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Put those breasts away: Woman asked to cover up while breastfeeding during flight
Successfully hydrating on airplanes has recently become difficult; as an adult you can no longer bring beverages aboard. And apparently even babies have the same problem, or at least it seems so after an incident concerning a mother breast-feeding her child last week on WestJet.The Vancouver woman says that she was asked to cover up while breast-feeding during a recent flight, and that the incident has led her to consider filing a human rights complaint. After "discreetly" lifting her shirt to breastfeed her son, a flight attendant offered the woman a blanket to cover up. She declined twice, but the flight attendant insisted
"She said that some men find the sight of a bare breast quite offensive," said Ms. Tarbuck. According to the report, she wasn't even bothering the people around her; the only other people in the row were her husband and two children.
Despite what your beliefs are on breastfeeding, let me just put it this way: traveling with children is difficult, maybe we should cut these mothers some slack. Do you really want to be enduring the sounds of a hungry, crying baby during the duration of your flight???
Check out these other strange tales from the sky:
Filed under: North America, Canada, Airlines, News, Consumer Activism
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 45)
jawa_edan Aug 10th 2008 11:45PM
Tell those men that they should cover their faces up with a cardboard box whenever they eat. I'm offended by their big fat ego.
pnwmom Aug 11th 2008 4:34PM
AMEN to that!
angela Aug 11th 2008 3:12PM
You go!! I could not agree more. I was breastfeeding my son and a male server asked me to go to the bathroom. I asked him if he ate in the bathroom. When he said no, I said neither does my baby. The only tip he got was to mind his own business.
E raymond Aug 11th 2008 5:43PM
While breastfeeding is natural and should be allowed in most places, the woman should have accepted the blanket. Some people are NOT comfortable with it so why not compromise? No one was asking her to stop or go into the bathroom, just to be extra discreet. Must everyone take such a strong uncompromising stand on everything. All involved should think about how others feel.
Bob W Aug 11th 2008 5:44PM
Giving birth to a child is natural too. But everyone in public does not wish to witness it. This woman needs to get a life. If she wants to expose herself, take up pole-dancing. Nursing is natural but so is giving birth and YES they are both sanitary, as some yahoo brought up.
Respect yourself and the public. No one wants to see your breast except possibly your husband, and your child! The airline was right as rain!!
Nina Aug 12th 2008 5:12PM
Women of years ago at least used a hanky to cover the breast.....
Amanda Aug 11th 2008 7:19PM
Well, baby shops do sell "nursing blankets/cover ups" for a reason. I sure as hell wouldn't breastfeed in public without covering up. The woman should've just taken the blanket instead of causing trouble.
Barb Aug 11th 2008 8:21PM
First of all....the only ones siting with her were her husband and children.how is it that these men could even SEE her ??? And second of all...its warm enough on a plane and a "blanket" would no doubt aggrivate the baby to no end.Now if she was in a restaraunt,I would expect her to use a little more descretion.
Adrienne Aug 12th 2008 10:05PM
Lots of things are "natural", but a baby eating should be seen just as a person eating. If you don't like the sight of an exposed breast, don't look. Neither of my children would eat if I covered them up. It gets hot and as someone earlier said, who wants to eat with something on their head?
I personally only breastfeed in public when needed, and on an airplane certainly would fit. I don't want to be stared at, but starving a child because someone doesn't want to see my breasts is stupid. If you don't like it, don't do it and don't look when someone else does.
Judena Aug 12th 2008 12:16AM
I nursed all five of my children. Yes nursing is very natural and I would encourage any new mother to do so unless I would think that they would be so disrespectful as to not cover themselves up. Any baby will nurse being covered up if done early on. My youngest was nursed until he was 22 months old. And I was almost always covered up, and always in public. At home I would uncover the top of his head and his eyes sometimes, but my older kids rarely saw my breast even though they knew what was going on. If you think its too hot out use a light-weight material to cover at least the front of the babies face and esspeically your breast. If you want to show them off that bad leave the poor baby out of your bad habit.
Judena Aug 12th 2008 1:05AM
I agree that some babies won't eat with something on their face. That is fine. Then make the cover so that is doesn't touch their face. It really isn't that hard. My one son was that way. I put the blanket over my shoulder and held my hand above his head so that nothing touched his face. And I left my shirt low enough for him to grab onto since he liked to hold the material.
PuterPatty Aug 12th 2008 2:29AM
I'm a grandmother and for years I have been making 'nursing capes' for friends, sisters, nieces, friends daughters, I've made light weight (gingham is good) and heaver material ones. I made one from a plushy material for my friends daughter in England, she found it good for keeping warm on those early morning feedings. They are simple to make and don't constrict the baby, the opening can be moved to the best placement for the baby and the mother's modesty. (Also acts as a good burp cloth if needed.) But, no I don't find it bad that the mother refused the blanket, too hot for that, too big to easily move around and how do you know it is clean enough to put over your baby?
Deb Aug 11th 2008 1:12AM
I don't understand the problem with a woman placing something over her breast while nursing. What's the big deal? It doesn't hurt the baby and it would be less offensive to people sitting next to her. Breastfeeding is a natural thing, but not everyone wants to sit next to a stranger's swollen exposed boobs.
barb Aug 11th 2008 2:17PM
Urination and defecation are natural do you suggest we accept people doing them in public also?
pnwmom Aug 11th 2008 4:35PM
Some babies will simply not nurse if something is covering them.
Debbie Dubrow Aug 11th 2008 2:54PM
@barb urination and deification are unsanitary. There's nothing unsanitary about feeding a baby
Kim Aug 11th 2008 3:16PM
I think that covering the breast while breast feeding is the right thing to do. When I breast feed my son, if I was in public I placed a towel over my breast, because it is awkward to sit next to someone with their breast totally exposed. I would feel awkward in either position.
kendoll Aug 11th 2008 3:39PM
... then look away. You don't have to look (but, I bet you do), but the baby has to feed. Deal with it!
Nickey Aug 11th 2008 3:35PM
"Covering up" doesn't just cover the breast. It covers the babies entire face. Go try and eat dinner under a blanket with it two inches from your face sometime and see how much you like it.
Babies certainly don't like it and they will do whatever they can to get it off them, which means *more* exposure of the mothers breast and less discreetion. On the other hand a mother who does not "cover up" has full control over her shirt and can quickly move it down to cover her breast if the child moves.
I can guarantee you that a mother who is discreetly breastfeeding her child without covering up is showing much less cleavage than the vast majority of women walking around today are!
Netsurfer06 Aug 11th 2008 4:39PM
aI couldn't agree more. I breastfed all three of my cchildren, sometimes in public, and not once did I ever find it necessary to expose myself. I always used a lightweight receiving blanket around the baby and thrown over my shoulder which was sufficient to preserve my modesty and the shield the sensibilities of any people around me. Most people didn't even realize I was nursing.