Why Do People Make Such a Fuss?
Yet another mother has been harrassed for breastfeeding in a place someone else felt was inappropriate. In this case it was on an airplane. A flight attendant made her get off the plane because she refused to cover up with a blanket.
Now, the woman insists she was being discreet. Next to last row, window seat. Not that the people behind her would have been able to see anything anyhow without some effort. You know how tall airline seats are and how narrow the gap between them
Clearly that flight attendant had no clue about babies. Breastfeeding a baby on a plane that is just about to take off isn’t just about feeding the baby. It’s about making takeoff comfortable so that baby doesn’t cry for the entire flight, making everyone, flight attendants included, utterly miserable.
I’ve nursed both my kids on an airplane when we flew and they were that young. It worked brilliantly. I’ve seen the relief on my fellow passengers faces as my children have nursed, then slept or played throughout the flight. I’ve gotten complements on how well behaved they were.
There are so many good reasons to breastfeed your baby. Being discreet is a courtesy I like seeing breastfeeding mothers extend, but there is nothing in most states that says they have to. Certainly there’s nothing disruptive enough about it to excuse having them removed from an airplane.
[tags]breastfeeding,airplane,passenger removed, breast feeding,parenting,baby[/tags]
It was not her breat feeding that caused the trouble but rather the fact that the woman would not cover her exposed breast. This is not unresonable, she was unreasonable, all she had to do was cover up a bit, but noooo, she had to take a stand, a foolish on at that. She got what she deserved.
Oh, my goodness, I think I must have been very lucky, or very unconscious when I was nursing (1991-95)! I nursed my daughter until about two months before her fourth birthday, and I can only remember one time that someone said something rude to me. I was in the bank in Brattleboro, VT and this older woman told me she thought I was being inappropriate because I was nursing on the coach in the bank lobby.
I hope this woman turns her being kicked off the plane into a showcase lawsuit so this ridiculous issue can be finally laid to rest with a LAW that protects the act of nursing.
Michael –
I definitely get the impression you’re looking for an arguement. However, I will note that you have no understanding of breast feeding.
First of all, she was within the law of the state she was in. Secondly, many babies simply do not tolerate being covered up while breastfeeding. Third, she was on an airplane. If someone in her aisle was bothered by it, the stewardess should have looked at moving that person. Remember that most people cannot see you on an airplane as the seat backs are too high.
I agree with you wholeheartedly!
I simply can not IMAGINE being kicked off a plane because I was breastfeeding!!!!!! I breastfed everywhere! good grief people – it is what the breast was designed for!!!!!!
As a mom, this really steams me. I walk around the city and see images of breasts every day – on TV, on posters, on the sides of buses – but a real woman using her breast for its intended purpose? Dirty dirty shame!
The issue here is that our society only allows breasts to see the light of day if they’re being sexy AND selling something.
I nursed my daughter during take-off on four flights recently. I am a little shy, so I had my husband hold a blanket like a curtain, b/c my daughter will not nurse with a blanket over her. HOWEVER, I am probably on the extreme end with being discreet and I don’t feel that anyone has to be. Is this not a most basic right?
This is so sad, that this flight attendant got away with this and still has a job. Scratch that, I believe they don’t like to be called a stewardess….this stewardess clearly wasn’t breastfed, she’s probably just bitter with her Mommy. Or she’s offended b/c she was sexually abused. Either way, she has the problem here.
Michael, why don’t you learn how to spell (or type) before posting things online…ignorant fool. I guess Mommy didn’t give you the good milk either. Is the stewardess your sister?