Believe it or not, Michigan law used to allow babies to be out of their car seats if they were nursing. At the time I assumed it was a misguided nod to the Big Three and all things automotive. The car is king! Keep it moving! Despite the unsafe nature of the law, I appreciated the apparent belief in the importance of breastfeeding.However, Michigan recently chose to tighten its car seat belts laws. Local News Channel 3 WWMT explains:
The legislation now also prohibits removing a child from a car seat to nurse while the vehicle is in motion. Babies should …read more

This latest installment in the Mom-to-Mom question and answer series deals with advice for families planning a car trip with a baby. After reading The Value of Traveling with Your Baby, reader Christina asked the following question:
I am actually taking my first trip with my 4 month old this weekend to a wedding. It will be a 7 hour car drive – any advice for the car trip? And on a tangent – any advice for breastfeeding in a dress or am I doomed for separates?
Great question! When my first daughter was four months old we drove from Boston to …read more

While it’s not always easy to travel with a young baby, the rewards of doing so are great! I recently traveled to Newport Beach, California, for a La Leche League conference and I took my 10-month-old with me. It was a grand adventure being away for the weekend and my daughter made a developmental leap — something I have noticed happening with each of my three children when we travel!
Some of the benefits of traveling with a baby:
~ The extra stimulation from new places and new faces when we travel has led to new words or first steps for …read more

If you are looking for a relaxing place to get away for a weekend, the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa is a wonderful place to go. I spent Memorial Day weekend there with my family, and I took this picture from my balcony:
While I attended lectures in the conference rooms for the La Leche League of Southern California/Nevada area conference, my husband watched the older two girls. They never even made it to the beach they were having so much fun swimming in one of the hotel’s three pools, playing in the hotel sand play area, or doing crafts …read more

I am not someone who believes that breastfeeding ought to be done in private. However, if an establishment is going to offer a quiet place for a mother to take her baby should she so choose, then this is the type of sign I like to see — this sign from Taipei, Taiwan, that calls it a “breastfeeding room” and does not use the image of a baby bottle. Sure, babies fed by bottle can use such a room too, but it is better not to make a bottle the universal symbol for feeding babies.

In the “CDC Health Information for International Travel 2008″ the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers an entire chapter (available on-line) on Breastfeeding and International Travel. I found the sections on breastfeeding mothers and vaccines, and breastfeeding and antimalarial medications, to be most interesting. Of course, be sure to check with your doctor for more information, and consult the LactMed database about any medications as well.

The Vermont Human Rights Commission ruled today that Freedom Airlines discriminated against nursing mother Emily Gillette when a flight attendant asked Gillette to cover up while breastfeeding and had her removed from the flight when she refused to do so. The parties now have a six-month period in which to attempt to negotiate a settlement. If a settlement is not reached, the Commission could file a civil suit against Freedom Airlines. Gillette’s lawyer Beth Boepple has been quoted as saying:
What the Human Rights Commission does with it and how they decide to fashion a remedy once we get past …read more

Nearly a year and a half after Emily Gillette was removed from a Delta/Freedom Airlines flight for refusing to cover up while breastfeeding, the Vermont Human Rights Commission will hear the case. According to the Burlington Free Press, the Commission will review the findings of its investigator, who found reasonable grounds that Freedom discriminated against Gillette. The hearing is set to take place on Thursday, March 27, 2008, and it is closed to the public. While Gillette said she is not required to attend, she traveled to Vermont anyway.
I feel really grateful, still, for the way the state’s set up. …read more

What’s with the airline industry and its poor treatment of breastfeeding mothers and babies? An Australian woman booked a business class ticket to San Francisco on Qantas Airlines. For some reason, the airline’s booking agent advised the woman to put her baby on the ticket of her companion who was traveling in economy class. The agent assured the woman that the baby could visit business class whenever the baby needed to breastfeed, and the pair had no problems on the initial flight. On the return flight, however, flight attendants refused to allow baby Alexandra to visit business class to breastfeed, …read more

Welcome to this month’s “Travel” theme day here at the b5media Science and Health Channel. Believe it or not, travel is a hot topic in breastfeeding news, especially in light of the new U.S. Transportation Security Administration rules for traveling with expressed breast milk. Of course, travel is a hot topic for all the science and health bloggers participating today. Stay tuned throughout the day as contributions are added below.
Liz at Alzheimer’s Notes sets out important considerations when traveling with someone with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Travel is one of Kristina’s favorite metaphors to describe her family’s life with Charlie in what she …read more