Breastfeeding in swimming pool

Yes, I did have one of those and it wasn't for lack of feeding.
The reasons were not apparent at the time (not for years, in fact).
The others were fine

I cannot for the life of me understand why someone would want to breast feed in a swimming pool.
Me neither. I wouldn't have taken a very young baby swimming. I'd have made sure a routine was established and the baby was fed before entering the pool area.

Relaxed mums can establish a routine suitable for both them and their babies without a child crying or getting distressed.
Exactly. And why even go swimming if they're so young you can't go more than an hour without feeding them. Establish a routine first, then it won't be essential to feed them while swimming.

Some babies are cry-ey babies. Its bad luck not lack of routine if you get one. And good luck if you dont. Some are just high maintenance for all sorts of reasons.

notanan I agree, all babies are different and all establish their own feeding patterns that suits them and their mothers.
Relaxed mums can establish a routine suitable for both them and their babies without a child crying or getting distressed.

Constantly snacking is something that doesn't augur well for the future

I cannot for the life of me understand why someone would want to breast feed in a swimming pool. The mind boggles.

Dear me, what a fuss about nothing. I dare say my dd has fed one or other of hers in the pool - not to make any sort of point, but because the baby happens to be hungry at the time and will soon be full-volume crying if she doesn’t.

TBH unless anyone is very prudish about the sight of breasts, I can’t see what there is to object to.

When are some of us older ladies going to start realising the younger generations parenting changes are solely to do with mistakes that have been made in the past? Cry it out is bad, smacking is bad, verbal abuse is bad. Come on, seriously. No one is going to put anyone on trial because we did what we thought was OK and it now turns out it wasn't. Be supportive now and past mistakes go away.

Lots of people raise their babies differently to me, heck I raised my own two babies very differently as they had different temperments and health needs to each other!

So what? So long as theyre not neglected or abused.

And I steer well clear of the baby pool these days anyway. Nobody is BFing in the Fast Lane (cough, I wish! Medium lane at best these days) so the only people upsetting me when I swim are the man-spreaders who block the whole end of the land and you have to turn around 2 meters from the end so as not to collide with their speedos!

Everyone else can crack on. Im not gate crashing the baby area. Not my idea of fun.

Good discussion on Women's Hour this morning about how we have becomes so coy in our culture about anything to do with women's breasts, but not men's!
Breast feeding is natural and normal, wherever and whenever, so just get over it I say.
Completely with you Bibbity and other like minded.

I do not want to see my child in pain

Shakes head in despair.

No I'm not and I said so.

Do not put words into my mouth.
I said it didn't mean screaming babies and it did not.

Please don't lie, it doesn't help your cause.

Callistemom,

You are advocating a cry it out method.

A hungry infant is going to scream when he/she is hungry. The more you made the infant wait, the louder the screams. When a baby becomes hangry (not a typo), it is so much harder to calm him/her down.

For some mothers, CIO is the way to go.
For others, no way. CIO is very much in the out these days and it was much more commonly accepted in the past.

As a mother, I do not want to see my child in pain if I can avoid it.

And it was much more relaxing!

I know many young mums advocate breastfeeding on demand and think that we grannies know nothing about it all, but getting babies into some sort of feeding routine is helpful especially if you have older children and other commitments.

It didn't mean 'screaming babies', but it did mean longer between feeds and babies feeding more and then perhaps sleeping contentedly in the pram on the school run, going shopping etc and, importantly, a night's sleep.
One consequence follows another.

Although perhaps some people aren't keen on routines so each to their own.

Chestnut,
Breastfeeding is breastfeeding, no matter where it takes place. Pool or no pool.

Baggs: Why should anyone get upset by a woman feeding her baby or, to put it the other way round, by a suckling infant?
A lot of overreaction going on here. We are not discussing breastfeeding in public, we are discussing breastfeeding in a swimming pool. Very different things.

"Why should one woman have the right to upset those around her?"

This question works both ways. Why should a mother and a baby be upset in order not to ruffle the feathers with those around them?

I remember a post about leggings and how and when and who should wear them.

Some posters were fat shaming, dictating that they should be worn only with long shirts to cover the bum, etc because it was indecent and inappropriate to be worn by some individuals.

You cannot make everybody happy. Personally, my baby is first vs a random stranger whose mentality denies my rights.

Why does breastfeeding have to be done "discreetly"? As I said previously we are not talking about running around waving nipples at people ...just feeding a baby!! Why does one have to "go upstairs" for goodness sake?

I don't think I took mine swimming until they were about 15 months old, probably because of the thought of all those germs in the pool.

By that time they could last between feeds/meals.

The rule of no eating or drinking in the pool area is for the benefit of ALL swimmers.
A mum that delays a feed will be leaking milk into the pool. A mum that feeds, wont!

Why should one woman have the right to upset those around her? But the upset people on here are not around her! The other people in a baby pool are also with peeing/pooping/puking babies and may also have leaky boobs. The others around a BFing mum in a baby pool wont be bothered, its just you lot being shocked from afar!

Why should one woman have the right to upset those around her?

Why should anyone get upset by a woman feeding her baby or, to put it the other way round, by a suckling infant?
I've never heard of anyone finding suckling lambs upsetting, or by their sheep mothers letting them get on with it.

If the baby is in the pool anyway it's going to get pool water in mouth, eyes and ears anyway. The chlorine is there to kill bacteria. I'm all for feeding babies when they need to be fed not worrying about others comfort. We have these wonderful necks and eyes to help us look in another direction

ladymuck said 'I went upstairs and did it discreetly'. That just wouldn't have worked for me.

I fed my four wherever I happened to be (park, school, shops, beach) with just a little baby blanket over my shoulder for 'discretion' (when they didn't fling it off).

The loud sucking, slurping and burping noises made it pretty obvious what was going on under it anyway.

Well said Hithere I completely agree
What is all this ''shock, horror a woman is using her breasts for the job the were designed for.....
Sadly, when I was a young mum I wouldn't have been confident enough to breastfeed in public, but I am sure as hell not going criticise any mum choosing to feed her baby wherever she wants/needs to

Well said Bibbity!