Biiiiink

...and if you're really lucky you'll get to sit next to a breastfeeding antsy bored 3yr old

dingbat

Mine are actually (usually) pretty good, not least because they are taught to behave properly and have yet to adopt that awful whining that kids here seem to do automatically they are denied something. The flight we did a couple of weeks ago to Ottawa via Calgary...the passengers two rows in front had no idea I was travelling with three of my five kids until I got off. The people who object to breastfeeding in public are often women - bizarre. On a plane, I concentrate on keeping my kids entertained and as quiet as possible. People without children can be ignorant beyond belief on flights - I have had people reclining their seats onto my kids, one time onto a sleeping newborn's head and refusing to raise it even after other passengers intervened. I got upgraded to business class for that(!) As I said, I am discreet, well apart from the one time in Sainsbury's that I lent over the freezer to get some fishfingers and my eight week old son rolled out of my sarong sling (newly purchased and never again used). I was so frantic that I might have injured him that I forgot I had one hanging out until a kindly old gent offered to help me put it away...

iaink

LOL! Wasnt dbb was it?

dingbat

Not unless he was about sixty, shopped in Catford, wore Pringle sweaters and had a strong South London accent...

scrubbedexpat074

Breast feeders on the forum, past and present - how many of you have EVER breast fed indiscreetly? As a "stay at home dad" of small children, I have lots of friends who breast feed and have been to plenty of environments where breastfeeding is rife. I have not seen one woman who has not been discreet... I don't think there are many mothers getting ready to feed who think, "Great, time to partially strip in public..."

Anyway... I can't be bother to say anymore.

daft batty

my original reply was in response to
to me this showed a cavalier disregard for the sensibilities of others. It wasnt an objection to breast feeding in public, nor to babies crying on planes it was quite simply to point out that not everyone is comfortable with breast feeding, usually we can move away from what is out of our comfort zone- on a plane you cant.

If anyone wished to extrapolate anything else from that, well thats up to you, but thats all it is, guesswork

iaink

Frankly we dont give a monkeys what anyone else thinks about any aspect of how we raise our kids or how they behave in public. There is enough to worry about without worrying what other people think about it. People are sometimes quick to judge and not armed with all the facts.

We have our standards and rules, and they are our kids. If our standards are not the same as yours, well, too bad, they arent your kids so butt out, we will deal with them.

I know that sounds like a recipe for an ASBO, but hopefully our standards are a bit higher than that level. My point is that I would expect most people who would perhaps take offence have not walked a mile in those shoes, and are therefore not qualified to judge anyway.

dingbat

I have no interest in other people's "sensibilities" when it comes to doing the most natural thing in the world for an infant. Frankly, if someone's sensibilities involve them having a problem with a woman feeding a baby, they have some real uptight issues going on....

Chipotle

Dingbat

It is great that you have the confidence/experience (a bit of both?) to not worry about other people's "sensibilities". Breastfeeding is definitely one (in and out of airplanes) and so is crying children in small places (whether in the air or not). However, young or first time mums may not feel the same as you and I think it is up to "wiser" mums to reassure them. Remember as a new mum you think you're the only one who suffers problem X or Y until much later on you realise most everyone else does too! This is exactly what I meant when I said not to care about what people around you think or how many times they tut and roll their eyes.

Chipotle