Mother arrested for breastfeeding WHILE DRIVING on the Ohio turnpike

[Jenmv]

I can't believe this story! I just saw this on the O'Reilly Factor. I realize not everyone may be a fan of the show, but he had this woman, her husband and their 7-month old daughter on TV defending their position. She was ONLY driving 65 mph and she was using cruise control. I guess in her mind that made it safe. The blurb on TV centered mostly on the fact that technically she wasn't breaking the law, apparently she had an invalid liscense so they will try to charge her with that, but what floored me was that this woman did not in any way seem to think that it was UNSAFE to breast feed her daughter WHILE DRIVING. She wasn't breastfeeding the child in the back seat while her husband drove which is bad enough, she was actually driving the car alone and beastfeeding the child at the same time. Am I nuts or does anyone else think this is inexcusable? I'm totally in favor of a womans right to breast feed in public but this is a matter of safety. Unfortunateley it is people like this who can give breastfeeding a bad name.

Let me just say in advance I hope I haven't offended anyone.

[mharling]

I caught this on the news earlier this week, and yes, I was pretty shocked. I can't believe that she thought it was perfectly appropriate behavior. Hello! Your child was not in a car seat!!!!

I saw a news clip and when she stepped out of the car, she was holding the baby and had her cell phone up to her ear. I just hope she grabbed the phone when she pulled over and wasn't trying to drive, breastfeed AND have a conversation at the same time.

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3237413c427 - New 6/18

[heytootsy]

Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking. How can anyone justify this?? I guess some people just do not care. It really is a shame.

[Melanie]

Nope, you're a nut.

JUST KIDDING.

They are, really, they are.

[smilequeen]

How is this not against the law? Wasn't the baby not in a carseat? Is this actually legal?

[barbarhow]

DUH.....
Like the guy who put his RV on cruise control to go in the back and make a sandwich. Maybe they should institute a common sense test prior to letting some have kids. Just kidding. (sort of).
I thought car seats were mandatory in all 50 states. If not they should be. Crazy.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[MartiesMom2B]

Yes I saw this story too. And I saw the mom justifing it by saying that the baby is always in its carseats except when she nurses. Uhm hello, when the car is in motion your child needs to be strapped in. I've been on the Ohio turnpike there are a lot of rest stops on the way, she should've pulled into one and nursed there.

I also saw that a trucker saw the behavior and called the police. I think that someone posted about seeing a baby not in a carseat, but in her moms lap. I think this situation answers your question about what to do, because obviously the police responded to this situation.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[Rachels]

I saw this yesterday on Good Morning America. How stupid and outrageous. I certainly know the agony of having a screaming infant in the car, but I can't imagine thinking that it's worth risking her life to quiet her down. And I DEFINITELY can't imagine thinking it's more important to be somewhere on time (this woman's excuse for breastfeeding while driving) than to protect her safety. This makes me nauseous. There's a discussion of it on the mothering.com boards, too, and there's a woman there who defended the idea of wearing the baby in a sling while driving, as if that would do a single thing to help when the airbag deployed. Everybody jumped on her, including me. I can't believe what some people rationalize as being safe.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[spu]

and I'm all for breastfeeding, but this lady is just plain stupid! I usually don't like to refer to people as stupid, but she is just that. stupid!!! I was (and still am) really upset by this. She's giving a bad name to breastfeeding. Sure, it's legal to do anywhere where people are welcome and are eating... but not at the expense of safety!!!

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

[momathome]

Sonia,
It was me who posted about seeing a mother holding a baby unrestrained in the front seat of her car. I have come to the conclusion that if I see something like this happening again, I would just call 911. I think I would feel more comfortable overreacting than not reacting immediately. As far as breastfeeding while driving a car, COMPLETELY inexcusible. This would be one of the few women I think I would actually encourage to bottle-feed - at least that way, she could shove a bottle in the baby's mouth while driving without having to remove the child from her carseat. There are some very ignorant people in this world...
-Lauren

[celfsh]

I need to show my MIL this thread. Once, when DD was just about 6 weeks old, my MIL freaked out at me for being 20 minutes late to a family gathering. DH told her we couldn't help it--the baby needed to be nursed right before we left (it was a 45-minute drive to where we were going). Then his mom was like, "Why didn't you just feed her in the car? It's no big deal--I've nursed, while DRIVING plenty of times."

Oooooh-kay...

celeste
mom to olivia 9/25/02