I had just boarded a flight out of Anchorage with my then 2 week old baby. He had been peacefully sleeping until we were in line for take-off. He then woke up and was hungry, not crying really but that newborn mewling they do before the actual cry starts. In the amount of time it took me to shift around and move my shirt to feed him, the guy sitting in front of me turned around and snapped ” Is that brat going to scream the whole trip?”
As a brand new mom I was already a little overwhelmed and didn’t know quite what to say. Thankfully the angel sitting next to me piped up ” So what if he does; he’s obviously got more manners than you.” Incidentally my baby didn’t cry once the whole trip; he happily nursed and went right back to sleep.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
yes the guy was an ass. but the word NURSE used in this context gives me the willies. breastfeeding is disgusting.
Omg are you an idiot? Breastfeeding is natural, inexpensive and convenient, and if done discreetly you won't even know it is happening, I'd call you a neanderthal but that is how they fed their young. Grow up!
Oh, I imagine you feel the same way about the process of birth, too.
Give me a break! Breastfeeding is NATURAL …nothing disgusting about it.
Oh, please, get over it – nursing is normal and natural. The OP clearly did the right thing and the baby was very well behaved. Glad to hear someone stood up for her.
Women can breastfeed discreetly and do so all the time. Nobody's asking you to stare at them, "eeewww." How do you think YOU started out in life?
I'd have done the same thing the OP did – opened my big mouth and shut that obnoxious jerk's for him! Picking on a two-week old baby like that!
I am a female, and a) I would never breastfeed in public or b) take my two week old baby on a plane. Wrong and wrong.
Obviously Alex you are a) not a mother b) hopefully never will be
Good for you, Alex. That's your decision. Of course, we never know what life will throw at us. I wonder what you would have done in this mother's situation – let your child go hungry for a couple of hours, because you were too embarrassed to feed him/her? Chances are your mind would change in a hurry.
Or perhaps she is too much a lady.
I doubt if this was a vacation, Alex, because most moms would not travel with a two week old unless they had to. Never say never!
If you breast feed your babies you get no choice about where to do so, unless you hole up in the house for the first 2 years you will end up having to feed in public at some point. As for flying with a newborn, shit happens and sometimes things are beyond our control. Get over yourself.
Kudos to you for breastfeeding and clearly knowing what the little one needed. Actually nursing probably helped with the pressure change and got him nice and full and ready for sleep., plus the skin to skin contact was probably pretty comforting to the babe. If you as a passenger are sitting next to a breastfeeding mom, consider that a good thing – that baby is probably going to sleep through the flight.
As for taking a 2 week baby on a plane; guys, she may not have had an option – you never know what the situation was and maybe she had to fly… I would expect most moms are not thrilled to take a newborn flying: would you really want to fly 2 weeks after passing a cantaloupe – given birth? Not me!