I nurse shamelessly everywhere. I almost don't even think about it anymore. My criteria is that if I can eat somewhere, my baby can eat there too. I've nursed while walking around Menards, at restraunts, in theatres, while negotiating at a car dealership, while talking with a lawyer, in waiting rooms, in church, and numerous other places.
I take my baby with me in the sling, and he never fusses. If he starts to get fidgety, I just feed him and he's happy again. Everywhere I go, I get comments on what a good baby he is. Strangers will come up to me completely out of the blue and ask me if he is always this good. It happens all the time.
So a month ago I get this email from the HR person where I work (I telecommute from home and only go to the office once or twice a month for less than an hour each time, and I take ds with me). He told me not to bring ds with me when I come. I asked for more of a reason since ds never fusses or causes a problem, but was just told that it's not "professional" to have little children in the office. Last week I pressed my case further, since it seemed stupid to have to spend an hour going to and from a babysitter just to spend a half hour at work and I don't have a babysitter available anyway. So my old boss called me the next day and explaned to me that other parents had brought children in on snow days, etc. and that it was easier to enforce a no-children policy if they were consistent. She also mentioned that they had tried to ignore my bringing ds since I'm only there for one or two brief visits a month, but when I was in last time I nursed my baby in the office and a whole bunch of people got upset so they felt they had to do something.
Okay, I don't know who specifically got upset. But I'd like to ask them a few questions. Would they have been offended if I had sat there and eaten a bag of potato chips from the snack machine? If I can snack, why can't my baby snack? When they want to eat, do they go find a room where they can be all by themselves, eat their food, and then re-emerge once they're finished eating? Why should my baby and I have to be exiled if he wants to eat? If they're hungry, do they take their food down to the bathroom, lock themselves in a stall, sit on the toilet, and stay there until they're finished eating? Eating in the bathroom is gross? Is it any less gross for my baby than it would be for them? Do they pack their lunch in specific containers that are appropriate to be used in public, or do they use the same fork and spoon to eat with as they use at home? Breastmilk is made according to a supply/demand system. I can't pump at 10:00 what ds will eat a 12:00 because it hasn't been made yet. Why should I have to spend a half hour fooling around with pumping and bottles and all that when all I need to do is lift my shirt discreetly and no one will see anything unless they're standing directly above me and then they'll only get a glimpse? Did anyone there see any breast when I nursed ds (I know for a fact they didn't because I was inside someone's cube facing away from the rest of the world, and the person I was sitting with had their back to me)? Did you know that babies who are breastfed are sick less, have fewer ear infections (if any), have fewer allergies and asthma in later life, and are generally much healthier than formula fed babies? Do you like paying high insurance premiums? If you didn't have to pay such high premiums, would you like having the extra money each month? Do you realize that people with attitudes like yours are one of the reasons why many moms give up on breastfeeding? Are you ashamed of yourselves for the way you've acted? Would you like to apologize to my baby for your rudeness?
Obviously I would just stir up more trouble if I went up to the office and did that. But if I see any of those people in the grocery store or anywhere else other than the office, I might just open up the conversation by asking them if they were offended by my breastfeeding my baby at ---'s desk as though I'm about to apologize.
It just makes me angry that people treat babies like second-class citizens. Everyone agrees that slavery is bad. I don't think this kind of attitude is any less evil than slavery. Babies have the right to be breastfed, and they have the right to eat where everyone else can eat. These people are just being so incredibly stupid. It just makes me so angry.
Sorry, but I just needed to vent...
I take my baby with me in the sling, and he never fusses. If he starts to get fidgety, I just feed him and he's happy again. Everywhere I go, I get comments on what a good baby he is. Strangers will come up to me completely out of the blue and ask me if he is always this good. It happens all the time.
So a month ago I get this email from the HR person where I work (I telecommute from home and only go to the office once or twice a month for less than an hour each time, and I take ds with me). He told me not to bring ds with me when I come. I asked for more of a reason since ds never fusses or causes a problem, but was just told that it's not "professional" to have little children in the office. Last week I pressed my case further, since it seemed stupid to have to spend an hour going to and from a babysitter just to spend a half hour at work and I don't have a babysitter available anyway. So my old boss called me the next day and explaned to me that other parents had brought children in on snow days, etc. and that it was easier to enforce a no-children policy if they were consistent. She also mentioned that they had tried to ignore my bringing ds since I'm only there for one or two brief visits a month, but when I was in last time I nursed my baby in the office and a whole bunch of people got upset so they felt they had to do something.
Okay, I don't know who specifically got upset. But I'd like to ask them a few questions. Would they have been offended if I had sat there and eaten a bag of potato chips from the snack machine? If I can snack, why can't my baby snack? When they want to eat, do they go find a room where they can be all by themselves, eat their food, and then re-emerge once they're finished eating? Why should my baby and I have to be exiled if he wants to eat? If they're hungry, do they take their food down to the bathroom, lock themselves in a stall, sit on the toilet, and stay there until they're finished eating? Eating in the bathroom is gross? Is it any less gross for my baby than it would be for them? Do they pack their lunch in specific containers that are appropriate to be used in public, or do they use the same fork and spoon to eat with as they use at home? Breastmilk is made according to a supply/demand system. I can't pump at 10:00 what ds will eat a 12:00 because it hasn't been made yet. Why should I have to spend a half hour fooling around with pumping and bottles and all that when all I need to do is lift my shirt discreetly and no one will see anything unless they're standing directly above me and then they'll only get a glimpse? Did anyone there see any breast when I nursed ds (I know for a fact they didn't because I was inside someone's cube facing away from the rest of the world, and the person I was sitting with had their back to me)? Did you know that babies who are breastfed are sick less, have fewer ear infections (if any), have fewer allergies and asthma in later life, and are generally much healthier than formula fed babies? Do you like paying high insurance premiums? If you didn't have to pay such high premiums, would you like having the extra money each month? Do you realize that people with attitudes like yours are one of the reasons why many moms give up on breastfeeding? Are you ashamed of yourselves for the way you've acted? Would you like to apologize to my baby for your rudeness?
Obviously I would just stir up more trouble if I went up to the office and did that. But if I see any of those people in the grocery store or anywhere else other than the office, I might just open up the conversation by asking them if they were offended by my breastfeeding my baby at ---'s desk as though I'm about to apologize.
It just makes me angry that people treat babies like second-class citizens. Everyone agrees that slavery is bad. I don't think this kind of attitude is any less evil than slavery. Babies have the right to be breastfed, and they have the right to eat where everyone else can eat. These people are just being so incredibly stupid. It just makes me so angry.
Sorry, but I just needed to vent...
