They still don't get it

The more women get on and feed in public, the less the teenage boys will be embarrassed. Both I and all my DDs have fed in public, discreetly and with no fuss or comeback. Silly Claridges.

I hope neither the subject nor the picture was discrete

Another middle class breast feeding heroine/martyr.

Predictable response.

Yawn!

Incidentally, pic in media was a restruction so we don't know how discrete she was originally.

This was an annual treat for her family. Surprised they did not know about the rule. Suspect a point was being made.

I can understand why your daughter would want to keep people at a comfortable distance in the circumstances tiggy.

It would be sad if they became common in the UK where we are more aware of the concept of personal space. I was quite shocked when I saw a photo of a friend in America cloaked in one in order to feed her baby. She in turn had been upset by the reaction of people when she had fed her infant in public without a cover up. She decided it was easier to comply with the social norms.

this one (from absent's link) is quite a nice idea. Looks cuddly for baby too.

I admit to feeling some discomfort on seeing a baby being breastfed when I am eating my lunch, but I acknowledge that is something to do with me and I have to get over it, or at least put up with it.

As I have already said, it's the blatant hypocrisy in this case that really gets my goat. Kerching! v a present day baby.

baubles - my DD made and used one of those breastfeeding aprons when she breastfed DGS in public in China. This was not because she was embarrassed but it prevented other people getting very close. They seemed so fascinated by it (and do love babies) they tried to get a very good view and didn't seem to have any concept of 'personal space'.

I may be wrong but is this all about it being Claridges or would the same be said if it had happened in a 'greasy spoon' cafe ? What is the difference ?

Well, of course there are more important issues! I agree with soutra.

But, looking at the others recent threads, we could be discussing how many Christmas trees we have on our houses, or the sell by date on mince pies, or knitting a bauble or something. Someone will always have something to say about each topic, if they are interested in it. And that is what is happening here. That's all. Some comments are articulate and lucid, some are funny, some are incoherent, that is how we are.

I agree there are "more important issues" mollie 65 but breastfeeding in Claridges is what this thread is about isn't it. ? And what does being "an actor's wife" have to do with anything? We must have moved on in 2014 from defining women by their husband's occupation?

She was being discreet if you look at the picture of her without the napkin. No boob showing at all, nor even any "chest". People on TV who aren't feeding babies, and people out in the street, even, dare I say it, people having tea at Claridge's show more "chest", and nobody bats an eyelid. But suckling mothers are taboo. It's ridiculous.

Aren't they ghastly!! On a par with Burkinis. I note that some are "unused, wrapped and with labels" unwanted too methinks!

Ignorance and prejudice are always things which make me but I had expected a more enlightened attitude both in a hotel which caters for the customer's every whim and frankly on a site such as Gransnet where we are all parents and have children who feed/fed our dear grandchildren. How would you have felt if it were your own DD?

38 years ago I was made to feel embarrassed when DD needed feeding in an upmarket West End department store tearoom(absolutely Horrid place) I retreated to the "Ladies'Powder Room" (which was actually quite civilised with a selection of perfume atomisers for you to use ) but my cheeks were burning and I felt I had committed some dreadful faux pas like eating my patisserie with the wrong fork!! needless to say she didn't feed well and screamed the place down.

a tad of an 'overreaction' both here and in the news
she is an actor's wife - and she was not 'asked to leave' which would have been illegal.
there are really far more important issues to deal with than this.
I support breastfeeding but in crowded public places as others have said - a little bit of discretion would have been advisable (most people would not have been aware)
OK - flame away as I dare to go against the flow.

Perhaps they would rather she had worn one of these horrendous things because they are so discreet.

I have absolutely no problem with women feeding their babies in public places and did it myself. However, I really approve of the parent and baby room we have in our local shopping mall. There are comfy chairs, plus two curtained cubicles, also with comfy chairs, for those who prefer privacy. There is an area for changing nappies and a microwave for heating bottles or baby tins. There is also an enclosed area with a television for older children waiting for mum or dad to finish, plus, of course, loos. The whole space is clean, airy, discreet and accessible for anyone with babies who needs it while shopping.

I find it amazing that there are women who feel this woman behaved inappropriately.

From what I briefly saw on the TV about this it would seem that this mother was not "making a point" because she said she was extremely humiliated by the incident. I would have thought in this day and age nobody would imagine that breastfeeding a baby would give rise to this sort of intervention.

Mothers are always being urged to breastfeed but if it is treated as something "not quite nice", is it surprising that some women are reluctant to do so. I heard some women talking like this when I was in hospital - some of them expressing disgust at the thought of themselves, or anyone else, breastfeeding. I even heard one woman saying it was "unnatural"!

Rosesared

I would also prefer to be in a cafe noisy or not than stuck in a side room.

If I had been given the order to cover up by a waiter I would most certainly have then made a point about it, instead of just quietly getting on with it.

It is what breasts are for and it is illegal to discriminate. Good for those young women who over the years have staged "feed ins" in places where someone has been told to stop breast feeding.

Not often a lot of teenage lads in Claridges! Saw a pic of the girl in question in tonight's Evening Standard- entirely discreet.
It is nonsense, demeaning, discriminatory, and totally contravenes the ultimate hospitality sector mantra that "the customer is always right".

Maybe she wasn't doing it discreetly? Teenage lads in particular get quite embarrassed at the sight of women breastfeeding. Of my friends most were discreet when feeding but some just whopped it out anywhere.

I will send you some Jingl just don't get caught!

I would so love to have some spray cans of paint and be able to go and scrawl that line that Nelliemoser posted, across the front of Claridges. In very big letters.

"A breast full of milk, and a manger full of hay"

*
Granjo* that is lovely and the proper way to do it. If she had been Claridges , no-one would have raised an eyebrow , but it seems the woman had to be offered a napkin.

OK ROSES I will not be contacting my MP[I was just having a little joke, he is about as much use as a chocolate teapot]

*ANA, Teehee, you little minx.

(And why not, of course...)

If there were still any chairs dotted round stores these days, they'd probably be hijacked by breastfeeding mothers anyway, Nonu!

Please leave your poor old MP alone nonu there are too many 'disgusteds of Suffolk' [and other places] around at the moment!
It's almost Christmas, let's crack open the Baileys and mellow out a bit.

You don't need a special room to feed baby-My DD is feeding her 6mth old son on demand.When going out she usually wears a largish chiffony scarf with which she covers baby,this is nice and light and most people would have no idea that she is breastfeeding.It is possible to feed baby without drawing attention to oneself.