I think that if they are going to arrest the mother they should have given her a Breathalyzer in order to prove she had too much to drink, I don't think it was fair to arrest her based on someone else's opinions. I'm glad the waitress called but think the cops should have done more to actually prove she was too intoxicated to breastfed her child.
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I agree, they should have breathalyzed her.
However I'm confused... is there an actual law against drinking and breastfeeding in her location or not? The article makes it sound like there is no actual law against it. If there is no law against it, I'm also assuming there is no legal limit a woman can drink while breastfeeding. If that's the case a breathalyzer test doesn't make much difference anyway. Maybe the cops acted on their own best judgement on whether this was child endangerment.
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Eeeehhhh... so many unknowns here. I do think the waitress did the right thing - in that she was concerned for the baby and did what she needed to do to know she was doing all she could.
I'm not sure how I feel about the mom and the cops... I personally do not care to drink and breastfeed, because it is such an unknown, but I don't know how much the mom actually had... over how long...
And the cops, I just don't know.I'm leaning towards they should have left the mom alone.
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@LuLu Mom: yikes. Worst "news" article of all time, in regards to how it was written. I agree with Pui, it's confusing as to whether or not there is a law against it. After skimming a second time, I'm pretty sure they are saying there is no law against it.
In any case, a woman having 2 beers while eating in a 2 hour time span whle BFing? Totally fine. The waitress was out of line. What's interesting to me is that the owners of the restaurant were against her calling.
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I don't know what a breathalyzer would have proved. There are products on the market for nursing mother's to use that indicate if BM is safe enough to consume in the immediate hours after alcohol consumption. Police would have needed something like that IMO to determine if breastfeeding while drinking was endangering her child.
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I would be livid if someone suggested to me that after 2 drinks, over the course of a few hours, I was endangering my baby. I can understand that the waitress was concerned, and who knows if this mother is telling this poorly written article the truth, but to be arrested and taken away from your baby with zero proof that you were even buzzed? I think it was inappropriate on a lot of levels. Also, the sanctimonious "Breastfeeding mothers have other options" line pisses me off. Because it's always so easy to pump ahead of time, or have formula or whatever on hand? Some babies won't take a bottle, and it take 3 times as long to pump, clean up, feed baby. It's not always so simple, Yahoo News.
I follow the guidelines in the kellymom article @Anagram: posted.
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My thought is the cops way overreacted, unless there is more to the story than the article shows. Having 2 drinks over the course of 2 hours while eating food does not make you drunk. Whether or not breastfeeding your kid while (or immediately after) consuming those 2 drinks was a good idea is at most questionable. I'm not sure how I feel about it personally… but it seems like it is not a situation where it is clearly dangerous. It was perhaps not the BEST parenting choice, but I don't think that's really the standard for child endangerment.
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@Mae: I go to a mommy happy hour every week and 3/4 of the moms that come are BFing moms. And they BF where we meet up, and they have a beer while we are there. It's a family-friends beirgarten that welcomes children (yes, while parents are drinking--the horror!).
I have yet to see a drunk mom at any of our gatherings, and we are never the only ones there with kids/babies. While I have no clue if this woman is telling the truth, if she is and she was arrested, I think it's ridiculous.
Can't say I'm super surprised it happened in Arkansas, though (as someone who moved from Texas to the Northeast right before having my LO). These issues are definitely looked upon different in most parts of the south.
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@Anagram: Yea I mean, my not knowing how I feel about it is because I'm just not educated enough honestly! I do plan to breastfeeding and researching this issue (how to safely drink and breastfeed) is on my reading list for the next few weeks because I'm counting the days until I can have a glass of wine
So I didn't mean that to sound judgey like I think she did wrong, I just legit don't know! (but I do feel, like I said, it isn't CLEARLY wrong).
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@Mae: oh no, I totally understand! I think before I had LO, I'd never looked it up (because, why would I need to?) and I know I automatically assumed it was bad before. Also, I lived in Texas. I can honestly say I never saw a baby in a bar there and it would be looked down on in general. Where I live NOW, it is so, so common for moms to take their babies anywhere they go, including bars (not late at night, but 4-6 pm, it happens).
It's just so different to see how cultural acceptance of things like this is SO different in across the US.
So I didn't mean that to sound judgey like I think she did wrong, I just legit don't know! (but I do feel, like I said, it isn't CLEARLY wrong).
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9 comments