Woman kicked off plane for breast-feeding baby

jlew24asu wrote:

I cant believe how much discussion has come about a baby suckin of some ta ta's.

puremagic wrote:

Being that the child is nearly two, it is not dependent solely on breast feeding. I have no doubt, barring any medical or disability issues, she drinks juice and water from either a cup or bottle.

puremagic wrote:

Being that the child is nearly two, it is not dependent solely on breast feeding. I have no doubt, barring any medical or disability issues, she drinks juice and water from either a cup or bottle. So, for all the reasons you have stated, the mother could have just as easily provided the same simulated nursing relief from flight pressure utilizing a bottle of breast milk, juice or water as they knew that would be flying. The emotional factor of being near the mother was not an issue. As the mother indicated that there were three occupied seats, she had already been holding the child.

The flight attendant offered her a blanket for privacy, not to stop the breast feeding process. If the blanket was unacceptable, why didn't the parents simply use something they had packed. The parents knew that they nursed this child, they knew they were taking a flight, why didn't they have a towel handy that could have been used? They could have used their jacket or sweater. I don't see where her rights were violated. I would speculate that the reason she was removed from the plane was because she became argumentative and disruptive with her "my legal rights" because I am mother and your not, you know nothing and, see, its just a breast speech and attitude while flashing it as a titty. [Its a titty when there's no baby attached, it doesn't make a difference what it was used for 5 minutes beforehand.]

Making the point that only parents can understand and appreciate the nursing process is absurd. Everyone can appreciate the need of a nursing mother. At the same time, nursing parents need to appreciate the fact that a request for discretion is not an insult to motherhood but simply a request due to the environment. It was the flight attendant's job to ensure that all passengers were comfortable.

JaneNY wrote:

If the mother was full of attitude and rude, I'm right there with ya. But a baby who needs to nurse and is asking this of the mother may not be easily denied, if it was fussy and tired. Its going to make noise and annoy everyone. And drinking from a cup isn't the same thing. Besides, carrying your own liquid beverages onto a plane is rather iffy these days, and people are at the mercy of what and when the flight attendents bring, so the mother may well have not had access to any other liquid at the time to provide to the baby.

I do stand by my assertion that people who have not breastfed, or at least been around a family who has breastfed, can't fully understand the needs of a mother and breastfed child, and this is evidenced by the responses I'm reading on this thread.

There are just so many extenuating circumstances though that we can't really speak for either the mother or the flight attendent, or the other passengers, and we don't know the whole story.

JaneNY wrote:

The thing that is ridiculous is if a child is breastfeeding, you can't SEE much of the breast, as it is covered up by the kid's head. I can tell you this from experience. Also, I can tell you that a 22 month old child will NOT take kindly to having a blanket dumped over its head simply because it is EATING. A 22 month old probably has a few words including NO! If you have a kid at your breast, and the shirt above the kid's head, really, nothing basically is visible, because a kid that age is going to cover up most of your mid section as well as the breast. One's primary goal in traveling with a 22 month old is keeping it HAPPY and FED, otherwise its a pain for EVERYONE on the plane. Would they have rather sat with a screaming miserable baby the whole flight?

puremagic wrote:

The child is almost two years old, the parents knew they were taking a flight of less than 1 hr.1/2 could she not have prepared a bottle of breast milk, juice or water? No! there is nothing wrong with breast feeding. At 22 months, however, parents do have some control and options.

What puzzles me is why she did this at the boarding stage of the flight? The mother's location would not have prevented her from being exposed to passengers looking for their seats or placing their carryon bags. Again, why pick the boarding stage when a child is likely to be distracted by the activity on the plane or outside of the window?

If her "legal right" outweighed her indiscretion, why didn't she feed the child in the terminal while waiting for the flight? Why did she feel the need to wait until they were on the plane to immediately start breast feeding?