{"id":3327,"date":"2014-02-25T16:19:16","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T21:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/?p=3327"},"modified":"2014-02-26T15:55:19","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T20:55:19","slug":"feeding-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/25\/feeding-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeding in the Air"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about Delta’s recent breastfeeding debacle in which a breastfeeding mother asked via Twitter about the airline’s policy and she was informed she must cover or feed a bottle. \u00a0I knew right away no such policy exists and that it was just an undereducated customer service rep misspeaking.<\/p>\n

And it may come as a surprise, but I\u2019m probably the only breastfeeding mother that wasn\u2019t outraged by the whole thinge.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because I know my rights and I know better than to ask a question to someone who doesn\u2019t know anything about the topic.\u00a0 It\u2019s like asking the person who does the admission paperwork at the hospital about the pros and cons of Pitocin, they may have their opinions but probably don\u2019t know the real answer.\u00a0 (Yes, Delta employees should know their airline policies and the customer service agent should have checked before sharing an opinion, BUT I\u2019m sure breastfeeding is not something that gets asked about very often and is only relevant to a very small proportion of their passengers and I\u2019m also sure that employee has since been informed of the proper answer!)<\/p>\n

\"IMG00530-20110318-2029\"<\/a>I\u2019ve flown with my breastfeeding babies on more flights than I can count on all my fingers and toes (plus all of theirs!) and I have never had a problem with breastfeeding.\u00a0 I have flown Delta, other large American airlines, large European airlines and small European airlines and I never even thought to ask if breastfeeding was permissible.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because I know it\u2019s legal and that no company in their right business mind will have a policy preventing a woman from breastfeeding because as many companies have learned, all that gets you is a bunch of angry moms who show up at your establishment, boobs ready!<\/p>\n

I just do what I need to do for my baby because as one of my friends pointed out on Facebook \u201cDon’t people understand, if you prevent a mom from breast feeding, a very upset loud baby is what you get!\u201d\u00a0 Trust me, I\u2019ve had my share of loud, upset babies on flights I\u2019ve taken (see\u00a0\u201cBaby Screaming on the Plane\u201d<\/a>)\u00a0but never because I couldn\u2019t breastfeed.\u00a0 Sure, I usually TRY to use a cover (and honestly that\u2019s for my own comfort while squeezed between a toddler car seat and a laptop wielding man in a business suit) but usually Sugarplum wouldn\u2019t have it and Doodle is not much more agreeable to being covered so there has been plenty of boob flying round (haha, FLYING around!)<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t ask where or when I can feed my baby whether on an airplane or on the ground, I just do it if it needs to be done and am ready with my response should the need ever arise (which, luckily, it never has) which is:\u00a0 \u201cI have a right to breastfeed my baby here.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t think so, please call the police and while you do that I will call the local news.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure your company will love the publicity this all gets.\u201d\u00a0 Ok, so maybe I\u2019m not that nervy.\u00a0 But maybe if it ever comes to the rights of my child, I will be, should I ever need to be.<\/p>\n

I honestly don\u2019t think breastfeeding in public needs to be a statement making event.\u00a0 When I nurse in public without a cover, I don\u2019t do it to say \u201cscrew you establishment, look at me being bold!\u201d\u00a0 I do it because it\u2019s easiest for me and gets my child what he needs.\u00a0 I notice the stares and looks and I can\u2019t say they don\u2019t bother me (see\u00a0“Learning about Lactation”<\/a>) but it doesn\u2019t change the way I feed.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t make me cover up or retreat to a corner or turn my back to the world or grab a bottle. \u00a0Truly, it makes me sad that it\u2019s seen as wrong, gross, inappropriate, obscene, or disturbing.<\/p>\n

\"IMG00486-20110223-2012\"<\/p>\n

All I want to do is feed my baby, gosh darn it!\u00a0 What is the problem with that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about Delta’s recent breastfeeding debacle in which a breastfeeding mother asked via Twitter about the airline’s policy and she was informed she must cover or feed a bottle. \u00a0I knew right away no such policy exists and that it was just an undereducated customer service rep misspeaking. And it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,8,16,9,12],"tags":[50,39,40,51,49],"class_list":["post-3327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-mommys-life","category-baby-business","category-breastfeeding","category-family-life","category-tiny-travellers","tag-airplane","tag-baby","tag-breastfeeding-2","tag-delta","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3330,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3327\/revisions\/3330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}