Breastfeeding Mom Ordered Off Bus; What do You Think? (POLL)
After mom is ordered off a Michigan bus for breastfeeding her 2-week-old baby, the debate over nursing in public intensifies
A 32-year-old mom who was ordered by the driver to cover up while breastfeeding her two-week-old son on a Michigan bus is trying to send the message that nursing moms have to stand up for their rights, and is trying to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding.
Afrykayn Moon was nursing her son, who was in a wrap against her body, when the bus driver came over and told her to cover up – although Moon says you couldn’t see much of anything. The driver later called security guards to come escort the nursing mom off the bus. Although 45 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands have laws that specifically allow women to breastfeed in any public or private locations, some state lawmakers are introducing stronger legislation to further protect nursing moms. Moon helped stage a nurse-in at the bus facility Friday, and also made a 10-minute YouTube video, during which she tells her story:
“As a mother, I should have the right to feed my child, period. I should have the right to feed my child without being harassed by the bus driver, without the driver calling the police on me. Doing things like that…discourages [women] from breastfeeding,” she said. “We don’t need to keep mothers from nursing. We need to keep promoting mothers to nurse.”
Approximately 75 percent of U.S. mothers start breastfeeding immediately after birth, but less than 15 percent of them are breastfeeding exclusively six months later. As a part of the Healthy People 2020 initiative, the national goal is to increase the proportion of mothers who breastfeed their babies in the early postpartum period to 81.9 percent by the year 2020.
Watch Moon’s video below:
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These are one expert’s views on the news. Share with us your thoughts in the comments box below.
Category: Views on the News
I admire all the moms that can breast feed. my first son had a cleft palate and the doctor gave me meds to dry up. my second son sucked so hard i was raw. I wish i had pumped my breast for both of tthem.
OK, breast-feeding Moms, don't whip it out in public. You know how to do this without drawing attention to the situation. There are light blankets to cover the whole situation. I wore appropriate clothing and nobody could tell the difference when I nursed my babies. Then the whole bruhaha will go away and we can have different things to talk about, such as providing aid and support for our returning troups who have PTSD and their families! Let's find something worthwhile to talk about!
1) Many babies will not tolerate a blanket or get overheated b/c breastfeeding is harder work than bottle-feeding (in a bottle it drips out, w/nursing the baby must pump it out). If I tried to use a blanket, my kids would fuss and kick and draw even more attention to us.
2) (To other posters) many breastfeeding mothers cannot pump. End of story.
3) Babies' good health is plenty important to talk about!
I totally agree with you. I also was a breast-feeding mom of 5 children, I too like you kept covered, as not to draw attention. It is a special bonding time between mother and baby. There is no need for an exhibition. When serving in uniform there are strict rules for conduct and what and when is appropiate with that uniform. Also, "your rights are uncle sam's". I have and have family members in the military. Anyone that relaxes the rules for their conveniences is bringing shame to the service and indirectly to us (country).
If you feel the need to breastfeed then be more responsible and respectful of others. In most workplaces you pump before after or on breaks and save the bare skin for out of the workplace(uniform)
They can say what ever excuse they want, the bottom line is they do it for attention. They are not smart enough to use a breast pump when they are going out. They are only after that attention. They are stupid to think no one knows this. I breast feed both my kids for 6 months but I didn't just pull my breast out like it was a hand or something. I knew about breast pumps and breast feed at home. Shame on them. They like Beyonce can't get enough attention. They want all they can get. They use a baby to get it. They are wrong.
OMG… Do you realize if someone had to use a breast pump while they were in public they would draw even more attention?? They are LOUD. I do use a breast pump when I'm at work but if my child is right there with me, there's no reason to use a pump. When the baby is hungry, just feed them.
I have breastfed both my kids until 12 months and I can assure you I've done it in airports, on airplanes, at the table at restaurants… wherever I was when my baby was hungry. I always use a nursing cover but I'm sure people know what's going on under there. I'm not doing it for the attention. I'm doing it to feed my child. Good grief!! As a fellow mom who did nurse, I'm shocked by your stupidity.
You are sick to think that nursing your baby in public is only attention seeking. Untill we get over the idea of breasts as sexual equipment and not as nourishment this controversy will rage. We are a stifeled society , very Puritanical in our ideas and I am sick of people criticizing nursing mothers whether they do on a park bench or their living room couch. Get over it people!!!!!
Really? The article didn't say that she just pulled it out. While breast feeding my third son I tried to cover him up with a blanket. He STOPPED BREATHING because he got too hot. Do people think before they post crap like this? It isn't about attention it is about the baby. And breast pumps do not work on everyone. My breast were too big for them to work. It was your decision to do what you did, but don't try to force it on anyone else.
Your attitude is ignorant. I nursed both my children when ever and wherever we were at the time. Not once did anyone see my breasts and I always was discreet. It is possible to nurse without a coverup if your baby gets warm and still not show anything. Yes it is a little uncomfortable when a mom nurses walking around with everything hanging out but breasts are for babies first and formost, not sexual. I would rather obese men to not go shirtless but it is their right as it is a mothers right to nurse anywhere, anytime.
Please i dont want to hear or see some kid sucking on breasts or smell dirty diapers on the bus or any public place why can't women respect other peoples rights Oh I forgot they think their special!!!!
To be honest I don't particularly like to smell dirty old men on the bus either. It is also quite disgusting to see old people drooling or watch anyone eat with their mouth open. Yet for some reason no one has ever thrown an elderly person off the bus for smelling bad or a young adult off the bus for finishing whatever it is they just grabbed from a local fast food place. As soon as we start arresting everyone else for eating on the bus or anywhere else in public then by all means go after the infants that don't have many options of when, where, or what to eat.
Steve, do you even ride the bus? No one wants to smell dirty diapers, not even mothers, but then we were talking about breastfeeding weren't we. Women should be vigorously encouraged in any effort they make that benefits the babies (as breastfeeding does) and makes them better mothers as they try to raise the next generation to be functioning adults. Mothers do not listen to criticism from people who don't give a damn about the welfare of your children!! Keep trying to get the best deal out of life for your babies. It won't be easy but your cause is righteous!!
You don't want to smell dirty diapers. You do realize that babies can't control that right? you are saying women should stay home "bare foot and pregnant", so that you don't want to smell a dirty diaper? grow up!
Why should a breastfeeding mom have to pump just to make you happy?? The milk is already in the perfect container!
I will second, third, and fourth that statment. These people that think its a bad thing need to just relize that 99% of them were feed in the same way as they are B*&^%$#$ about.
Posing with your breasts hanging out, using it for the web or a magazine cover is not to help the cause of breastfeeding!! It is only to draw attention to one part of your body….YOUR BOOBS!! These women are sluts…not mothers!
would you like to listen to a hungry , screaming baby on a bus , or just out somewhere . I think not . the next thing you will be doing is ,CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING WITH THAT CHILD! GET REAL BUTTHEAD…. Just leave the mothers alone. They surely don't need your kind of help. David
Did you READ the article it said that they weren't POSING they were feeding their babies. I nursed 4 children in public at home or anywhere they needed to be fed. Here in Ontario we as women can go topless if we choose just like men do… why no uproar over a man's boobs being exposed??? Believe me i have seen some men that can put women to shame with the size of their breasts and yet they STRUT around in public looking for ATTENTION!!!
I'm sorry, but. They were posing. They were looking at the camera, standing up while feeding their babies and smiling. If they were really feeding their babies, they'd be sat down and not grinning at the camera like celebrities.
I breast fed all three of my daughters. It can be done discretely, however, sometimes baby gets hot like you and me do & off goes the cover-up! yikes! Anyway, most of the time no one knew I was feeding baby. Once in the grocery store two little old ladies approached me & saw the baby blanket over my nursing daughter. They promptly lifted it up & said, "Oh we're so sorry!' I just laughed & continued shopping. No one else knew. On the flip side, I see more near nudity in the store than at the beaches. Ugly legs hanging out of shorts, shorts too short showing saging butt checks, women who think they look sexy without a bra, plunging blouses that leave nothing to the imagination & short tops with rolls of flesh hanging out! So, tell me which is worse, a baby suckling & using breasts for their food, or seeing butts, boobs, & 'love ahndles' that need covered up?!?!?!?!
I breast fed each of my three babies until they were a year old… Now they're 21, 23 and nearly 33. I had three months of maternity leave after the births of my younger son and daughter but, upon returning to work had to use a breast pump to relieve myself and have feedings available at home. When going out somewhere, it was a lot easier for me to grab a bag with a few diapers a change of clothes and a pack of baby wipes, than for my friend who needed all of that plus a couple of bottles. (… and I swear that formula poop smells worse!) For a person who grew up in the '60s & early '70s, I was very modest, yet I managed to nurse all three children in public without anyone even being aware of it. Discretion is possible, if desired.
OH MY GOD PEOPLE! if u don't like it don't friggin look! There is more to worry about in this world than some women feeding there children. You should worry about whats going on in your own backyards before judging these women. Some of u r so self righteous its unbelievable. for the women in uniform, more power to u. At least there fighting for our country, what are the rest of u doing? Bitching about something thats natural? GET OVER IT!
Breast feeding should be a private process. When a mom breast feeds in public it really amounts to indescent exposure.
You could not be more wrong. Public health experts recommend a minimum of two years. And spare me the lame "pump and use a bottle." That never worked for me. I'm not going to stay locked up in my house for two years or more b/c you don't have the good sense to put the baby's needs in proper perspective! (And yes, I was very discreet.)
Should bottle-feeding be private? Not to bash formula and bottles, but the cold hard truth is that there are all sorts of germs in a bottle of formula no matter how careful you are while breastfeeding directly is more than sterile, it actually kill pathogens. So which process is actually "dirty," huh?
Those who think breastfeeding is sexual or dirty are only showing their own sick minds contents!
I find it incomprehensible there have to be petition and laws for the right to feed a child. A mother breast-feeding her baby is a most natural act of nurturing and expression of love. It is so easy for some to assume the role of jury, judge, and executioner. Prejudice of any sort is as ugly as the one who actually believe the lies they tell themselves and then spread it like a disease into their own children. Take the word prejudice, now remove the I and the C. What do you get? Pre-judge. In the words of Herbert Spenser, "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance———- that principle is contempt prior to investigation. I have two children, of whom were not breastfed due to my selfishness. I support and applaud women who do not tremble before the "conditioning of society"……………………
healer4
Nothing about this is about the right to feed a child… nobody is telling you to let your child starve… all people are saying is do it discretely. Apparently, that's too much to ask and we should respect all mothers and expect no respect or even compromise back from them.
Mothers should be able to breastfeed in public, they just need to be as modest as they can. I breastfed my 2nd child for a year and not once did anyone see my breasts while I did it!
i don't care what anyone's opinion is. it is legal to breastfeed in my state and that's that, if anyone tries to stop me i'll sue the crap out of them o_O
Yes but we can see people being blown apart in slow motion on T.V. but breastfeeding is considered indecent, give me a break