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Public breastfeeding

(191 Posts)
Nanban Wed 04-Jul-12 18:42:53

A furore today with a crowd of breastfeeders occupying a cafe who had asked a breastfeeding mother to move to a more discreet table! The manager had to apologise and grovel to a bunch of frankly over-endowed breastfeeders. Yuk. Has the world gone totally mad - what girl/woman would walk down the street with her bosoms all-a-hanging; what man, flashing his privates wouldn't be arrested for indecency.

Frankly, if I am out and about, I do not want to be part of an act that should be private and quiet and personal! If I want to see bosoms I can open a porn magazine, or page 3 of a newspaper - I do not want them at lunch.

j04 Fri 06-Jul-12 21:59:42

Oh yes Yoga. You bought one didn't you?! I don't know how you manage with one. I can't. envy

Yes, I've heard about the plastic bottles. Dirty Bu****s! hmm

jeni Fri 06-Jul-12 21:58:14

[mishap] when I used to sail, I provided 'en suite' facilities for the males!
Ie male portable urinals with lids. They could use them discretely in their bunks and take them up to the'facilities ' the next morning to empty them!

Anagram Fri 06-Jul-12 21:57:27

Yes, it's much easier for men!
goldengirl, when I talked about 'holding on', I actually meant that I don't feel the need to go urgently during the day - not that I'm often trying desperately to contain it. I agree that if you're 'bursting to go', you should!

Greatnan Fri 06-Jul-12 21:54:48

No, I hate cranberry juice.

yogagran Fri 06-Jul-12 21:51:47

I'm told that one of the most common items collected from beside main roads and motorways by those people who collect the rubbish are plastic bottles filled with urine. Lorry drivers fill them up and then discard them out of the window [yuk emoticom]
BTW - I find my Shewee very useful!

j04 Fri 06-Jul-12 21:50:14

Stick with the ice cream container Mishap.

You have to be able to pee slowly with a shewee. Or they overflow.

chadsky Fri 06-Jul-12 21:47:36

I cannot understand this at all, as a mother, ( and my kids have long since grown up and flown the nest) the, most natural part of having children is feeding them naturally, it is society, that has branded the breasts of women as a sexual part of their anatomy, there function is to provide food for our ofspring - I agree it is circumspect to be discreet, but at the end of the day, It is the most natural and wonderful part of childcare. support these women, they are doing something that has the best for each child at heart

johanna Fri 06-Jul-12 21:47:33

greatnan ,
are you also a devotee ( stupid word ) of cranberry juice?

Mishap Fri 06-Jul-12 21:44:55

Just gone onto Amazon to look at this amazing shewee - I cannot stop laughing. You know how on Amazon they show you the item you have searched for and then also further "related" items that "you might like to try" - one of these items is "rubber mallet with wooden shaft and peg extractor" - well, I suppose one could always try!!

I am trying to decide how to deal with my summer school stay that is coming up. The room I will be in has a sink but no toilet, so when I need the loo in the night (I always do) I will have to traipse along a public corridor to the bathroom. The main problems with this are that I will have to find my glasses in the dark and that I will have woken up fully by the time I get to the loo - and will not be able to go back to sleep again - so I had a demon plan to take an ice cream tub - pee in it by the bed and chuck/wash the contents down the sink. Here's a conundrum!! - if I get a shewee instead, will I have to stand on a chair to direct the stream into the sink? - all advice gratefully received!!

Greatnan Fri 06-Jul-12 21:44:16

I don't try to hold on - I am usually walking in very remote mountains and there is never a problem in finding a private spot. I did suffer from what was diagnosed as an irritable bladder some years ago, which meant I was always on the lookout for toilets in supermarkets, etc. but my vigorous walking programme seems to have cured that too, along with my arthritic knees and overweight! I don't need to get up in the night anymore.

j04 Fri 06-Jul-12 21:42:07

How can it cause a stroke???!!!!

I don't belieeeeve it.

goldengirl Fri 06-Jul-12 21:39:20

Oh GNetters 'holding on' is not something to be proud of. It can cause bladder problems later on and even the possibility of a stroke! Why can't you ask to go to the toilet in someone's house? Why should there be this embarrassment about a normal function? Likewise breastfeeding; it's normal to breastfeed and thankfully - and hopefully - the days are long gone when toilet cubicles were used by mothers to breastfeed their little ones. Wasn't it Penelope Leach who asked something along the lines of 'Would you want to have your lunch in the toilet?'

Anagram Fri 06-Jul-12 21:35:47

Why are you shocked, jeni?
Surely not because I have total control of my flatulence?
grin

jeni Fri 06-Jul-12 21:27:35

shock

jeni Fri 06-Jul-12 21:27:14

[shovk]

Anagram Fri 06-Jul-12 21:01:10

What???

jeni Fri 06-Jul-12 20:57:26

confused

Anagram Fri 06-Jul-12 20:41:26

petallus I never fart - perish the thought! grin

jeni Fri 06-Jul-12 20:19:07

I remember my wedding day in 1967 my father used the bathroom first. I heard him come out, I went in next. We crossed on the middle of the landing, both stark naked and both of us with a nose in a book!
This was normal in our house! We both said 'good morning ' and carried on.
The same was the same in this house with the children.

The whole family are addicted to books!

petallus Fri 06-Jul-12 20:18:20

What if you happen to be the woman in the next cubicle farting? grin

Anagram Fri 06-Jul-12 20:16:29

It always makes me giggle inside when I hear a woman in the next cubicle fart! grin

Greatnan Fri 06-Jul-12 19:34:27

I was paranoid as a teenager - I would pee as quietly as possible if there were any other women in the public toilets and if I needed to go in the cinema I would always tell the boy I was with that I wanted to comb my hair. The thought of admitting to having normal bodily needs seemed so unromantic. I don't care now!

j04 Fri 06-Jul-12 19:32:17

Mishap hmm grin

Our second loo is next to the bathroom and my daughter and I often sit "side by side" having a conversation through the wall. grin

Anagram Fri 06-Jul-12 19:20:29

Oh no - I draw the line at open house in the bathroom/toilet! wink

Mishap Fri 06-Jul-12 19:14:56

As a teenager, I stopped to pee in a ditch whilst on a German dual carriageway - the ditch was quite deep and I thought I would be hidden - that was until a coachload of German men drove by (coach much higher than a car!) and the gents all lifted their hats to me!

Getting back to the original subject - although closely connected to latter posts - some years ago I settled in a cubicle to pee at a public toilet and heard some very strange sounds coming from the next cubicle - I was quite concerned that someone might be unwell, but then realised that a woman was sitting on the toilet breast-feeding her baby in the cubicle. Thank goodness no-one has to do that any more!

On the subject of natural functions, my children are extraordinarily open - they stroll in when I am on the throne, and hold lengthy conversations with me when they are doing the business. They are not one whit concerned - and the GC arrive sometimes! I think it is great and very healthy.