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Breastfeeding In The Church
- Thread starter Spinach
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NaasPreacher (C4K)
Well-Known Member
Jerome said:
There's the answer ladies - don't go to church again till your baby is weaned
This is just one more example of the extreme feminists movement.
Rev, why do you think breastfeeding in public isn't appropriate or modest? Many women are very good at discreetly covering themselves to the point that it just looks like they are holding the baby. Modesty isn't an issue, unless the babies get claustrophobic pull off the blanket like mine did. I can't really blame them, though. I don't eat with a blanket over my head, so why should they have to?
Why would it not be "appropriate" to feed one's baby wherever and whenever the baby is hungry?
Why would it not be "appropriate" to feed one's baby wherever and whenever the baby is hungry?
Carolina Baptist
Active Member
Just a question. Is it done discretely enough to keep a teenage boy's imagination from stumbling?
NaasPreacher (C4K)
Well-Known Member
Not being smart here - but unless he were preaching or turned around in the pew to stare chances are he would never know
Spinach said:
My wife breast fed both of ours-----when she fed in church, I promise you-----an FBI investigator wouldn't have been able to detect WHEN she was doing it---she always sat on the 2nd row and all eyes COULD have seen---but it was so descreet no one----no one---repeat----no one ever saw it!!
IF they DID happen to see and were offended------no one was MAN or WOMAN enough to complain about it to me or to her
Just a question: Why would you want to? Just because something can be done in public doesn't mean it should be done, does it? There are a lot of things that aren't wrong or indecent to do, but they don't need to be done in public.
It seems to me that it would be a matter of common decency to do it somewhere private. My wife is breastfeeding, and she wouldn't even consider doing it in a service or with other people around. She goes either to the nursery or to my office.
Of course she also arranges feeding around service times.
All of you who say, "No one can see it" or "No one knows what I am doing," how do you know that? It would be impossible to know, I would imagine. If I saw it, I certainly wouldn't say anything. But that doesn't mean it wasn't seen. I think you may be assuming a bit much to know what someone else can or can't see. And BTW, if a blanket is draped over a baby's head and a mother's shoulder, it isn't a far jump to imagine she is breastfeeding. I have seen a lot of babies being held, and very rarely is it normal to cover the head of the baby and the shoulder of the mom.
But simply put, I wouldn't say it is wrong. I would simply say there are better options. If someone asked me, I would encourage them to do it elsewhere. We make provisions for that.
It seems to me that it would be a matter of common decency to do it somewhere private. My wife is breastfeeding, and she wouldn't even consider doing it in a service or with other people around. She goes either to the nursery or to my office.
Of course she also arranges feeding around service times.
All of you who say, "No one can see it" or "No one knows what I am doing," how do you know that? It would be impossible to know, I would imagine. If I saw it, I certainly wouldn't say anything. But that doesn't mean it wasn't seen. I think you may be assuming a bit much to know what someone else can or can't see. And BTW, if a blanket is draped over a baby's head and a mother's shoulder, it isn't a far jump to imagine she is breastfeeding. I have seen a lot of babies being held, and very rarely is it normal to cover the head of the baby and the shoulder of the mom.
But simply put, I wouldn't say it is wrong. I would simply say there are better options. If someone asked me, I would encourage them to do it elsewhere. We make provisions for that.
How do you know this?
As a mom of 5, all close in age, I would have spent 7 years straight in the nursery. I also would have missed much of our deputation.
I did go to the nursery with the first one and found myself missing preaching so much---so I mastered the art of discretion (and I never covered the baby's whole head with the blanket).
Even if a woman did have her baby covered with a blanket and everyone "knew" what she was doing, what exactly is the problem? Does "knowing" cause imaginations? Does seeing a woman's pregnant belly, clothed, cause imaginations as well?
If someone had a problem with a woman nursing her baby, discreetly, in public, I think that person should analyze why, imo.
I did go to the nursery with the first one and found myself missing preaching so much---so I mastered the art of discretion (and I never covered the baby's whole head with the blanket).
Even if a woman did have her baby covered with a blanket and everyone "knew" what she was doing, what exactly is the problem? Does "knowing" cause imaginations? Does seeing a woman's pregnant belly, clothed, cause imaginations as well?
If someone had a problem with a woman nursing her baby, discreetly, in public, I think that person should analyze why, imo.
Not to be rude, and I sincerely hope you understand that, but how long were your services? I can't imagine that out of a full day even with six or eight feeding that an hour or hour and a half service is the only time that a baby can eat. That strikes me as odd.
It might, but that's not really my issue. To me the issue is appropriateness. If you were on a long flight, then by all means, have at it. I am not offended by it. I just don't see the need for it.
As do I. As I analyze it, I just find myself wondering why it is necessary. It seems to me to be unnecessary and sufficiently questionable to avoid it particularly when there are better options.
It wasn't every service, but when baby is hungry, baby is hungry. Sunday mornings were the most common because we had a 9:30 prayer meeting and didn't usually get out of church until 12:30. Somewhere in there, baby will get hungry.
Sunday nights were less frequent, but still possible. We got there early and the service lasted for an hour and a half. My babies were hungry at least every 2 hours.
Sunday nights were less frequent, but still possible. We got there early and the service lasted for an hour and a half. My babies were hungry at least every 2 hours.
NaasPreacher (C4K)
Well-Known Member
Wow - I have never even considered that this might be such a volatile issue.
At my inlaw's church, they have a room behind the auditorium with one-way glass. The BF mom's can go sit in a rocker and BF while they watch/listen to the service.
Can't imagine a godly woman who has no qualms about bearing her breasts in public. My wife is currently BF our son and she is very discreet. She's never BF in the auditorium but goes to the nursery to do it.
Can't imagine a godly woman who has no qualms about bearing her breasts in public. My wife is currently BF our son and she is very discreet. She's never BF in the auditorium but goes to the nursery to do it.
Carolina Baptist said:
If a teenage boy would look at me with a baby under a blanket with nothing to see and stumble, then he'd be able to do so with me wearing a shirt that shows ANY breast (completely covered but still visible - as in not wearing my husband's sweatshirt because that's the only way for you to see that I don't have breasts).
In addition, I think the more that the young people see someone breastfeeding, the more "normal" it will be. It's the healthiest for both baby and mom and it's the way God designed us. By always seeing bottles, we will have adults who will be less apt to breastfeed.
If you have to hide any activity under a blanket while in public that should tell you something. And it has not always been common practice to BF in public. It is a recent phenomenon.
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