I’ve only flown twice with a breastfeeding baby (both times within Australia, on Virgin planes) and I must say, the airline staff were excellent. When I flew with my firstborn (she was 13 months old at the time), the attendant came along and brought me a bottle of water (unasked, unpaid for) and smiled saying, “It can be thirsty work, I know!” The second time, I was flying with my 3-month-old and a 2-year-old toddler. As I latched the baby on, the attendant came over to ask me if I’d like an extra pillow to support the baby’s head (I didn’t need it, but was happy to be asked) and then sat down on the vacant seat opposite and proceeded to read stories to my 2-year-old for 10 minutes while baby started her feed in peace. Can’t fault that, I reckon!

We’re flying again next Feb and I’ll once again have a breastfeeding bub (1 year old) + a 6 and 4 year old, and I wouldn’t even consider flying with anyone but Virgin.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..Introducing Poky =-.

In a situation like this, I would certainly contact the airline afterward to complain and encourage them to educate their employees about the rights of a breastfeeding mother. However, I wouldn’t compare it to what Emily Gillette went through.
.-= Annie @ PhD in Parenting´s last blog ..IComLeavWe: Day 3 =-.

Kinda of an aside but I can’t help myself – Indiana actually has both a public breastfeeding law and a workplace pumping law. Neither is particularly strong but they *are* there. Not relevant to this mom’s situation since her plane was landing in New York but she brought up Indiana so I had to correct her.

As an activist, I guess I am surprised that people are surprised at this mom’s story and I wonder whether we might want to be careful in equating this situation with one in which a mother was actually forced to do or not do something. Does the situation described above really reflect something more than ignorance and rudeness on the part of the flight attendant?
.-= Jake Aryeh Marcus´s last blog ..A Podcast with Me from the 2007 La Leche League International Conference – Still Timely, I Promise =-.

Now, though I’m thankful that we had this experience, I do wonder whether the fact that we flew in Canada, on a Canadian airline, made the difference. (Westjet – they’ve smartened up since their *very* public PR incident a few years back)
I still find it hard to believe that BF mothers are being shamed or outright harassed ANYWHERE for feeding their children the way they choose to.
.-= Jenn´s last blog ..A Welcome and a Whoops! =-.

It’s stunning to me that this is still an issue: there’s not a lot of nuance to the right stance on this. Mothers may breastfeed their babies – period. Others may not like it or feel that there is too much skin exposed or the baby is too old or whatever. Not mom’s problem – that is the staff’s problem. Let the mother’s take care of their babies and you take care of the customer service.

Anyway, good job Mom! Keep it up.