Professor breast feeds in class.

[Sonya610]

In the business world she would have fed before or after the meeting. That you choose to put it in the middle of a meeting shows to make a point you take it to the point of being ridiculous.

How is an hour long class any different than an hour long business meeting? And the students HAD to be there, you can be sure if they suddenly walked out they might have to worry about it affecting their grade in one way or another. She was in a position of authority.

 

[TrackerSam]

How is an hour long class any different than an hour long business meeting? And the students HAD to be there, you can be sure if they suddenly walked out they might have to worry about it affecting their grade in one way or another. She was in a position of authority.

It was the first day of class wasn't it? Let's stick to the facts in this, as someone had mentioned 'what if she were a bus driver'. Well she's not a bus driver or an astronaut, or performing brain surgery or in meetings with busness moguls.
Your occupation and your employer determine your options, so that's between her and the school. I've seen plenty of women breastfeed in the presence of others and they all did so discreetly, as I'm sure did she. My employer allows kids in the work place as long as they're well behaved. No one fell ill, nobody died and no one's life was put at risk. I never said it was appropriate but I just can't get all bent out of shape about it. If you choose to, that's your option. I do wish we'd adopt a more "so what" attitude about it as most of the rest of the world does. When done discreetly, I just don't see the harm.

 

[SapphireSteel]

The real questions here are

1. why wasn't she on (paid) maternity leave?
2. why isn't there a parent friendly creche on campus where she could feed/express?
3. why are some young people still brought up thinking breastfeeding is offensive?
4. why wasn't the complainer ignored by everyone anyway?

 

[~n/t~]

The real questions here are

1. why wasn't she on (paid) maternity leave?
2. why isn't there a parent friendly creche on campus where she could feed/express?
3. why are some young people still brought up thinking breastfeeding is offensive?
4. why wasn't the complainer ignored by everyone anyway?

Just replying to your questions from what I understand.

1) The child is one year old. I don't know about maternity leave in the US but up here mothers now get shared leave with daddy of up to one year. I should say, in my province. I don't know about the rest of Canada. 23 years ago when I had my first child, it was 4 months. In the US I believe it's a lot less.

2) A creche would be great not only for teachers but for all moms who hold a full time job. Unfotunately, that is unrealistic unless you work for a major coroporation. Some moms are lucky to get paid sick leave. Many jobs don't and won't even pay moms to stay home to watch their sick children.

3) IMO, I don't think they're brought up thinking it is offensive. I think the issue here is where it was being done. Breast feeding in a classroom whist one is teaching a class is not the place nor the time. Parents put their children in daycare or have babysitters. They don't bring their kids to their workplace to feed them. Sick or not.

4) The complainer had as much right to complain as the teacher who is complaining. The students are there to learn and not have to put up with a fussy sick baby. It is unacceptable. This woman was in the wrong no matter what. This poor child should not have been subjected to any of this.

Hope mom gets her priorities checked and plans her day accordingly.

Plan A

Plan B

and Plan C

She will need it.

 

[Nova]

but she wanted to silence the student newspaper from writing about the incident? she wanted to remain anonymous (aka "protected" << her word)? seems extremely hypocritical to me...

btw, "hostile work environment"? GMAB

I agree with you and the writer of the original link.

Breastfeeding? No big deal (as this link and the reaction of her administration demonstrate).

Condescending in a hostile way to a student reporter and threatening potential litigation (all her vague references to "protected class" and "hostile work environment" issues) in order to control the student press? Reprehensible.

 

[gitana1]

These were adults not children. I don't think she lifted up her shirt and had the kid pick which one she chose to feed from. I believe she was probably exhausted from lack of sleep, and her judgement was off. I'm sure if she was bottle feeding it wouldn't have even been an issue. There are so many people in this country that have such an issue with breast feeding. I have seen women breast feeding in public and you can't see anything because they usually have a shawl or a really baggy shirt on. It's mostly people letting their minds wonder. She was comforting her sick infant child in the most loving way a mother can.

It's true. My family is from Europe. They have a different mindset than I do. My mom has movies that she would show to every Tom, Dick and Harry of me nursing, nothing hidden, I even yank at her boob with my mouth and twist it as I;m trying to see who is filming. Eesh.

In Spain, at BBQ's or any other kind of family function, my cousins will just whip it out and feed their kids. They do it in public too. There is no hiding under a blankie and being "discreet".

I will admit to being a bit taken aback whenever that happens because I am an American and just not used to seeing that. Offended? Not a chance. But it is a bit unnerving when you're not used to it.

I admit, too, that I would not be pleased if my professor brought their baby to class. I would be distracted watching it crawl around, etc. I would be irritated if my professor brought a sick child to class because I cannot afford to get ill (with asthma, a cold can become a nightmare).

But for goodness sake, she had an emergency. It was the first day of class. She tried to accommodate the students and her baby at the same time. And she wasn't doing it all southern European style. She said she was covered up. Why are people so rigid and uncompromising?

Part of what we learn in life is not from books. It's from experience. <modsnip>

Oh, and why did she breastfeed instead of using the bottle she would have had to prepare for daycare? Well, the kid was sick when she got up in the morning so she knew she didn't have to, perhaps.

But let's say she did have one prepared. There she is sitting with breasts filled with milk, it's just natural and more comfortable to use what she's got right there, especially with a sick baby who may take the milk more easily when wrapped close to her mommy.

I think people spend entirely too much time thinking about what makes them uncomfortable rather than thinking about how to make others comfortable. You talk about manners and politeness? I think the people making a big deal out of a mother feeding her kid (not the same as other "natural functions" - just feeding) need to learn a thing about politeness and manners and stop being such crybabies, too.

Ugh. Sorry, it brings me back to my law school days when students complained and griped about every little thing, complaining about professors, other students, etc., like they were in Kindergarten. It drove me nuts.

 

[jjenny]

Just replying to your questions from what I understand.

1) The child is one year old. I don't know about maternity leave in the US but up here mothers now get shared leave with daddy of up to one year. I should say, in my province. I don't know about the rest of Canada. 23 years ago when I had my first child, it was 4 months. In the US I believe it's a lot less.

...

In US, maternity leave provided by most employers is very short. And these students pay a lot for their education. I don't think it's appropriate to be calling them cry babies or snow flakes (and worse), as some (not you) are doing here.

 

[gitana1]

In US, maternity leave provided by most employers is very short. And these students pay a lot for their education. I don't think it's appropriate to be calling them cry babies or snow flakes (and worse), as some (not you) are doing here.

Hey, I spent a boat load of money for my education too. I will be paying for that for the rest of my life, probably.

I was also astounded that payment of that money made so many of my fellow students feel entitled to act like jerks.

I watched students complain about teaching methods, complain that professors did not cover everything on the syllabus so they shouldn't test us on it all (even though they told us what to study), complain about what a professor talked about in class during their class time, complain about other students, accuse them of cheating, etc., etc.

Oh, they used to roll their eyes and audibly sigh loudly during the first semester, whenever I asked a question, because apparently I was holding the classes behind because they all understood everything long before I did. (I ended up the very top scorer on our very first mid-term, to many students' complete shock and horror. That shut them up).

They managed to get a great professor fired, get an assistant dean demoted and run off a wonderful husband and wife student team who they accused of cheating because the wife put her pen down one milli-second after time was called.

I just kept my head down, studied, did what my professors told me and kept my mouth shut. I thought my education was fantastic.

In the meantime, half of the whiners never even graduated or passed the bar!

I think a lot of people feel that if they pay money for something they should never have a problem and should be able to get whatever they want as a result.

Life isn't like that. There are various types of people we have to deal with in business, in general and nothing is ever perfect.

Too many people think spending money entitles them to perfection. It doesn't.

 

[redheadedgal]

1) sounds like the baby caused more distraction then just when being fed
2) dirty floor? paper clip? outlet? yeah-- mom really cared for her "sick" baby if she was willing to put her in an unclean and unsafe environment <<sarcasm


The Washington Post reports:

The baby, in a blue onesie, crawled on the floor of the lecture hall during part of the 75-minute class&#8230;The mother extracted a paper clip from the girl&#8217;s mouth at one point and shooed her away from an electrical outlet. A teaching assistant held the baby and rocked her at times, volunteering to help even though Pine stressed that she didn&#8217;t have to. When the baby grew restless, Pine breast-fed her while continuing her lecture in front of 40 students.
​

 

[Gardenlady]

1) sounds like the baby caused more distraction then just when being fed
2) dirty floor? paper clip? outlet? yeah-- mom really cared for her "sick" baby if she was willing to put her in an unclean and unsafe environment <<sarcasm


The Washington Post reports:

The baby, in a blue onesie, crawled on the floor of the lecture hall during part of the 75-minute class&#8230;The mother extracted a paper clip from the girl&#8217;s mouth at one point and shooed her away from an electrical outlet. A teaching assistant held the baby and rocked her at times, volunteering to help even though Pine stressed that she didn&#8217;t have to. When the baby grew restless, Pine breast-fed her while continuing her lecture in front of 40 students.
​

Wow, really? I'm a mom of four and I will absolutely cop to letting my various then-one-year-olds crawl around in non-childproof areas when away from home, having to shoo them from outlets, and two of four had to be x-rayed for picking up and possibly swallowing a dime and a piece of magnetic Barbie Dog "poop" toy piece (no lie - his older sister received a Barbie with pooping dog toy from my MIL - came with four poops that came out of the dog, and a Barbie sized pooper scooper lol) respectively. Once they crawl and walk, you simply cannot hold them all the time, "dirty" floor or not. They won't let you. It's like trying to hold a cat that wants to get away, only much heavier lol.

I guess this makes me an uncaring parent? Because I let my kids crawl around, and kids often get into things like paper clips, crumbs, coins, and put everything in their mouths?

<modsnip>

 

[outofthedark]

I had a bigger problem with her bringing the child to class, who had no place being there to begin with.

For one, the child was sick and was a hotbed for germs. Not everybody can afford to fall ill, and that child had the possibility of getting sicker just by being there.

At other times the child nearly swallowed a paper clip and nearly electrocuted itself. All of that is a distraction.

She should have cancelled the class or notified the school so that they could find a sub teacher. My teachers either cancelled classes or had a sub if they were sick or had any emergencies.

 

[SapphireSteel]

The question is larger than just this one child and this one mother, to me.

The question is why a large social structure such as a university would not have affordable, accessible child care facilities for the use of both students and staff. This woman should have either had a paid 'carer' day available to her, or a work based creche to use.

Surely since over 50% of the population of the university and indeed, the rest of the world, will probably be/have been breast feeding mothers, why are we still demanding (and receiving) no help or even support from either our employers or the rest of society in managing this?

In my case as a single and unsupported mother, I not only had to bring home the bacon, I had to cook it and serve it as well...be it in a nutritionally packed lunch box, a hot sit down meal at night with interested mum ears all the while, or via my own breasts while doing some other labour of love.

I doubt this woman actually WISHED to teach her class with an infant attached to her breast...she clearly had no other viable choice.

This woman should be able to go to work every day knowing her baby is in safe hands down the hall. We all should be able to. It is up to us, the 51%, to demand it that our employers move to the future and help us raise our families as part of a global responsibility toward the unfracturing of the family. Children would be far, far better in quality care near their working parents, and working parents would be far, far better equipped to give back to society if their children are nearby and well looked after as part of a salary package. It's a win-win whose day has come.

One would think the Professor of Feminist Anthropology a in a centre of higher learning in the most "advanced society" in the world would be a great place to start making breastfeeding less offensive to some, but, in middle America today, it may as well be 100 years ago when seamstresses kept their babies hidden away under their skirts as they stitched their fingers raw.

I wonder if we would hear the same outcry if a father bottle-fed his his baby while lecturing. I doubt it.

Everyone would find it cute, the university suddenly would not become a hot bed of potential life threatening disease and electrocution hazards. It would be "awwww"...

 

[redheadedgal]

At other times the child nearly swallowed a paper clip and nearly electrocuted itself. All of that is a distraction.

She should have cancelled the class or notified the school so that they could find a sub teacher. My teachers either cancelled classes or had a sub if they were sick or had any emergencies.

as i posted earlier -- exactly! that child had no reason to be crawling around all over a lecture hall floor sick or not! irresponsible parenting imo.

since the TA was present, why didn't she run the class? that way "mom" could've stayed home with baby... when i was a graduate assistant, that's what i did when the prof was ill or unavailable or whatnot...

 

[Tucarra]

In what profession is it acceptable to bring baby to work place? Would it be o'key if your bus driver drove a bus with a baby in lap? How about employees of a fast food restaurant? High school teacher?
A police woman?

Having worked in industry, manufacturing plants, for 30 years....workplaces are thankfully much more tolerant and amenable to children, even infants, in the workplace....

I still remember one of our tougher-than-nails construction managers bottle-feeding his baby in the offices during one of our seemingly endless string of workplace 'crises'.....

He did explain that the bottle was filled with the Mom's breast milk...but as a working couple they had kinda planned on the unexpected...

But seriously have to say that breast-feeding a child while teaching is just silly....as would be trying to gulp down a cheeseburger and milkshake while teaching....

Simply excuse yourself for a few minutes to do what you have to do....c'mon...

 

[outofthedark]

as i posted earlier -- exactly! that child had no reason to be crawling around all over a lecture hall floor sick or not! irresponsible parenting imo.

since the TA was present, why didn't she run the class? that way "mom" could've stayed home with baby... when i was a graduate assistant, that's what i did when the prof was ill or unavailable or whatnot...

And floors are dirty to a T. Somebody could have stepped in dog poo or anything else that's a health risk.

 

[cityslick]

I agree with others, the bigger issue here is:

a) A sick child was brought to a place of business
b) The business did not provide a place or means (or at least it was unknown to the teacher) to breastfeed the child.

I don't have a problem with a woman breastfeeding her child in public, but there are certain instances where it's not appropriate, this is one of them. Just like it would be inappropriate if a woman was breastfeeding in the middle of a board meeting. But there should be areas where that can be done, on site. Even in some daycare, when you go in to breastfeed your child, you usually do it turned around, facing the wall sometimes behind a partition, not sitting in the middle of the room as people walk in the door.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I have no problem with the breast feeding, bigger problem with bringing sick child.

I have been known to bring my child to class. Not big deal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jjenny]

Even if the business did provide private places for nursing babies, it is my understanding that "lactivists" want to be able to nurse the child at any public place.

 

[LaLaw2000]

It seems to me there has to be more to this story. This is something I do not feel a normal or reasonable person would do. As someone else stated - what would the baby have eaten at the sitters?

MOO

 

[jjenny]

And why don't day cares allow children with fever in? Presumably to minimize the spread of illness. Then why is it o'key to bring the sick child into the room full of students?