Gagand

True, just heard it on the news. A woman was forced to drink her own breast milk at an airport, due to security you see. Forced is the word used by the news reporter, I don't know if they held her down and poured it down her throat or not. It is policy, so they say, to make people drink any drinks they are carrying on board.

Now, let me hear from you about this!

yak

THAT is positively disgusting! I'm sick to death of seeing moms whip 'em out all over the place too. And while I'm on the subject, why are women breast feeding children over 2 or 3 years old? YUCK!

interesting

Well, the rules are the rules. Period. And what is so disgusting about breast milk? It is a natural thing that most of the humans and animals on this planet are raised on during infanthood. There is nothing disgusting about it. It is a private thing however and as long as women cover up in public, there is no reason why they can't do it most places. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, restuarants and so forth. But your attitude is shameful.

yuk

She's lucky she wasn't carrying urine samples.

yak

Yak:

Literally LOL on that one! Bravo!

Herb

Perhaps I can apply to the new Dept. of Homeland Security to be a taste tester for just this type of occassion.

Henry

Good thing she didn't work for a sperm bank

Whats

Ok boys, Herb and Henry lets behave. Surely what Gagand meant was that this breast milk was in a bottle and she was carrying in on board for her infant.
Although I must say that Herb wanting a job as a taste tester was LOL.

stoopid

I hate to sound like an idgit, but how come she didn't just put the bottle in the kid's mouth?

Herb

Sounds like she was on a business trip away from her baby amd savng the mailk for him. You have to milk those puppies daily or they could explode you know. When I see a woman who appears to be in that condition I always volunteer to help her out.

RU Fixated?

Must be Friday and the testosterone is clouding the brains, boys?

Please tell me school will be back in session soon, so you can take all this leering nonsense back to the locker-room. Grow up, for pity's sake.

CAT LARSON

TO Stoopid....

...or just pour it out of the bottle, into the trash or ground, or whatever. Why did she have to drink it? Something is missing here....

CAT LARSON

The complete story can be found on the newsgroup rec.travel.air. She had 3 bottles of it in her bag, and the agent required her to drink SOME from each bottle, before she would be allowed to board. Ridiculous. There have been other similar cases, one of which was averted by a female security officer that stepped in to interrupt the male officer's demands. I like another mother's observation: . . . "but I do think the number of Caucasian, lactating mothers who have passed through al Qaeda training camps
is negligible." Al Qaeda will finish us off with pure paranoia. They don't need weapons.

Spell it out

Just to explain (but NOT defend) for those who are confused here: security people have to be assured that no liquid that goes on board can be used as part of an explosive or for other criminal purposes (acid in eyes, etc.). Making people drink liquids assures that the liquid is harmless.

However, the airlines had better figure out PDQ that breast milk is rendered useless for the baby if anyone (including Mom) drinks out of the container because it becomes contaminated with oral germs. Aside from the embarrassment here, the harm to a baby about to travel without milk is obvious.

Those of you who are particularly bugged by screaming infants on planes should get up in arms about this, because -- among other things -- sucking on a bottle helps clear the babies' ears as well as calming them down when stressed.

Winston

interesting ([email protected])
writes "Well, the rules are the rules. Period."

This is the kind of "roll over and let my government do anything to me they want" mentality that will prove to be the damnation of this country. These airline screeners (and everyone else in government) work for *US*, the TAXPAYERS. It's high time the tail stops wagging the dog.

Look at where our paranoia is taking us. I remember the days when we demonized USSR with tales of how even kids and delivery persons were used as spies for the government and that people were often locked up for long periods of time without being charged for any particular crime. Seems that it's now OUR country that does all that.

Yes, let's all give up everything in the name of security and patriotism!

God Bless America ... please!

interesting

This rule is not unreasonable in the least. It is to make sure the liquid is harmless. Is that so bad? We aren't giving up everything in the name of security at all! Stop being so dramatic.

Else

"interesting" - did you read "spell it out's" post at all? Once the milk is tasted by anyone else, it is useless for the baby.

The rule about making sure liquids are safe isn't a bad one, but enforcement in this particular way with this particular liquid is wrong. I agree that they should have asked her to feed some to the baby.

working mom

The baby wasn't with her. That's why she had to use a breast pump. For those who apparently still don't understand the whole concept of breast-feeding, you have to pump the milk into bottles when your baby isn't around or your milk supply will dry up--not to mention the fact that you risk a painful infection of the milk ducts caused by over-fullness. Yet another one of the "joys" of business travel as a new mother.

AllanJ

Nothing wrong with drinking a small quantity of breast milk in public, it is not a disgusting substance.

With a little practice, you can pour a small quantity into the nipple assembly and then pour that into your mouth with no part of your mouth touching any part of the bottle or nipple assembly inside or out. If there is leftover milk that you did touch, discard it discreetly or elsewhere, do not empty it back into the baby bottle.

Current medical thinking suggests that it is not a good idea to put anything in a baby's mouth that has touched anyone else's mouth. Tooth decay bacteria are often introduced to a baby's mouth for the first time this way.

Health tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/health.htm

Janeen

A friend of mine was recently asked to take a drink from her water bottle during a gate check. No problem and she complied. Yet she says they didn't ask her to take a sip of the shampoo they found in her carry-on. For obvious reasons, yes - but if they say they are so concerned about liquids this seems like a huge flaw in the logic. The flying public and the concerns of safety are not served by silly and inconsistent rules, especially when the gate agents demonstrate the easy way to get around them.