger who might possibly be rude to me. It's got nothing to do with "not being prepared".
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Are you saying that they are wrong?
<<< That's why many bf'ers may specifically want an audience - visibility may promote bf'ing. Because NIP is not accepted just yet, I chose to prepare and plan instead.>>>
AUDIENCE? You act like breastfeeding moms intentionally go to crowded public places, stand on a soapbox and announce to passersby that they are about to breastfeed their child, latch them on and then ask if anyone has any questions about breastfeeding. (and possibly pass out flyers or invite people to join the Militant Breastfeeding Cult)
In reality, the vast majority of moms aren't doing anything but trying to meet their child's normal needs whenever and wherever they occur. The fact that other people may take this opportunity to ogle and make rude comments has nothing to do with that woman WANTING an "audience".
I've noticed that many people get noticed for things that should be normal, or at least should not be stared at. I have a friend with a daughter who has Cerebral Palsy. Her daughter makes loud noises, she drools, she thrashes around in her chair sometimes. Many people are uncomfortable around her, especially when she eats. Should she have to stay home all the time to take care of her daughter because her needs make others uncomfortable? My mom used to take care of a woman with Alzheimers who also had some issues with eating... should she have stayed in her house so she wouldn't offend someone else? Do you think that these people go out in public and even (gasp) EAT in public because they are trying to "raise awareness" for their own personal disability or because they want an audience? Maybe they just want to enjoy the park or the zoo or going out to eat just like everyone else? (I suppose they could always plan their outings so they won't be out during meal times, and they could always order food to go so they can eat it at home without offending others.)
You can plan and prepare all you want, but I refuse to let the "comfort of others" effect how I care for my children. If you don't like it, don't look.
Good point!
I know I'm coming in a bit late here but I had to comment on this one.
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So, just because there may be a "significant" percentage of people who have issues with women breastfeeding in public, does that mean that these people are right?
You know it is sad when I read that and nod along because I think you are absolutely right and yet in the animal kingdom, often it is the males that are disposable because the females are the ones who keep the species going.
Excellent points.
Judi
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Martyrdom is sure exhausting! Forgive my unwillingness to forgo much need sleep in order to avoid a potentially uncomfortable situation for some random stranger (whom, I believe, neither knows nor cares if I NIP).
And this rhetoric you two have of "I'm just such a thoughtful person" is pretty laughable. It's funny how the people who declare themselves to be superior to others in their interactions are those lacking the very attributes that they claim to have in spades. Besides, as luvinmytummy has pointed out, she doesn't care if people NIP discreetly. It seems as if you're on your own here if you don't like NIP at all.
I also find, Mary, that this seems a bit unfair, and even prejudicial, against those with larger breasts and/or nipples. I asked about this earlier but got no reply.
I was a 34G when I was nursing my youngest, and never had to expose myself to nurse him. I always thought it was easier for me, being big busted to nurse discreetly than for a smaller-busted woman. So I guess it just depends on the person.
~*~ Catherine - Every day is a miracle!
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"Because NIP is not accepted just yet, I chose to prepare and plan instead."
How about thinking it through with all your planning? NIP *won't* be any time soon if it's always hidden away.
Do you realize that not only are you "protecting" the general public from the "horrors" of breastfeeding, you are also promoting *formula* use in infants?
Unless you have a big ol' sign stating that the bottles have expressed breast milk in them, the general assumption is that you are yet another non-breast-feeding mother. Continuing the normalization of formula feeding and the keeping-on-the-fringes-of-normal of breast feeding.
ilve2read
*******disclaimer*****
I do not, Not, NOT want/expect/or wish that formula feeding be on the fringes of normal. I do strongly wish that *any* parent feeding her child in a public place would be treated exactly the same way. Accepted as NORMAL, not interfered with in any way and offered assistance if needed.
*****/disclaimer*****
My husband thought it completely unfair that I would feel her kick first before birth!
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I concur. As the proud (and astonished!) owner of a set of 40 DD's when I am nursing (i.e., as we speak), I have had more than my share of experiences with trying to juggle baby, shirt, and blanket or burp cloth to cover myself, all while holding up the breast with one hand because it hangs down too low for any baby to nurse easily without doing so. Nobody has ever said anything, but there have been plenty of those "looks" as my poor breast practically rested in my lap until I could pick it up, latch the baby on and get him eating before anyone happened to catch a glimpse. It was an ordeal *every single time* I tried to NIP, especially when there was nowhere else for us to go.
It's too bad huge breasts like mine already have a sexualized image in our society, because that was the main source of the stress I put onto myself about it. It seemed like I was making even more of a gross spectacle *because* I had large breasts. I know intellectually that isn't true, but it took me a long time to get over it, and it only made the process of NIP more difficult because I felt so self-conscious about my body.
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