thats just ridiculous what do they expect us to do starve the baby is it best to hear a baby screaming like mad or just let the mother feed the child we should ask these ignorant fools this. my baby only take breast milk and i refuse to starve him to please any one becaus eim sure when they are hungry the eat. besides we see leaflet all around from the NHS advising that BF is beast so why isnt thers a law to protect these babies of thier right to eat

That's insane! I'm a working mom and I work and travel with my little one as since I'm bf-ing, I can't leave him behind. I have breast fed everywhere!! And I will not be stopping anytime soon!

I love breastfeeding, it is fab! Not only for my daughter, but for me too (any excuse to have extra cake and coffee and a sit down!). I find that no-one notices you anyway, I have had people coming up to me and asking all about my baby, obviously totally oblivious to the fact I am feeding her. I am Scottish, but live in Northumberland, and must admit that I thought that the same law applied here, so have just been feeding my wee girl everywhere, and never had a complaint. Is anyone really going to ask you to leave if you have discretely started? Totally up for the law being the same in England and Wales.

I think they should definately make it law here that you can breastfeed where ever you want! Like others have said you wouldnt ask a woman feeding a bottle fed baby to leave so why ask a mother who is breastfeeding her child to leave! Its disgusting that some people get treated like that, everyone is promoting breastfeeding saying how good it is yet there are still small minded people out there who dont agree with mums doing it in public, its them who should be asked to leave the restaurant or whereever they are, not the breastfeeding mums!

Any woman who wants to breastfeed should be allowed to wherever they are.
I have breastfed both my young sons and they are both healthier and better for it. The benefits of breastfeeding your baby are enormous from a helath point of view to the baby and to the mum and the bonding that occurs is an unbelievable experience. So for anyone to be ask to stop feeding their baby is an outrage and has most people have commented on no one is ever asked to stop bottle feeding.

I was very conscious of people staring at me with my first son born November 2005 when I was feeding in public and I was very discreet as most mums are. As a first time mum my confidence with a new baby wasn't has strong has it has been with my second son, I was very wary of peoples reaction. Now I will feed my second son absolutely anywhere - if he's hungry he gets fed and thats one of the beautys of breastfeeding you can do just that - you don't have to prepare anything or warm it up.

I fed my first son until he was 16 months old and am still feeding my 10 month old now and plan to do so for a while longer. Even this gets comments from some friends who say are you still feeding or are you going to feed the youngest for as long as the eldest - its all ridiculous. Breastfeeding is probably one of the most important things you can do for your baby.

So if anyone tries to tell me to stop feeding they will get more than they bargained for as I would refuse to stop.

Even though breast feeding is the most natural thing in the world i found it is one of the hardist things to do. why do people have to make it even harder for us? We are only trying to give the littles the best possible start in life!

i agree, its definately about time we had the same protection as scotland to be able to feed our babies in public,beyond the age of 6m too. xx

Disgusting that you could be made to leave just because you are feeding you baby. If I was asked to leave I would really kick off. I feed my baby when I am out but you can not tell I do not sit there with my boobs hanging out, and if my baby is hungry she is hungry and can not wait.
Why can we not be treated the same as Scotland? Not just with this but lots of over things we are supposed to be Great Britain!!!

Anita Potter

I just cant believe that its 2008 and this is still an issue. people that are against b/f in public should be the ones that are banned from these places. I realy cant see any reason why anyone would have a problem with breastfeeding in public places. it can be done discreetly and noone is forced to look. babies are tiny people who need to be fed and are often breast-fed on demand so its hard to work around feeding times. mums cant be made to stay in doors until their babies are on solids. why is it a form of feeding if it cant be done anywhere any time....isnt it the most natural thing in this world?

This issue is one that really upsets me, simply because of the absurdity of it!
Yes, I think it should be made illegal for anyone to ban breastfeeding.

1 in 4 top restaurants ban mothers breast feeding. Why? Is it bad for business? Surely whats worse for business is turning customers away just because they intend to feed their baby.

As for violating any indecency laws - surely the intent should be taken into account? When feeding a baby, yes, the mother will "expose" her breast, but she does not do it to offend, or to attract any attention. She simply wants to feed her baby. In fact, when I breastfeed my baby in a public place, I try to do it as discreetly as possible, covering the baby's head with my scarf or a muslin cloth.
And as it has been said so often on this site - you can see more flesh on the usual Friday night "slappers" in town!

yes i support breastfeeding in public if baby is hungry baby gets fed. reqardless if it is bottle or breast at the end of the day the would be quick enough to take you up for starving the child so instead of letting this happen why not breastfeed in public. it is not as if you are showing yourself off the baby covers everything so people should not be affended. They should be more embassased that they are deniing your child its dinner!!

absolutely this law should be introduced throughout the UK!!
We should be encouraged to do this very natural process.
Only recently a woman in a shopping arcade near to where i live was asked to leave by a security guard. Pity for him she was a breastfeeding counsellor and went straight round to the local press, who then went to the guards employer, who promptly sacked the guard!
We should never be forced to feel uncomfortable and congratulations to Scotland for being so forward thinking!

I think its disgusting in this day and age that attitudes are so outdated, we should be allowed to breastfeed whenever, wherever and for as long as we want without fear of reprisal.
To say that breast is best and then impose rules relating to it, is outrageous!

I always intended to breastfeed my son but it was a big decision as i faced dissaproval from certain quarters, but i stood my ground.
The thought of having to worry about feeding in public places and face dissaproval from complete stangers was another hurdle to face and it took some weeks befor i had the confidence to do it.

My little boy is now 4 months old and i feed him when he is hungry, no matter where we are and i intend to carry on breast feeding for a long time to come - no matter what.

are you joking??? I thought it was already illegal to stop us breastfeeding! That is ridiculous. God help the person who tries to tell me to stop feeding my baby! Count me in!

T x

It is totally mad that in this day and age a mum can be asked to stop feeding her baby in public, the government keep banging on about breast being best and i completely agree that it is so why dont they do something to make it easier for us bf mums?

I live in a fairly small town and when my children were younger I would feed them in a cafe if they needed it, why shouldnt I, bottlefeeding mums were feeding their babies and there are no decent feeding rooms in our town which you do get in some of the bigger towns and cities. Only once did an old lady comment on how I should be doing that in the toilet so I just told her that when she ate her dinner off a toilet seat I would happily do the same with my baby.

it's absoloutely rediculous for breastfeeding to be illegal in public, especially as the government and midwives are trying to get more people to breast feed as long as possible. i can understand it if mothers had their boobs completely on show or something, but as most of us learn quite quickly how to feed descretely it shouldn't be anyones buisness. and being banned from restaurants is stupid as well, i've done it several times and only had problems with one place and turned round to them and told them if we can have our meals there why couldn't my son, and i made sure i made such a point of it the they walked away with their tail between their legs, and completely embaraced lol. but its true, and where else would we feed our babies if we're having lunch? in the toilets? not very healthy or comfy. i think the government should take a hard look at the practicalities of the ban and trying to get women to breast feed, especially if they really want more people to di it, i think the last report said only 5-10% of women do it, mainly because it's easier to bottlefeed, usually because of the ban and embarasment of feeding when out, but if the ban wasn't there and more people breastfed then i don't think it wuld be such an issue and more people would be inclined to do it

I'm all for the law being changed like the scottish one. This is my first baby and although she is only 3 months I often feel uncomfortable feeding her when I am out as I dont know if i will be challenged which would upset me it also isnt clear at the moment that you CAN feed your baby up to 6 months. More definately needs to be done to promote breastfeeding.

I was also very surprised that considering how much the midwives talk about breastfeeding while you are pregnant, I noticed more than half the women on the labour ward were bottle feeding there babies. I do understand that some women find it difficult or cant b/f but it is sad to see.

It is absolutely disgusting that it isn't already an offence in England and Wales to ban a woman breastfeeding in public. Why are our politicians so far behind the Scottish? They are letting every woman and child in England and Wales down, and the law must be changed immediately. If nothing else surely it is a basic human right for a child to be fed whenever and wherever they need to be?

It does make you wonder why they bother telling us that breast is best in these circumstances. The government wants us to do the right thing by our children, then make it difficult to do so!1 Sort it out once and for all!!

this is a signature from me
women should be able to b/feed whenever and wherever they want