Gadling

AMEN to that!

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.

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.

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!!

Women of years ago at least used a hanky to cover the breast.....

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?