Am I allowed to nurse my baby in public?
Can you breastfeed in public areas in Cayman?
Auntie’s answer: This question came in a comment on a story on World Breastfeeding Week, which ends Wednesday, 7 August. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel that this far into the 21st century, with all that is known about the benefits of breastfeeding, it should not be an issue for mothers to be able to nurse their babies outside of the home. Of course, I understand the issue of local sensibilities in whatever country, but still we are talking about a perfectly natural and healthy behaviour.
Even so, I reached out to the Cayman Islands Breastfeeding Support Group for advice. Here is what I was told: “Women are able to breastfeed in public in the Cayman Islands. It’s not against the law, but we suggest breastfeeding discreetly in order not to offend anyone.”
That makes perfect sense, though what is acceptable to one person may be offensive to another, so of course nursing discreetly is a good idea. During my breastfeeding days, I nursed my babies in all sorts of situations, from standing in a queue (not the easiest) to sitting in the back of a bus, because when your baby is hungry you don’t have many options. Being in public didn’t stop me, but I always covered up, which I think — in a perfect world — should be enough to silence naysayers.
If you need advice on how to nurse inconspicuously, the Breastfeeding Support Group is happy to help. You can email them at cibreastfeeding@gmail.com or check out their Facebook page.
Send questions to auntie@caymannewsservice.com
or leave your question in the comment section of any article
Recent answers from Auntie (Click here for archives)
- Does DEH test for H2S at landfill?
- What to do about unwelcome cullers?
- Are there rules for leaving garbage out?
- Why haven’t interest rates decreased?
- Will people in NWDA system have to register with WORC?
CNS news is free to read but not free to produce. Please consider supporting independent journalism in the Cayman Islands.
Category: Ask Auntie, Misc Questions
You should always cover. No excuses.
For what reason? To suffocate the baby?
Ladies,
No one is saying you shouldn’t breastfeed in public. We appreciate you taking the time to nurture the next generation as nature intended instead of feeding them engineered baby food. All we ask is for you to cover yourselves whilst doing so – especially around children.
It’s just common decency.
So it is preferable for a mother to wear a cover up to breastfeed but it is possible to feed without the cover without recourse. If my understanding is correct there are no laws against breastfeeding in public but culturally a small sect of people may be offended and tell me to either cover up or leave or shame me while breastfeeding my infant.
I breastfed my baby in Cayman everywhere. Yes I was discreet but I didn’t wear a cover because it’s hot here! If people are offended, God has very conveniently provided them with two built in apparatus they can use to remedy the situation: a neck that will make their heads turn away from the “offensive” sight and eye lids that they can close to prevent them “sinning” any longer.
So it wasn’t a problem?
No one said anything to me ever in Cayman (or Canada or the US). I almost got thrown out of a restaurant in Europe for breastfeeding on their front steps.
Very good
Miss Teen contestants must not be exposed, unless they compete for Playboy. Stricter dress codes must be introduced for teenagers.
Silly question. Women always breastfeed discreetly. No need to ask anyone’s permission. Mother nature intended way of feeding infants. In hot climate it is very important infants are not dehydrated. If anyone ever even questions breastfeeding in public, his mental state needs to be questioned.
Any given day you can sit on the beach and witness women with their bunky’s popping out of their g string bikinis. These are women insulting their own modesty, but no one is arrested. It is not necessary to display your butt, but feeding a child is, it is what nature intended by providing portable feeding apparatus. I don’t understand why people would be offended by it.
So who is offended?
Do you not read news? Or better still read the article above.
Serious response and i’m not trying to be overly confrontational but seriously this one had me flabbergasted :
Are you new to these islands or something?
Have you not been paying attention at all
This is a country where we still have laws on the books regarding “insulting the modesty of a woman” and arrests in regard to that law have been made a recently as a couple years back
This is a country where the government seizes shipments of massage toys because they were trying to avoid the potential usage of them as sex toys
This is a country where artists can be arrested and tried for simply creating and displaying works that people disagree with or take offense to
A country that goes out of its way to impose morals on society via arbitrary laws regarding prostitution, gambling and activities allowed and not allowed on certain days while having the same lawmakers responsible for those laws jetting off to casinos to gamble with loose women, and hosting government endorsed bacchanalian events like Batabano and no one even blinks
Without a doubt I saw this question and immediately know what the answer was
Cayman is still the islands time forgot, we put on a good show of modernizing certain areas for profit but in reality if the almighty dollar was not at stake we would probably still be living in wooden shacks, dusting sand yards and using outhouses.
Unless you are planning on paying the CIG a public breastfeeding fee to get them to ignore the religious police they aren’t going to budge
Hey, at least we can’t get fundamental things like groceries on Sunday… because god wants us to starve our families to honor him… or something.