Mom breastfeeds on toilet
Have you ever held your baby on your lap while you peed or pooped? How about breastfed your kid while you were on the toilet? Chances are you have done either or both. Most of us don't have a snapshot of this, though, but one mom does, and her photo was posted by the popular Facebook page Life of Dad.
While many who viewed the photo celebrated the fact that it was the realest photo of being a mom ever, others were taken aback, while others said all sorts of terrible things.
Here are a few examples:
"Girl You Really Need To Learn A Little Class Cause if You Think Feeding yo Baby in The bathroom is OK you Clearly got issues she could've waited it don't take that long to use the bathroom"
"Really? I just saw the breastfeeding... Wow! I had all 3 of mine in diapers at the same time! Never this! Girl bye!"
"Yea sure have your babies mouth open wide while your bacteria from pee and poop are right in her face. This is disgusting."
After skimming through hundreds of comments, the most common complaint was that nursing a baby while you're on the toilet is gross and unsanitary. Let's first address the irony here — often when a mother is nursing her baby in public, people wish she'd just go in the bathroom to feed her child because breastfeeding is gross. But when we have a mom who is actually nursing her kid in her own bathroom, it's completely disgusting. OK?
Then, taking this logic to its next step, if nursing a baby while you're on the can is actually OK, why do people get up in arms when they're told to go nurse their babies in the bathroom? First of all, being told that you have to go to the restroom to nurse is a violation of many state laws. Moms don't need to cover up or leave when they're breastfeeding their kids, so being told to leave the premises to nurse is extremely offensive. Second, your home bathroom is going to be cleaner than a public restroom. And consider this — you're not dragging your nipples over a feces-laden toilet seat before latching your baby on. The poop germs aren't going to leap out of your butt and attach to your boobs or your baby's face if you're not flushing the toilet while you're on it and nursing her.
I love this photo. The ransacked cabinet, the look of love and defeat on the mother's face and the tiny hand on Mom's thigh as the little girl leans in to nurse — this is motherhood. While our private time isn't always private when our kids are little, and while we might crave some alone time to use the bathroom or have a moment of peace, this phase is short, and I adore that this little family has this priceless memento of the days when Mom couldn't use the toilet in solitude.
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