Breast is best - just not in public.....

How Strange

I fed my baby in public for the first time today. I was as discreet as possible and it went fine. I was in a hotel lounge having coffee; there was a big group of French people and I got alot of smiles and nods from the women. I have to admit it was very reassuring.

implausible

How Strange wrote: »

I fed my baby in public for the first time today. I was as discreet as possible and it went fine. I was in a hotel lounge having coffee; there was a big group of French people and I got alot of smiles and nods from the women. I have to admit it was very reassuring.

Well done you!!!! I remember the first time I did it, I was so proud of myself, I wanted a pat on the back but no-one really got it.....:(

It'll be so much easier from now on, you won't know what all the fuss was about.

Khannie

How Strange wrote: »

I fed my baby in public for the first time today. I was as discreet as possible and it went fine. I was in a hotel lounge having coffee; there was a big group of French people and I got alot of smiles and nods from the women. I have to admit it was very reassuring.

I know I'm late but good work. I'm sure it's nerve-racking. Go on the Frenchies!

cynder

http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/food-drink/london-restaurant%20selling%20breast%20milk%20ice%20cream-blog-24-yahoo-lifestyles.html


New mothers looking for a bit of extra cash need to look no further than their own assets, as a London restaurant is now offering money for breast milk – to make ice-cream.

Covent Garden company, Icecreamists, has started serving 'Baby Gaga' to customers using milk donated from 15 women who responded to an online advertisement.

Pasteurised and churned together with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest, the unorthodox dessert is served by a costumed Baby Gaga waitress and comes in a martini glass at £14 a dish.

Now the company is looking for more women to provide breast milk – and are giving £15 for every ten ounces that are extracted using breast pumps on site.

New mother Victoria Hiley, 35, provided the first 30 ounces of milk, and said the concept was a great "recession beater".

"What's the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash?" Mrs Hiley said.

"I teach women how to get started on breastfeeding their babies. There's very little support for women and every little helps."

Mrs Hiley said the ice-cream “melts in your mouth”, and added that if adults realised how tasty breast milk was it would encourage more mothers to breastfeed.

Matt O'Connor, 44, who runs Icecreamists, said he thought there had been a very positive response to the dish so far.

"No one's done anything interesting with ice cream in the last hundred years," he said.

"Some people will hear about it and go, 'yuck,' but actually it's pure, organic, free-range and totally natural."

To uphold health standards, lactating women undergo health checks the same as those run by hospitals to screen blood donors.

Another 13 women have reportedly volunteered to donate their breast milk.

January

grindelwald, I'm unsure what breast feeding in public and breast milk ice cream have in common??

jingler

http://www.thebreastway.com/index.php/breastfeeding-bits-and-boobs/milk-donation-and-milk-bank

If selling your extra milk to produce icecream doesn't appeal you could always look at donating it to sick babies. This is a breast milk bank- I didn't know about it before but will donate when my new arrival makes an appearance. Great idea and great cause.

implausible

jingler wrote: »

If selling your extra milk to produce icecream doesn't appeal you could always look at donating it to sick babies. This is a breast milk bank- I didn't know about it before but will donate when my new arrival makes an appearance. Great idea and great cause.

That was the first thing I thought of when I heard about this. Surely those women should donate to the milk-bank. You wouldn't sell blood, would you?

Moonbeam

They pay you to donate blood in some other countries.

implausible

Moonbeam wrote: »

They pay you to donate blood in some other countries.

Fair enough, but that's to encourage people to do it, not to make a profit.

Khannie

deemark wrote: »

Fair enough, but that's to encourage people to do it, not to make a profit.

It's to make a profit alright.

implausible

Khannie wrote: »

It's to make a profit alright.

Ok, so profit isn't the right word - blood saves lives, donated breastmilk helps premature babies; ice-cream just tastes nice:rolleyes:

Cat Melodeon

up for anything wrote: »

Nothing worthwhile is ever easy and it really is up to you to change how you feel.

I spent a straight seven years breastfeeding (if I had it to do again I'd probably give myself a bit of a break ) three kids, at one stage two of them in tandem, and never gave a thought to other peoples' reactions and never once had an adverse comment from a stranger or the 'general public'...People make too much of it.

Perhaps I do need to get over it or whatever, but it is quite difficult to do that when people tut-tut at you or when staff in restaurants interrupt you to ask if you would be more comfortable in the toilet etc. You are very lucky not to have ever had a negative response; I have not been so fortunate and that is possibly why I feel hung up about it and you do not. If past experience has taught you to be on the defensive every time you feed your baby in public, it becomes a much more difficult thing to do.

People DO make too much of it, but those people are generally not the breastfeeders.

Squiggler

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

Perhaps I do need to get over it or whatever, but it is quite difficult to do that when people tut-tut at you or when staff in restaurants interrupt you to ask if you would be more comfortable in the toilet etc. You are very lucky not to have ever had a negative response; I have not been so fortunate and that is possibly why I feel hung up about it and you do not. If past experience has taught you to be on the defensive every time you feed your baby in public, it becomes a much more difficult thing to do.

People DO make too much of it, but those people are generally not the breastfeeders.

People tut-tutting and staff asking you to move are guilty of harrassment under The Equal Status Act (2000). The staff and management have an obligation under that act to protect the breastfeeding mother, not the interests of anyone protesting.

I'm a very modest person, but I also believe that it is important to breastfeed if at all possible. The thought of feeding in public is daunting to me, so I've been making sure I am as fully informed as possible about my rights, for the sake of my baby.

abouttobebanned

What kind of woman writes that kind of tripe about one of her "friends"?

Cat Melodeon

Squiggler wrote: »

People tut-tutting and staff asking you to move are guilty of harrassment under The Equal Status Act (2000). The staff and management have an obligation under that act to protect the breastfeeding mother, not the interests of anyone protesting.

I know, but it's kinda hard to make an effective protest when your baby is hungry and you're a bit stressed! This is why I'm getting involved in the feeding in public project I mentioned in an earlier post - the HSE/govt seems to have no interest in increasing awareness or ensuring that rights are protected, so it's up to those of us who've been there and done that and who have a bit of time to clear the path for those to come. This is in my own interests too, I want to have more babies and will want to feed them wherever we happen to be. It would be reassuring to see a logo that tells you the staff are aware and welcoming and know what to do if a public member complains.

I'm determined that next time round I'll be more relaxed about this - I think I'll have to be if I have a baby and a toddling lunatic in tow.

MintyDoris

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

This is why I'm getting involved in the feeding in public project I mentioned in an earlier post - the HSE/govt seems to have no interest in increasing awareness or ensuring that rights are protected, so it's up to those of us who've been there and done that and who have a bit of time to clear the path for those to come.

Cat,

Just wondering how you are getting on with the feeding in public project as mentioned?

deisemum

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

I know, but it's kinda hard to make an effective protest when your baby is hungry and you're a bit stressed! This is why I'm getting involved in the feeding in public project I mentioned in an earlier post - the HSE/govt seems to have no interest in increasing awareness or ensuring that rights are protected, so it's up to those of us who've been there and done that and who have a bit of time to clear the path for those to come. This is in my own interests too, I want to have more babies and will want to feed them wherever we happen to be. It would be reassuring to see a logo that tells you the staff are aware and welcoming and know what to do if a public member complains.

I'm determined that next time round I'll be more relaxed about this - I think I'll have to be if I have a baby and a toddling lunatic in tow.

My lads are teenagers now but I breastfed them in public when they were small and didn't get any negative comments and didn't notice any staring but I was able to feed discretely. The negative comments came from family even if I was feeding at home and it was mostly men that encouraged or made positive comments.

Cat Melodeon

MintyDoris wrote: »

Cat,

Just wondering how you are getting on with the feeding in public project as mentioned?

It's on-going! I'm trying to get a bunch of businesses on board in the Tipp area (3 so far) and then get the local paper to do a piece on them. It's taking longer than I thought it would (work, baby on the way and trying to move house) but so far people have been very encouraging.

Anyone else who wants to get involved should go to the Friends of Breastfeeding website, they're delighted to get new members & volunteers, and they list all the businesses that have signed up so far (I still have to post my local ones up).

deisemum wrote: »

My lads are teenagers now but I breastfed them in public when they were small and didn't get any negative comments and didn't notice any staring but I was able to feed discretely. The negative comments came from family even if I was feeding at home and it was mostly men that encouraged or made positive comments.

I think family making negative comments must be the most undermining of all. At least when it's a stranger, you can shrug it off as ignorance or rudeness, but when it's one of your own it's tough.

deisemum

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

It's on-going! I'm trying to get a bunch of businesses on board in the Tipp area (3 so far) and then get the local paper to do a piece on them. It's taking longer than I thought it would (work, baby on the way and trying to move house) but so far people have been very encouraging.

Anyone else who wants to get involved should go to the Friends of Breastfeeding website, they're delighted to get new members & volunteers, and they list all the businesses that have signed up so far (I still have to post my local ones up).


I think family making negative comments must be the most undermining of all. At least when it's a stranger, you can shrug it off as ignorance or rudeness, but when it's one of your own it's tough.

The negative comments were mostly from my inlaws as my husband's sister had a baby a week after I had my first lad and she had another 3 days before I had my second and she bottlefed so they did try and put me off breastfeeding. My own mother came out with a few crackers too and sorta humoured me breastfeeding until my lads reached 4 months then tried to put me off continuing.

Fortunately my lads are very healthy teenagers and haven't seen their gp since they were toddlers.