Delta’s mixed breast messages…nursing, no…Mardi Gras…yes?
Have you ever seen a mom nurse a baby?
I’m one of the people who think it’s awesome: beautiful, sweet, and totally natural. I breastfed both of my kids and I can honestly say that thinking about the experience now (years later, when time has smoothed over some of the difficult parts), makes me very nostalgic. I loved the feeling of closeness and connectedness that nursing brought.
I can also say that pretty much the only thought on my mind while I was nursing was to feed my baby. I wasn’t staring at other people, and I certainly hoped they weren’t staring at me. For me, it was just another part of a busy (and often exhausting) day with an infant.
So, when I read this Twitter exchange between new mom Lindsay Jaynes and Delta airlines’ customer service account, @DeltaAssist, my first thought was that I was surprised that this momma even felt like she had to ask. Isn’t breastfeeding legal everywhere? (The answer, by the way, is yes – breastfeeding in public is legal in all 50 states. The Federal Aviation Administration, however, apparently does not have any rules or laws about breastfeeding.)
Not that @ClassicHippie was wrong in any way for asking – I just think it’s a bummer that she even felt like she had to.
Delta’s response was even more surprising:
Really?
At this point, I would have been very upset. A cover up? Why? Not all babies like to be covered. It gets complicated when you throw a cover over a squirmy baby. And as I said before, it’s not like nursing moms want to be on display; when you’re nursing, it’s all about the business at hand…I’m not staring at you, so please don’t stare at me.
Also – Lindsay said her baby wouldn’t nurse with a cover or take a bottle. So what was she supposed to do?
She asked this question:
And – wow – she got this answer…even though she already explained that her son wouldn’t take a bottle.
So she sent this response:
And there was seven hours of silence from Delta. So she sent this tweet:
In the meantime, another mom and breastfeeding advocate @theleakyboob leapt to @ClassicHippie’s defense, tweeting Delta and broadcasting the situation on social media sites.
So Delta sent this response:
But this wasn’t over…at least not for Delta. Check this out:
Talk about mixed messages!
What do you think about this? I would love to know!
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I think the first person was incorrect in how they answered and I have sen women breastfeeding without a cover on many a Delta flight. I also think she shouldn’t have asked, and just done it. I am not sure what she was trying to find out, it felt sort of leading to me.
Making a lot of nothing out of this! People love something to get upset about. We have real problems in the world and this isn’t one of them. Feed your child when he or she is hungry and feed then as you wish. Clearly someone wants to make a point of Delta through this instead of accepting an honest mistake. Social media can be tricky when you run a billion dollar airline and bad information was sent out to a customer. We all make mistakes in our personal lives and certainly misspeak from time to time yet Delta does it and these activist mother’s want to shut the airline down as retaliation.
The breast feeding debate is so overblown. I nursed my two children for approximately a year each. I breast fed on planes, buses, in restaurants…wherever I needed to…and never had a strange look or rude remark. I did not flaunt what I was doing to draw attention but fed my babies modestly. It was never difficult even though I had one very aggressive/active eater. (And lest you think I’m in some liberal, hippie place, I live in Texas.) The vast majority of people do not care if you are feeding your child if you just won’t make a production of exposing yourself. I’m equally annoyed with the women who want to make this some social firestorm as I am with the few people who ignorantly make disparaging remarks against it.
As someone who nursed babies for about eight years (four children, two years each), I can say that this makes me very angry. My children now range in age from 21 to 31, so I am surprised that this is still going on. I encountered many situations where I felt uncomfortable nursing in public, not because of me, but because of other people’s reaction to me. I didn’t fly much in those days, but when I did, I pumped milk and brought a bottle on the plane rather than breastfeed. Maybe it was the times, but at least the flight attendants were always super helpful about heating the bottle. Breastfeeding should not still be controversial, but obviously it is. It is unfortunate that mothers need to be concerned with this and it is particularly sad that an airline’s social media would take this stand, and then not apologize.
You have to understand that Delta is located in a VERY RED state with a lot of VERY RED employees so you have to push back when you get stupid answers……..But someone needs to ask Delta if during Mardi Gras do babies with beads on their planes have multiple options to breast feed? It certainly seems that they are advertising that?
“Red employees”? It sounds like you meant for this to be an insult, but it makes you appear intolerant. And isn’t that exactly what you are complaining about?
I find it hard to believe that the original tweet was an honest question. It sounds like someone trying to make a case of something that is no longer an issue. I don’t know anyone nowadays who would contact a company looking for permission to breastfeed. Delta’s response was short and simple – as this discussion should be.
I’m with you Denise. There was no need to make this a political issue.
1. I think she’s a weirdo for even asking. Maybe she’s trying to get a reaction.
2. Maybe she was one of those judgmental people about it before she had kids and that’s why she’s asking. Weirdo.
3. Red is the color of love (and valentines day). Hibiscus is red, some of them anyway. Fire can be red too and will burn you. What’s all this talk of politics? Relax people.
Screaming at the top of my lungs in public is legal also. Myself (A male) taking his shirt and shoes off is legal also, does not mean I have the right to do it on a plane or should. I personally do not want to see your boob, no different than you might not want to see my big fat belly or ass crack if I had one. Everyone always has an excuse, but just throw a small towel or blanket over it and stop being a pain in everyone’s ass.
It seems that some people feel that this mom was trying to start drama for even asking this question, but Paul’s response above shows just how intolerant some people are to breast feeding. Paul is one of those people who feel uncomfortable with moms breast feeding in public which make moms feel uncomfortable doing it especially when the baby doesn’t like the feeling of having their face covered. This is why this is still an issue unfortunately. P.S. I try to not be too judgmental of people and rarely comment on heated discussions, but I feel very comfortable in assessing that Paul is an ass even though he states that he does not have an ass crack.