Breastfeeding toddler on Qatar Airways?

[sky_and_lavender]

Just wondering if anyone has experience with breastfeeding on Qatar Air, especially bfing a toddler. (I did not think of this before we bought our tickets!)

I am waiting for an email from them about their "official policy" on breastfeeding, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experiences with it.

My toddler is on the small side for her 16 months, and she breastfeeds often. I don't use a nursing cover but I don't have to show much skin to get her latched. I've tried to get "private" seats in the back of the plane.

Thanks for any experiences you can share!

[iamama]

My friend who lives there says just be who are.  

[sky_and_lavender]

Originally Posted by iamama 

My friend who lives there says just be who are.  

I am who I am, and I would like to know whether anyone has any experience on Qatar Airways. The American Qatar Airways customer service agent suggested I might be expected to bf in the bathroom, which I will not do (yuck!). I'm pretty sure he didn't know what he was talking about and that, as an American, he was just making ignorant assumptions about a Middle East-based airline's policies.

Oh well. I'll post my experiences here after the fact in case anyone else does a search some day. :)

[~bookcase~]

It's an Islamic right of the child to breastfeed until 2, so I can't see this will be a problem.

[sky_and_lavender]

Originally Posted by ~bookcase~ 

It's an Islamic right of the child to breastfeed until 2, so I can't see this will be a problem.

I wish people always lived up to the stated recommendations and ideals of their faiths, but it is so often not the case! I think the key to peaceful flights for breastfeeding duos is thoughtful policies and well-briefed flight staff. Or maybe just good luck sometimes. :)

[1jooj]

I hope you get fantastic flight attendants!

I have no experience with Qatar, but have flown with a bfing toddler (2 different kiddos) on two Royal Air Maroc flights, almost 3 years apart. Not only did I not get any trouble, but flight attendants were very thoughtful with bottles of water for me. Both babes were about 18 months old at the time.

[youngspiritmom]

I recently saw an ad for Qatar airlines on ESPN. Qatar (and Doha) are doing a lot to position themselves as Western/West-friendly lately. Personally, I doubt you will encounter any problems from the airlines themselves. If there is a strange man nearby who sees, and is Muslim, that may be awkward, but I think it sounds like you're not going to be hanging out of your shirt. LOL.

[Zoee]

Hi!

You must have traveled by now, but I just saw this thread and thought of posting my own experience flying with Qatar airways. My daughter was 5 months old at the time (3 months ago) and nobody even looked at us when I breastfed her. Even though I had a nursing cover with me, I didn't feel the need to use it. I doubt anyone will say anything.

Let us know about your experience!

[sky_and_lavender]

Oh, thanks for reminding me to update. I had no issues whatsoever in constantly breastfeeding a 15 month old on Qatar Air. Actually, most of the passengers were Indian. Our seatmate was from Afghanistan and very friendly and totally unconcerned with our breastfeeding patterns. The flight attendants didn't care, either. So, yay! No big deal!

The only challenge was that even though we bought our tickets well in advance, we weren't automatically seated next to each other on one of our flights, so that led to a bit of stress. (I have had this problem on other airlines in the past couple of years, too.) Whle in Lebanon, it was exceedingly hard to get in touch with Qatar Air. We even went to their office and were told to call a different number which was never answered. So if you are in the US, try to get your seat assignments well before your trip, just in case it is possible.

[Zoee]

Good to know it went smoothly. I didn't think breastfeeding would be a concern with any airlines. I did call ahead of time to get the seats with the bassinets so that our trip would be more comfortable but we were told we had to go to the airport a bit earlier on the day of our travel to get them. We were also given different seats but asked a passenger to switch with one of us so we could sit together.. all in all it was a good trip, as good as a 14 hour trip could be!