Furious mum forced to stand up for half an hour to breastfeed baby as NO ONE on packed train offered her a seat
She's said she 'cannot get her head around' people ignoring her
A MUM who was denied a seat on a train while breastfeeding her six-month-old son has taken to Instagram to vent her fury.
Blogger Kate Hitchens had to stand for half an hour as she travelled home from London to Wickford, Essex, this week, when none of her fellow passengers offered to get up.
The mum-of-two - who runs parenting blog - said she "couldn't get her head around" not giving a parent with a child a seat.
She said she felt "uncomfortable and embarrassed" at having to feed her child while standing up on the packed train.
Kate later told : "I'd actually spent the afternoon in London after [a work] event and had used the Tube.
"Everyone until this point had been really friendly and helpful on the Underground, helping with my buggy up stairs and offering their seats.
"I actually declined one teenage boy's offer of his seat as Charlie was happy in his buggy and I didn't feel I needed it more than he did at the time."
But things changed when she got on the packed commuter train and her son needed feeding.
Kate said: "I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed breastfeeding standing up on the busy train.
"Although I'm happy to feed anywhere he needs it, I do still try and be discreet and not show my breasts, wearing clothing designed for nursing.
"Because I was having to stand up and hold [Charlie's] 20lb weight, I was uncomfortable physically as well as personally.
"As the train moved he pulled and it hurt.
Kate's full Instagram post
"On my way home from London on a packed commuter train and this is what I faced.
"What has the world come to that a mother has to stand up on a moving train breast feeding a wriggling and writhing 6 month old, 20lb baby?!
"The point here isn't just that I found it difficult because I was nursing (although that was bloody difficult!), but that not one person offered a mother carrying a small child a seat for around half an hour, or 3 stops!
"I could have asked, but I didn't. I felt silly. I shouldn't have to ask.
"Maybe some people didn't see. I know for a fact some did; they made eye contact and actually smiled at me. I was thinking stop smiling and offer me your seat please!
"One lady looked up from her book and immediately offered me her seat, another lady then sat in it and when the lovely lady said: 'Oh excuse me I actually gave up my seat so this lady with a baby could sit down,' the sitting lady shrugged, plugged her earphones in and closed her eyes!
"I like to think that she needed that seat more than me, perhaps she was newly pregnant and in that early exhaustion period, perhaps she was knackered after a day at work, perhaps she was ill.
"Or perhaps she was just a t***. I hope not.
"I can somewhat understand not offering your seat to someone elderly; perhaps they might be offended you think they look old!
"I can understand not offering your seat to someone you suspect might be pregnant; maybe it's just their time of the month or perhaps they are just naturally curvy and they aren't pregnant; perhaps you worry you might offend them.
"I cannot get my head around not offering a parent with a child a seat.
"Next time you see someone with a child on a train - if you're able bodied and fit and healthy please offer your seat to them!"
"I also felt uncomfortable myself as I accidentally exposed more of myself to the people standing around me than I usually would sitting down, trying to hold him wriggling in one arm whilst sorting myself out with the other hand was difficult.
"Usually I balance him on my knee so I have both hands free and can do my top up discreetly."
So, would you have offered your seat?
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