I tried to be discrete with child number one, but I’m really too clumsy to pull it off. Furthermore, I leak like a hydrant. I’m one of those who can soak left breast pad while nursing from right. So I got in the habit of nursing one breast for about five seconds to reduce the leaking, and then switching to the other breast for about five minutes, then back to orginal, etc. That means unbuttoning, flipping the kid to the other hip, rearranging the blanket, etc. I just was never able to pull off modesty well. But I did try. (As I think this woman did by choosing the last row of the plane.)

My husband was SO ready to get up in someone’s face about public breastfeeding during all their infanthoods, but he never got the chance. He said he was mildly disappointed when the last one was weaned because he had his speech all planned. I told him to save it for whe none of his daughters got razzed in public.

The thing about the “modesty issue”? What are people goggling at? There’s like an inch of skin and a baby’s mouth. I don’t get it.

But Moms are the biggest judges of other Moms for sure. It stinks what happened to Rene. I live in an area where few people seem to bf, and I was told several times how gross it was, and what it was going to do to my breasts etc. It pisses me off beyond belief, because with all the other judging of moms and their decisions going on (see Linda Hirshmann and that article in Forbes (?)), moms should band together against the real enemy–the media and their “Mommy Wars” crap. That’s my big, slightly psycho beef. Everybody’s got to do what’s best for them and their family.

I breastfed by 2 1/2 year old for about 3 months after his birth. Not because I didn’t want to continue for a longer period of time but because of low milk production and latching issues. That said, I never breastfed in public.

Before I became a mother, I often wondered why women didn’t take their child to the restroom to breastfeed. Now, I’m fairly certain I’d do whatever it took to make my child happy — boobs in the bra or out.

Sheesh, so much pressure commenting on an editor’s blog.

As I say on my blog I am one who breaks out in a nervous sweat nursing in public anyway. I am just not good at it but I do it because it is best for my child (Rene – you did what you thought was best for your child, given the circumstances and I am sorry your IVF board was so hard on you. Mothers are some of the worst judges of other mothers imo). It is no wonder I get nervous with crap like this going on. I would have been mortified if I got kicked off a plane. I have enough trouble in restaurants when I get dirty looks from other customers and I am using a cover!

And it’s not that I’m offended by boobs. I happen to like boobs. I guess it’s out of respect to you and your privacy that I don’t want you to think I’m ogling you.

During the brief span I was in the hospital and actually breastfeeding (or thinking I was) my minister visited unannounced. I had the boob out and I was damned if I was going to put it away for him.

So you can see, I can be ornery both ways.

How about no.

To be personal, I have breast implants. My “friends” on this board knew that and knew that was the reason I didn’t want to breastfeed. I didn’t want someone to find out that microscopic fibers of silicone might shed from my implant and seep into my milk-duct and hurt Jesse later on in life. Not saying that’s so. Just saying that was what I was worried about when I made my decision not to breastfeed. Nevertheless, I was told i was taking the “easy way out” and “abusing Jesse with formula”. This, from women I’d known for three years, who’d held my hand through two cycles of IVF. One which failed. Their heartlessness is something I’ll never forget.

That was my experience with breastfeeding moms. Not a nice one, to be sure. So, I think when I read about a woman refusing to accept a blanket, I think of those women and I have to ask…what was wrong with having her husband holding the blanket up to offer them a bit more privacy? True, it’s only a breast. We all have them. And yes, Angie, stench is SO much more offensive (*shiver* I’ll take an exposed boob over BO every time! LOL). The woman should not have gotten kicked off the plane. That was just plain stupid. I guess I’m just wondering why the big deal either way when it comes to breastfeeding? If a woman doesn’t breastfeed, many breastfeeding moms go ballistic about it. If a woman does breastfeed, society goes ballistic if she dares to do it in public. Whatever happened to a happy medium?