breast feeding mom asked to cover up - at chik-fil-a

boyohboyohboy wrote: I was watching this on the news this morning, and its not that the story itself really surprised me because there seem to be so many people who still have issues with breast feeding in public...which I think is just silly, how ever what did surprise me was the anger and the mentality of the people complaining about this incident on tv. This man said he was just so upset that his rights were being taken away because he had the right to sit in the resturant and not have to watch babies eat!
I think that maybe the next woman with a baby should sit next to him and let the baby scream thru his meal so that he doesnt have to watch the baby eat!

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/fa...0,6001868.story

coasterqueen replied:

MommyToAshley replied: At least the manager at Chick-Fil-A was big enough to admit that she made a mistake and they've altered their policies.

PrairieMom replied: Ok. So y-all can start bashing me now. Just a warning.

I think there is a lot to be said for discretion. They make cover ups for NIP, you can use a blanket. You don't have to just whip it out. Seriously.

IMO, those that just blatantly put it out there for people to see, just because they can, or feel they should be able to, or to prove a point are just as guilty as the ones that ask them to cover up. They are just asking for trouble.

By all means Nurse your baby, ITA that it is the best thing for them. I did it. But for petes sake, be discrete.

coasterqueen replied:
I'm not trying to bash you by any means, but the mother was discrete in this article. She wore a nursing top. And if you look at the picture in the article other woman were BF, they had their shirts right up to the babies mouth, so nothing was showing. I believe this IS discrete. They aren't "whipping it out" and showing for all to see. Most women are pretty modest about this. I was completely comfortable nursing in public, but I didn't whip it out so people can see it while I was latching my child on. Most times I used a blanket to cover myself and my child while I latched on, then took the blanket off and had my shirt covering my boob. I see no reason for a child to be covered behind a blanket, whatsoever, when we are all grown ups and can understand that breasts aren't only a sexual thing. If a person is covering the breast - up to the child's face (like shown in the article picture) I believe that IS discrete enough for mature adults.

boyohboyohboy replied: I totally agree with tara that moms should be discrete. I wouldnt want my 7 yr old getting a good look at a grown womans breast..for any reason...she was interviewed this morning and said that after the owner threw a towel at her and asked her to cover up, is when she asked the people around her if they were upset and they said they didnt know she was even doing it.

PrairieMom replied:
For me having the shirt up is not discreet enough. But, that is where opinion comes in. I would personally be uncomfortable seeing a mother nurse in the way the lady in the story was doing it, I would also feel uncomfortable nursing in the way that mother was doing it.

coasterqueen replied:
Fair enough. Everyone has their own comfort level for sure. My mother taught me to be comfortable with my body and so I was comfortable doing something like that, just as I'm comfortable changing my clothes in an open women's changing area.

stella6979 replied:

stella6979 replied:
I'm with you on this one.

boyohboyohboy replied: I wasnt comfortable nursing caleb, so I let my own insecurities stop me, so when Jakob came I was older, and decided that I wanted to do it...so I learned to get over NIP fast.

coasterqueen replied:
Stacy, that's not really a bad thing (not saying your saying that either). I was very nervous at first with Kylie too and even though I was comfortable with my body and NIP in regards to that aspect, I wasn't comfortable in many ways because I had to use a shield to nurse her. There were so many reasons that made me uncomfortable, so for a little while I felt even uncomfortable doing that in front of DH (insecurity that my body (breasts) failed me so I had to use the shield), but I moved on and was able to deal with it and NIP. So I was there too

luvbug00 replied: ITA with Tara. 1000%

redchief replied: Quite frankly I don't know why a male customer would find NIP uncomfortable. It's not as if she was flashing her "talents" all over the place. She was only feeding her baby. Kudos to the store manager for not trying to diminish her initial reaction and for admitting that her reaction was wrong.

coasterqueen replied:
That's what I'm saying. I mean I thought men took every chance they got to see boob. The problem is he wasn't seeing boob, he was seeing her feed her baby and a lot of people just find that disgusting. IMO, very-close minded! ETA: Women want men (and all people) to stop seeing them just as sex objects, so I don't see why they are uncomfortable with NIP. We watch women wear barely there bikinis at pools and beaches that cover up less than what a woman NIP. We don't ask women to cover up in those places.

my2monkeyboys replied: If we are sitting in a way that allows privacy (the inside of a booth, for example) then I have no problem nursing with my shirt covering up to his face, or if we are at friends' houses. But otherwise I use a cover, just for other people's comfort.

A&A'smommy replied: ahhh I made the mistake of reading the comments seriously ridiculous!!!

My2Beauties replied: While I personally wouldn't NIP without a cover-up I have no problems with other women who choose to NIP without cover-ups, it's natural and I think it's beautiful, I just think I would be way too shy to do it. I read the comments too and I wanted to beat my fist against my computer screen, some people, even other women, are so ignorant in their comments.

PrairieMom replied: great. Now I have to go read the comments.

my2monkeyboys replied:
Me too!

my2monkeyboys replied: Some of those comments were way off, but I can kind of understand their point. In this day and age the breast is very sexual, so I understand that maybe public nursers should use a cover. I do wonder why the lady found it necessary to call corporate... seems a little uncalled for since the manager was only doing her job.

cameragirl21 replied: Idk, honestly, I have suntanned numerous times at our topless beach, well...topless. I don't do it anymore because I may run into clients at the beach but the point is, I'm hardly a prude. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of NIP, nor am I totally against it and apparently it's legal in my state...so be it. I guess I think of nursing as a private moment between mother and child but at the end of the day, if it's legal to do in public, then people can't really complain about it.
I'm a huge fan of the philosophy that if you don't like what you see, then close your eyes or look the other way...I recall a former boss of mine telling me that he went with his kids and wife to a restaurant where apparently a patron was wearing a shirt that said f%%k you on both the front and the back and he raised a huge stink with the manager and I remember telling him he should have just minded his own business and enjoyed his meal and not looked if it bothered him. It's certainly not fair to compare BF to public profanity but I can see where it can offend others...doesn't mean they have the right not to be offended in public...when you go out in public, you can't expect privacy and the comforts that come with that...no one should expect not to be offended or made to feel uncomfortable in public.
I don't understand why the woman couldn't cover up BUT if I were nursing my baby in public and were asked to cover up because it offended others, I'm sure I'd feel deeply insulted, so it goes both ways.
Ultimately, if other patrons of the restaurant didn't like her NIP then they should have left...them's the breaks, what she's doing is legal and there is no law that assures people won't be made to feel uncomfortable by the actions of others.
Btw, here in Miami, particularly in South Beach, gay people go at it in public the same way straight people do (not full on DTD but bonafide making out) and I am a firm believer that they have that right and that those who don't like it should look the other way and I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that way because otherwise it wouldn't be happening all over the place. That said, I think nursing moms deserve just as much respect.
Don't like it, don't look at it.

Nina J replied: I don't have a problem with breastfeeding in public.

I liked to be discrete, but I don't care if people aren't. Breasts are very sexualised in our society, but their is nothing remotely sexual about a mother breastfeeding her child. And someone looks at it this way and see's it as sexual over nature, that's their problem, look away, let the baby eat it's food.

It's just a boob. It's not like the woman ripped her shirt off and danced around the restaurant.

Honestly though, there are people in restaurants who chew with their mouths open and eat messier than pigs. That bothers me, lol. Breastfeeding doesn't.

jcc64 replied: I'm with Karen all the way on this one.