It's all getting a little confusing...if it's bare wouldn't it be an elway, and if you're wearing a t-shirt, wouldn't it be a tebow?

I'm 64 and still breast feeding.

yes, I have seen your elbow

Buffy St. Marie wa.asnt she a porno actress ?

well i have no issues with breastfeeding, hey ur in public, ur baby needs food, feed em, whatever, but i dont think its sesame streets place to specifically teach about it, its where kids needs to learn colors numbers letters etc etc, teaching my girls their life lessons are mine and my wifes responsibilities, which yes i plan to do

Is there anything sacred anymore? Why do little kids need to see this? Whats next are you going to make kids watch a live birth next? You flippin morons, this is just another reason why this world is so screwed up. I have a crap load more to say but you know what? I think i'm talking to idiots that have less of a mentality than the kids watching sesame street.

^^^

I agree with you. This should not be allowed and what next, giving birth on the show, having intercourse, or a woman changing a tampon.

All this is going to lead to is kids playing breastfeeding with one another and for me it's not appropriate.

The women's right movement is going a bit too far on this one.

No Wonder i don't like Sesame Street...whoever puts it on just caves to whatever anyone wants no matter if it is good for children or not! Sheesh I am sick enough of seeing women bare themselves in public to breastfeed, now they want to subject us in our own living room. What's next? I know this may be hard for a woman to understand but not everyone wants to see your breasts. Please cover yourselves!

Wow! The message this article is conveying is that if you are breast feeding and not showing it to the world you are not sending a good message to children! WHAT?? When my mother had me she tried to breastfeed but her body would not produce milk, she felt like she had failed somehow so she kept trying and the DR. ended up telling her I was going to starve if she didn't use formula. Now why do you suppose she tried so hard to stick it out? There is so much pressure to breastfeed and I think it's just one more thing for mothers to feel guilty about (if they don't). Women should stop abusing women with their lies and their manipulation.

You call him close-minded but your comments saying anyone who doesn't breastfeed is not "normal" are just as close-minded as his. How about portraying ALL types of feeding a baby so as not to offend anyone and teach kids about all the different ways mothers feed their children?

They have already shown both breastfeeding and bottle feeding on Sesame Street before. I'm old/young enough to remember when Maria and Luis had their daughter whom Maria breastfed on the show. As stated in the article, this had precedent dating from 1977 when Ms. St. Clair breastfed her daughter on Sesame Street. Since this has been done twice before, I think this should be a non-issue. Sometimes I think that we're moving backwards in this country in many regards.

Oh, and MSNBC needs to correct the caption (and let my post above stand corrected) under the picture at the top of the article. That's Buffy Sainte Marie, not Buffy St. Claire, breastfeeding on that 1977 episode of Sesame Street. Buffy St. Claire is an "adult entertainer."

Oh, the Freudian irony of that error if your correction is correct, lol.

It is funny, isn't it?

pchefpittsburgh: Good eye, but you're showing your age ;)

"Show us how to milk a teet, milk a teet on Seasame Street." I think it'll fly.

Actually Eugene, I don't remember seeing Buffy Sainte Marie on Sesame Street in the original airing of this clip (but I do clearly remember seeing the one with Maria in my early babysitting days), but I do remember that my parents had one of her albums in our house (Born in 1976, I was the last of my parents' production line.) Being of a curious nature, and wondering what Ms. Sainte Marie is up to these days, I googled her, but mistakenly used the name "Buffy St. Claire" that was used in the article. Wow, did that search yield some interesting things that were definitely not family friendly, lol! I noticed this morning that the editors or the author of this piece corrected the name mistake in the body of the article, but not in the caption at the top, though.

Their main argument is that breast feeding is a perfectly normal human function and exposing a woman's breast for this purpose should be considered acceptable everywhere.

Well, peeing is a perfectly normal human function as well so where are the advocates that would demand the same treatment?

My point is that I have no problem at all with women breast feeding anywhere or anytime they feel the need but to inject it into a children's program is pushing this too far. Children are children for only a brief time, so let them enjoy this short period of innocence before these activists begin imposing their adult agenda's upon them.

Of course, elimination functions are exactly the same as eating! Besides, waste products are a public health issue. There are reasons people aren't allowed to relieve themselves just anyway. Last time I checked, my nursing doesn't give have the potential to harm anyone near me.

Isn't hand washing, looking both ways before crossing the street, and using manners just part of someone's agenda? Why in the world do we include those things on Sesame Street?

I have to agree Wet. Children are children for such a short amount of time, they don't need to see breastfeeding on TV, they'll have plenty of opportunity to learn about that later or if a new baby comes into the family picture. Everyone keeps saying it's perfectly natural and that's right, it is. Are we going to eventually show sex education to children as well to show then where it comes from? Sex is perfectly natural, there's nothing wrong with it, that's how they where made, but there is an age where it's appropriate and an age where it's not. And yes, I know, procreation isn't the same as nutrition, but then when it's a kid I doubt they care too much about a baby getting its food unless there is one already in the family and in that event chances are they have already been told about it.

While I don't think it's a terrible thing they are showing, and I do think it's important for kids to eventually see and learn how the body works....I would prefer to see it be on another (more for older kids) show besides Sesame Street.

Lyrica: so breast feeding forces children to confront, what, exactly...terrible realities of how babies are fed? Oh the horror! What would you expect them to do if they see a geniuine ACTUAL woman feeding an ACTUAL baby?? overreact like so many adults who don't know what breasts are for? Geez, talk about needing to grow up...

AP~

Take out the sarcasm and try to reread my statement if you can, I'm sure you can get a point across without resorting to condescension. As I said, breast feeding IS perfectly natural and eventually yes, children should learn that's how babies are fed, however I do not need nor want a show such as Sesame Street, which any young children watch (such as ages 2-5), to feel it is necessary to educate my kids on something like that when chances are pretty high they don't even think about it to begin with unless there is a new baby in the family and by then the parents should be talking to them about it themselves. Let me repeat:

While I don't think it's a terrible thing they are showing, and I do think it's important for kids to eventually see and learn how the body works....I would prefer to see it be on another (more for older kids) show besides Sesame Street.

I'm sure you'll be able to realize that people can have their own viewpoints without being told to 'grow up' simply because one opinion differs from another.

Maybe Bernie can breastfeed Bert

sorry, double double post, hope I got rid of some of them....my computer is hormonally imbalanced like her owner lol

corrected comment below

Lyrica, give up---you have a breastfeeding Nazi on your hit list there and no amount of intelligence is going to get through her hormone-induced rage. Geez, AP, and YOU talk about overreacting....God go watch a porno or something, loosen up a bit. Nobody wants to see your overworked glands with their pretty bulging blue veins....bleeecch....

By the way instead of the breastfeeding Nazis hollering about how men only think of boobs as sex toys (good for you, guys, that's what mine are and I'm female) how about we talk about all the freak women who would rather nurse their kids til they're 4 or 6 to get their kicks instead of hopping back in bed with poor daddy and doing something ELSE that's natural for a change???? go ahead and collapse it, I don't care. Had to say it.

Why does everyone think you need to expose your breast to breastfeed your child? Many of us manage to do this in a discreet way that does not expose anything publicly. This is just part of child-raising for many mothers. It's a shame that it has to be such a big deal. And how would this scar kids? When my son was born, yes, my 3-year old daughter "pretended" to breast-feed her baby doll. Just like she changed the baby doll's clothes and diaper and pretended to feed her. I thought this was perfectly natural, and paves the way for her to consider breast-feeding when she becomes a mother. It won't be as bid a deal for her as it was for me - I had NEVER been around anyone who breastfed.

Well, if we need to have it as a "teaching" tool on Sesame street then I guess the next thing will be that teachers will need to breastfeed their babies while teaching a class. Can't we all just remember what we learned in kindergarten...keep our private parts PRIVATE.

Feeding a baby is allowed in public. Peeing is not. When I've breastfed in public no one has seen my breast, but people sure are scornful. "How dare you feed your baby. You animal!" The scorn that is associated with feeding an infant the same way all other mammals do it is exactly why it should be shown on TV and especially for children so that they don't think it's "disgusting" when they grow up. Plus, they don't have to show the mother's breast to do it.

At least you have common sense, unlike one of the other posters above that implied kids who cannot be breastfed are not "normal".

No one said the kids are abnormal. The point is that nursing is the normal way to feed a baby. Other methods are deviations from the norm. Sorry that offends you but it's the honest truth.

Sorry Kash, but that is not necessarily the case. Any reason for a woman not to produce enough milk to breastfeed her child is not a deviation from nature. Many factors are involved in that. PPD, stress, hormonal imbalances, even a child hurting the mother's nipples prevent the mother from normally feed that child.

justice: that's not even a logical argument. The point is breast feeding is perfectly natural and perfectly normal. The fact many mothers choose not to breast feed for any number of reasons doesn't change that.

It isn't normal not to be able to breastfeed and need to bottle feed, any more than it is normal to be nearsighted and need to wear glasses. It is just common in our society. Just like needing glasses, it isn't something to feel ashamed of or guilty about. I think we need a Sesame Street type lesson here for the defensive Mommys.

People like you make me angry...people like you caused me to feel guilty when my baby wouldn't nurse even after working with specialists. I pumped 100% of my milk and was in horrible (bloody) pain for 3 months until my body just stopped producing. I was so relieved (at the time) that I didn't have to make the choice, my body made it for me. Now it just makes me sad. I look back on that horrible time of my life and regret...regret allowing people to rob me of some joyful bonding time I could have had with my baby. Instead, I had a very hard time being happy to be around him. Please ladies, do not ever make yourselves feel guilty for not being able to breastfeed for whatever reason. If you can't ,you can't. Your babies are no less normal than anyone else's. It is normal to feed your child...that's it.

Kennedy - There is a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood episode from the 1970's that shows all sorts of babies being fed - Human babies and animal babies. The human babies are shown being spoon fed, bottle fed AND (gasp) nursed. It was just part of "the ways babies are fed and cared for". I think Mr. Rogers was singing "I'm Taking Care of You". No big deal. Very "as a matter of fact".

I remember sitting on the sofa with my 2 month old daughter in my arms as she nursed while my 2 1/2 year old son was watching this episode. He got up and kissed her on the head and said: "Look, Mommy. Like our baby." One of the most tender and sacred moments of motherhood. They are both adults now and very well adjusted human beings.

So "Relax Francis".

I remember seeing that episode, DramaMom. Mr. Rogers was a wonderful, gentle, gentleman who is greatly missed.

Since hopefully parents aren't using the TV to babysit, if a child has a question about breastfeeding, he or she will ask a parent for input, not the television. In this way the episode fosters parent-directed communication. Where there is no embarrassment, there is no dirtiness, and breastfeeding should certainly not be considered dirty.

Would it be out of the realm of decency, to ask to see someone's Snuffaloffagus?

How is allowing children to see the natural way in which we feed babies lowering ourselves to being treated like animals? The only reason why breasts are seen as sexual or shameful is because that's what our society teaches us. Yes, they can be an erogenous zone, but so can earlobes. Does that mean that we should keep our earlobes covered rather than using them for their natural function? Should people have to go to a bathroom or closet if they want to listen to something?

On the other hand, I now cringe at how in the early 70s, I used to sing (thinking it was a kiddy song), "Your ding-a-ling, my-ding-a-ling, won't you play with my ding-a-ling!" If my parents had taught me otherwise instead of patiently waiting it out, I'd probably never have stopped singing it.

Social engineering paid by your taxes

inmissouri....yes, there are other erogenous zones but we don't have to see people twiddling them in public. And yes, if every time you hear something you come anywhere near sexual release, yes, you SHOULD go to a private place to do it. You know I don't care if women nurse or not, and as I said before, I don't care if they jack off, vomit, or any other bodily function, but I don't want to see it and sure as HELL have as much of a right to say that as anyone else has to say their piece. Would people please stop collapsing everyone's comments they don't like? That is ridiculous.

Kennedy, you’re at least the second person to make the “is nothing sacred” argument. Since when do we worry about people seeing sacred things? Why is it bad to see something sacred?

@Sonata’s Adela - You have EVERY right to your own opinion about what you do and do not want to see. However, it sounds like you want to impose that on everyone else. It’s really not complicated. If you don’t want to see something, DON’T LOOK. The rest of the world is under absolutely no obligation to conform to your personal ideas about what is or is not attractive.

Sonata's Adela- just FYI, the feeling of nursing a baby is about as far from sexual as you can get. It can be nice, as a feeling of caring for your child, but it's never exciting in any manner, much less sexual. It's nothing at all like stimulation when you're with your partner.

No, unfortunately in our society, most of the children who watch Sesame Street either were not breastfed or only breastfed for a few months or a year or two, not long enough to remember. By the age of 3 years, most children have seen thousands of images of breasts being used to sell booze, to garner men's attention, to glamorize huge breasts as a way for a girl to be sexy and beuaituful, bouncing around in cheerleader's skimpy tops, as something to be tittered over, etc. etc. etc. As a university professor who teaches 18-22 year olds about breastfeeding, believe me, some of them have no idea that women's breasts make milk. "Are you saying -- gulp -- that a woman's breasts are like a cow's udder?" asked one student, dumbfounded and aghast. We have a very long way to go before most of the children who watch Sesame Street think of breasts as a food source. Alas. If we want to let parents teach their children what breasts are supposed to be for, we'd have to call for a ban on all depictions of breasts as sex objects, which would be most TV shows, movies, and advertisements.

No, unfortunately in our society, most of the children who watch Sesame Street either were not breastfed or only breastfed for a few months or a year or two, not long enough to remember.

I am just curious where you obtained this information. Is there a study showing that most children who watch Sesame Street were not breastfed or only for a short period of time - although a year or two hardly seems short? Not being sarcastic - just wondering.

Unless you're a regular at LLL meetings, I challenge you to come up with even five women you know who nursed longer that six months. I can but it's definitely not the norm among the women I know.

I have never attended a Laleche meeting, however, I have nursed all 3 of my children for the first 12 months. Many of my friends have done the same. I remember the first time my neices and nephew saw me nursing a baby (my sister bottlefeed them) they had no idea what was going on. I explained it to them, didn't make it a big deal, and they never questioned it again. Women have been doing this a long time and the kids I've incountered while feeding my babies were never uncomfortable, it was the parents. I think if kids are exposed to nursing moms as children then they would be at ease with it as they get older.

Kash - I never attended a LLL meeting, nor was I ever seen by an LC while in the hospital, but I nursed my youngest for 17 days shy of 2 years before she self weaned. Though with my eldest there were a lot of issues and I was never able to nurse, so I've been on both sides of the fence.

I have breastfed all of my children from ages 18 months all the way to 2.5 years. I have several friends who do the same (birds of a feather and all that perhaps). My children love Sesame Street, I watch it with them (I love that they have satirical clips based on adult shows, made for children). I refuse to believe I am not of the norm. I've never been to a LLL group, we don't have one near where I live.

I attended one Le Leche meeting when my son was a baby. He was breast/formula fed for two weeks (jaundiced) then I just switched him to formula. I could not produce enough milk to satisfy his hunger.

When my second child came along I was determined to breastfeed her and I did so for 4 1/2 years. She would not take a bottle no matter what kind of nipple I tried so expressing my milk and bottle feeding her was out of the question. She would not take a pacifier, a blanket, or stuffed animal. She had to have mommy. She used me for comfort. Today she is a happy, healthy 12 year old.

Good point JM! Both breasts is what we want! Both!

You can always move to Europe if you are unhappy here

What is wrong with this posting is that it implies that if children are not exposed to breastfeeding on Sesame street they will be against breastfeeding! I was NEVER exposed to breastfeeding when I was a child or as a young adult. I always had every intention of breastfeeding my babies and that was without seeing it done and I knew my mother didn't because her body would not produce milk. So I think this little theory is ridiculous. It is just another way that activists are reaching their claws into our family units to manipulate and control them. I mean really, if it such a natural thing like everyone keeps saying then why do we need it on Seasame street, it should come naturally right??

I remember that live birth on NOVA...scarred me for a very long time! I was determined I would NEVER have children. Not a good example...try again.

Actually, in my culture, eating eyes and insects is a very normal part of life. In other cultures, eating all parts of an animal, not just the muscle, is very normal.

Katy Perry's cleavage is offensive because, once again, it was showing a woman's breasts (or part of them) to be sexy. Perhaps if more children saw breasts being used for what God/nature intended them, U.S. breastfeeding rates wouldn't be so atrociously low while tween fashions show lots of "cleavage." And if you actually watch the clips from 30 years ago, you can't actually see any breast, unlike Katy Perry's cleavage.

"Sexy" is in the beholder's mind. A SS viewer has no clue wtf "sexy" is. This is just a bunch of uptight old maids forcing their horsecrap down peoples' throats under the guise of "it's best for the children".

Did anyone say that cleavage isn't offensive?

"Bottle feeding should not be allowed in public or shown on TV because it sets a bad example for our children.

How does that make you breastfeeding haters feel?"

Makes me feel bad for anyone stupid enough to type that.

If it's arrestable for a lady to walk down the street topless, why is it suddenly OK to have a baby sucking teat on a park bench? It's still "public nudity".

Remember Katy Perry? Remember SS wouldn't let her cleavage on TV? Mind telling me why naked breasts are more TV-worthy and kid-friendly than cleavage? Go ahead, we'll wait.

Bottle feeding is obscene, eh? What if he baby is adopted? What if the baby has birth defect that makes it unable to suck hard enough to be fed? You are an idiot.

Meridith - I do believe BBonnet was using the exact same things said about breastfeeding and inserting "bottle feeding". If breasts were not sex objects to just about every person in this county then no one would think twice about a mother nursing. It's sad when feeding a child the way they've been fed for as long as we've graced this earth is considered disgusting. Luckily in the time I nursed my youngest daughter not a single person had a bad thing to say to me or gave me dirty looks.

So, i'm an obscene mother because I had SEVERE hyperemesis gravidarum and was too MALNOURISHED to breastfeed - and don't give me that absolute crap that even the most starving mother can produce perfect milk, because she dang well CAN'T you idiot!!!

My baby is healthy, happy, and most importantly, ALIVE because I gave my starving newborn formula from the beginning. What was I supposed to do? Just let him starve because formula isn't the #1 option? I almost wish my HG nightmare pregnancy hell on you, just so that you'll understand that NOT EVERYONE IS LIKE YOU. But I'll try to be the bigger person here.

There are about a million reasons why nursing is not right for all mothers. We should be grateful that a lot of babies are alive today because of medical interventions and formula!!!

Umm, I believe BBonnet was being sarcastic in using the arguments that other people on here were making about breastfeeding, so all of you taking it personally and getting your panties in a wad, chill out.

Easting cooked food and taking medicine are also unnatural but it doesnt make it bad unless you wasnt to live in the Stone Age

Ron, did you even watch the clips of the breastfeeding by Buffy Sainte-Marie and the character of Maria on older episodes of Sesame Street? There was absolutely nary a breast to be seen, just mothers gently explaining to children (I say "children" because Big Bird is supposed to be represent a child looking at life and asking questions as a child does) what she is doing with the baby she is holding. The article is talking about bring back gentle discussion of breastfeeding when appropriate and when it fits the storyline of the show to bring it to the show as this has been done twice before on the program.

Ron, anytime my kids were hungry, I "whipped it out" and fed them. The thing is most breast feeding moms have the decency and the know how to keep themselves politely covered while out and about and feeding their babies.

I would rather my kids see me or any one else breastfeeding then half the crap they show on tv. You dont need to show couples "screwing for sex education" all you have to do is turn the tv on and wait for a commercial...

Yea! What's next? Teachers doing students?

What's with all the people comparing public breastfeeding to public sex? Read post #17.1. When done discreetly you can hardly see any of the woman's breast. You see less than with some low cut tops people wear in public. People just have no tolerance for these mothers who breastfeed, and I dare say they have dirty minds. What are they supposed to do, go hide in a stinky public bathroom? What a place to feed your baby.

The high level of unnecessary prudishness against the view or even the discussion of perfectly normal human activities in some parts of this country and in some political and religious subcultures never ceases to amaze me.

Makes me wonder how they were raised as children. Completely artificial, I suppose.

Well, I'm sure if the Radical Right had their way, they would shrink down the size of our government to fit into the privacy of our bedrooms and into the wombs of all child-bearing women. And maybe they'll declare taking a bath in the nude an immoral act, and therefore legislate it as an illegal exposure.

Rradiko, what I think is oddly amusing and more than a little sad is that so many of the posters on this thread are adamantly against a children's show very briefly showing a mother discreetly breastfeeding her child (which has already been done on twice on Sesame Street and once on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, for goodness' sake) and answering a child's simple questions with simple, gentle answers. My guess is that these same posters who most likely consider themselves to be conservatives have never seen one of the most famous conservative mothers on television, Michelle Duggar, nursing her children on TLC's 19 and Counting. She even did it in PUBLIC (discreetly, but she sure as heck wasn't cowering in a public bathroom).

I understand the business about story lines, but when these story lines are spaced by a number of years, it's a shame that so many kids will miss them. I don't recall a single example of breastfeeding while any of my 3 kids watched.

Amen

Hi Riki-2714121

I agree. What is there to debate and make a fuss over?

Many of the low income mothers I work with do not breastfeed because they believe in the false information circulated years ago that bottle feeding is better, and that breastfeeding will ruin the shape of their breasts. The truth is just the opposite.

Children do what their parents do, unless they see something else. If they see breastfeeding as normal and natural, they may breastfeed as parents, which will be better for their children.

Sesame Street is a good way to expose children to information they would not get at home. They learn their letters and numbers, on Sesame Street. The characters model tolerance and acceptance of differences. Why not model excellent parenting skills?

So why doesnt the show also show reality like people being mugged

Breastfeeding IS a basic life skill.

But, here....you've brought up part of the problem with this whole discussion: "what needs to be addressed AT HOME;" This was the argument given against sex ed in the school system, and I would be the first to agree that this wasn't necessarily a school's duty. However, too many "needs to be discussed at home" issues are NOT discussed at home, and then the information is gleaned from inappropriate, misinformed sources.

I would rather a child of mine learn from an accepted, informationally sound program, (if not from ME), than from someone "on the street," as it were!

That is where we have misguided our children...letting schools tell our children that pre-marital sex is okay as long as you are "protected". Do you have any idea how UNPROTECTED they are? It is staggering how many adults are so misinformed. The only safe sex that is possible is in the confines of a committed marriage. It was designed that way for a reason.