breastfeeding at Church.

[TootsieBlue]

sorry if this topic has been done to death, but I dont come on here very often.

What is the norm and what is ok.

I heard a High Priest today in his 30's moaning about a mother breastfeeding her baby in the church foyer.

I had a lighthearted discussion with him and he said he also feels it inappropriate for mothers to breastfeed during sacrament, infact he was convinced that it would be in the Church handbook somewhere

I'm a bit shocked as the man has a wife and children.

So who's the norm here, me or him???

[annewandering]

Probably him but we just have to keep trying to educate people. :)

[Scovy]

I wonder if he is one of those people that complains of too much PDA in church when two individuals are simple holding hands, just ignore these people they think of themselves to much and the image they create.

A woman have every right to breastfeed her child in public or else where. For one thing you stated she was in the foyer. This mother goes out of her way to be in private and still some one complains.

Simply suggestions and comments to him on this might educate him more to be less critical of others

[MarginOfError]

I don't think it is out of the ordinary for women in my ward to breastfeed their children in the chapel during sacrament meeting. I have heard of women saying that they will leave the chapel because their children are noisy eaters.

Women should be free to breastfeed their children where and when they are comfortable doing so. Period. Your high priest friend needs to get over himself.

You should also feel free to inform him that there is absolutely nothing in the handbooks regarding when and where women may breastfeed in church. And it's a good thing, too, because in some countries, putting restrictions on where women may breastfeed is expressly illegal.

[Misshalfway]

I think you should round up all the breastfeeding mothers and sit them directly in front of him in sacrament meeting.

[Guest]

They're giving this poor man the vapors!

[bluedreams]

Pssh, I guess in a number of western cultures that's pretty normal. But some western ideals really need to be analyzed and removed. They're just not healthy.

With luv,

BD

[MorningStar]

We have two chairs in our mothers' lounge and it smells like dirty diapers. Then the same toddler will come into the very small room almost every single Sunday for a poopy diaper change.

So yes, I have nursed in the foyer covered up when their aren't seats available or when the stench is overwhelming. If anyone were to say anything, I would kindly invite them to hang out in that stench for 45 minutes straight and apologize for lactating at the same time as ten to twenty other women in our building.

[NightSG]

I heard a High Priest today in his 30's moaning about a mother breastfeeding her baby in the church foyer.

Maybe just because it's rude to chow down in front of hungry folks on fast Sunday?

[Wingnut]

It has been done-to-death already, but it's been a couple years, so I guess we're due for another thread on it by now. :) Here are a few older threads, though:

http://www.lds.net/forums/parenting/33182-breastfeeding-lds-meetings.html

http://www.lds.net/forums/parenting/17378-nursing-chapel.html

http://www.lds.net/forums/open-discussion/7627-nursing-baby-sacrament-meeting.html

[Just_A_Guy]

I don't think it is out of the ordinary for women in my ward to breastfeed their children in the chapel during sacrament meeting. I have heard of women saying that they will leave the chapel because their children are noisy eaters.

Women should be free to breastfeed their children where and when they are comfortable doing so. Period. Your high priest friend needs to get over himself.

You should also feel free to inform him that there is absolutely nothing in the handbooks regarding when and where women may breastfeed in church. And it's a good thing, too, because in some countries, putting restrictions on where women may breastfeed is expressly illegal.

I realize it's natural and all, but let's be blunt: our society has conditioned males to become mesmerized with certain parts of female anatomy, and that interest/obsession/fetish isn't going to end anytime soon.

I largely agree with what MOE has written--women should be free to breastfeed anytime, anywhere--but I would also note that there are discreet and non-discreet ways to do it (even in a public room where others are around), and I would hope a mother would opt for discretion as a matter of courtesy to those around her--both male and female. (I remember sitting in a room chatting with a cousin once as a teenager, and it was about ten minutes before I figured out that she was nursing her baby as we were talking.)

I know few north American mothers who are absolutely thrilled about the prospect of nursing in public--I think most would prefer to do it in a private room if that room were truly comfortable. The complaint about smelly mothers' lounges seems to be a common one, and I wonder if this could be resolved by the Church's making sure that all bathrooms (male and female) have changing tables and then removing the changing tables and diaper buckets from mothers' lounges.

Edited July 2, 2012 by Just_A_Guy

[applepansy]

I agree with the majority here. There is absolutely nothing wrong with breastfeeding in the chapel or anywhere else in church. Just be discreet.

Regarding the mother's room. We cleaned the church a week ago. The mother's room stank like a sewer. We have a dispenser for small garbage bags and mother's are suppose to put the dirty diapers (even just wet ones) in a bag and tie the bag shut. This cuts done on the stench. Can someone tell me why mother's aren't willing to dispose of diapers in such a way that they don't inconvenience others?

Sorry...its become one of my pet peeve.

[Anddenex]

As long as a Mother covers up, she can nurse anywhere in the Church.

Nothing in the handbook specifies anything about breastfeeding, that I am aware of.

[annewandering]

I know few north American mothers who are absolutely thrilled about the prospect of nursing in public--I think most would prefer to do it in a private room if that room were truly comfortable. The complaint about smelly mothers' lounges seems to be a common one, and I wonder if this could be resolved by the Church's making sure that all bathrooms (male and female) have changing tables and then removing the changing tables and diaper buckets from mothers' lounges.

NEVER feed your baby in the bathroom. That is disgusting.

[Jenamarie]

NEVER feed your baby in the bathroom. That is disgusting.

I don't think that's what he was suggesting. I think he was saying have the *changing tables* and diaper pails in the bathroom so that the mother's lounges don't stink.

[Just_A_Guy]

I don't think that's what he was suggesting. I think he was saying have the *changing tables* and diaper pails in the bathroom so that the mother's lounges don't stink.

Precisely.

Oh, and one of my pet peeves is LDS meetinghouses that have changing tables in the ladies' rooms, but not in the men's rooms.

[annewandering]

Precisely.

Oh, and one of my pet peeves is LDS meetinghouses that have changing tables in the ladies' rooms, but not in the men's rooms.

yes. and that is just not right. :) i bet it changes soon.

[Guest Doctrine]

From a mans point of view I love boobies, and I love that my son loves boobies, because boobies are awsome and wonderful they give my baby all the nutrition he needs for his first years.

So to me a man saying he does not like boobies is less of a man in my book.

[ClickyClack]

I realize it's natural and all, but let's be blunt: Genetics has conditioned males to become mesmerized with certain parts of female anatomy, and that interest/obsession/fetish isn't going to end anytime soon.

I fixed it for you.

[MarginOfError]

I fixed it for you.

Actually, you broke it. A fear of breasts as a hypersexual anatomical piece is a social construct. There are plenty of societies in the world where breasts do not receive that kind of attention.

[classylady]

Attitudes about breastfeeding are improving, but there's still a long way to go. I always tried to be discreet while breastfeeding in public because I knew there were people out there who were very sensitive to the issue. The older generation seem to have a hard time with it because it was so taboo at one time. But, it sounds like in the OP, the brother that was concerned is not from an older generation.

[TootsieBlue]

I think the problem was that the lady was not being discreet. She is from a more liberal European country where there isn't such a thing about body parts.

I just think, if it makes you uncomfortable then look away!

Yes we should be discreet, but on the odd occasion where a mother isn't, i she meant to be told 'don't do that here!'

??

[Guest]

Yes we should be discreet, but on the odd occasion where a mother isn't, i she meant to be told 'don't do that here!'

??

No, she's meant to be adviced on ways to be discreet.

I was in HongKong when I breastfed at the restaurant - very discreetly even - and I was told by the waiter that it is illegal to do that in public. And there's no mother's lounge. You kinda have to go with the culture of the country you're in, ya know?

[Vort]

sorry if this topic has been done to death, but I dont come on here very often.

What is the norm and what is ok.

I heard a High Priest today in his 30's moaning about a mother breastfeeding her baby in the church foyer.

I had a lighthearted discussion with him and he said he also feels it inappropriate for mothers to breastfeed during sacrament, infact he was convinced that it would be in the Church handbook somewhere

I'm a bit shocked as the man has a wife and children.

So who's the norm here, me or him???

I don't know that there is a general "norm" for public breastfeeding. Depends on the location.

Fwiw, I agree with your take and disagree with the brother's. It's sad and more than a little weird that breastfeeding, the most natural and normal of things (and for those who love human life, one of the symbolically most beautiful), should be thought of in prurient terms.

[MarginOfError]

I don't know that there is a general "norm" for public breastfeeding. Depends on the location.

Fwiw, I agree with your take and disagree with the brother's. It's sad and more than a little weird that breastfeeding, the most natural and normal of things (and for those who love human life, one of the symbolically most beautiful), should be thought of in prurient terms.

I don't know that I'd call it beautiful. And I know for certain that my wife wouldn't call it beautiful. She hates breastfeeding and looks forward to its end. A lot of women feel that sentiment.

There has been a big public relations campaign in the past decade or so to frame breastfeeding as beautiful and trendy, and I support that campaign because I support the underlying goal. However, I think it's reasonable to simultaneously recognize that many people don't share the sentiment and choose to breastfeed because it's good for their child.