Mother defends breastfeeding baby while driving (followup on idiot)

WKYC-TV/DT Cleveland ^ | 6.17.03 | Vic Gideon

[mhking]

Mother defends breastfeeding baby while driving

Reported by Vic Gideon
POSTED: Monday, June 16, 2003 5:06:15 PM
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 12:20:52 PM

PORTAGE COUNTY -- A mother traveling from Detroit to Pittsburgh got into trouble in Portage County while trying to drive and breastfeed her baby at the same time.

Twenty-nine-year-old Catherine Donkers had fed the baby before she left Detroit but said her seven-month-old daughter was hungry again.

"I knew I was doing nothing wrong when I was breastfeeding her," Donkers said.

Donkers doesn't consider her actions excessively dangerous.

"I think there are lots of things we do when we put ourselves at risk, just by the very fact that I'm in a car and there's lots of car accidents every single day," she said. "I think it would be reasonable to say even that's a danger."

A truck driver apparently saw it as a danger and called the highway patrol. But Donkers wouldn't pull over for police until she got to a tollbooth.

"I've directed her to, that when she doesn't feel safe, she goes to a public place," said her husband, Brad Barnhill.

At the tollbooth, Donkers didn't give the trooper a driver's license. She instead pulled out an affidavit as identification and got cited for not having a license.

The couple also claims she did nothing wrong, saying Michigan law has an exemption to its child restraint law for nursing mothers.

They claim that since the turnpike is an interstate, drivers can follow the laws of their home state. But the highway patrol says that as long as the stop occurred in Ohio, they have to abide by Ohio laws.

The couple has done extensive research on the law and believes in a strict adherence to them. Donkers is facing child endangering and child seat violations among other charges. Her and her husband say they plan to fight all charges and will file a counter suit.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Now keep in mind he was getting paid, she was missing an important appointment, and they ended up throwing her in jail (don’t question authority or you will pay for it).

She was not just missing an important appointment, she was on the way to pick up an expert witness that was going to testify in the trial to prosecute a cop that raped her after he pulled her over in a deserted area!!

The people here are Howlin because she didn't pull over immediately. Naturally, they missed the part of the story her husband told where SHE'D BEEN RAPED ON TWO SEPERATE OCCASIONS BY POLICE OFFICERS, ONE OF WHOM WAS ON TRIAL!!

Man, is this place going downhill fast.

[Irish Eyes]

Bingo

[bootless]

...this women wasnt the sharpest pencil in the box, but all she did was feel compassion for her baby. some here seem to think that that is a crime against society.

Feeling versus thinking is not the mark of a reasonable person. I may feel compassion for a junkie on the street - so much so that I give him a $100 bill, versus perhaps a sandwich. Is that a good idea?

I may feel compassion for a hungry child and give them a peanut butter sandwich - not realizing he has a peanut allergy, and endangering his life.

If I were the mother in question, I may feel compassion for a crying, hungry baby. But what favor am I, in reality doing if I feed him CONCURRENT with endangering his life while, in essence, placing him in a position where he becomes an impact absorber in the event of a collision?

I'll answer that. NONE.

Compassion is wonderful. It is godly. Acting with good sense is necessary to this child's survival. They were lucky.

And while I'm working the details, better time planning would have prevented this. Any long car trip (and I make a LOT of them) must have extra time built in for factors out of your control: traffic jams, closed lanes, HUNGRY BABY. Except the hungry baby is not an unexpected delay. It is completely predictable, and has to be accounted for.

As an air traffic controller friend of mine has said on occasion about pilots who don't plan so well and demand special ATC (non-emergency) services: "Lack of planning on their part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine."

[bonfire]

"Imaginations do work overtime. Let us ban all imagined possibilities of disaster. Why aren't your windows sandbagged? A neigbor's gas grill might explode. Don't you care for your own babies? Without the sandbags they might get hurt."

I imagine the possibilities 24/7 for 23 years now. So I make damn sure that I don't do stupid things to put my children's life in danger. I don't leave the driveway until my kids have their seatbelts on, etc. etc. I can't control what they do when I am not there.....but I don't take UNECCESSARY chances when I am in charge. It's about common sense and protecting my kids as best I can. I don't think that is so difficult to understand.

[bootless]

Please refrain frome asking logical questions, as this guy has trouble parsing simple logical responses. He deflects and slides, but cannot answer the clear and simple questions.

Oops, sorry, I forgot. (sigh) And I'd do it again.

Shame on you for thinking that this guy or his wife is a responsible adult. Their time is more important than others' safety.

I've come to see that.

[bootless]

And while I'm at it, two words that Freepers are well acquainted with, that apparently this mom did not consider:

Unintended consequences.

[bootless]

Nonetheless, those past, and extremely unfortunate and painful circumstances do NOT shield the baby's head if she'd had to hit the brakes!

The laws of physics are immutable here. She was lucky. The baby was lucky. But it was NOT by design or planning or even the practice of minimal good sense.

[bootless]

the only story here is how much EMOTION folks are willing to use as a basis for LAW

No, it's the amount of emotion you are trying to use to excuse her acting in a reckless manner towards her baby. Pardon me, but it's near-Clintonian: "But she was COMPASSIONATE! It was For Her Child!"

The laws of physics do NOT care.

[honeygrl]

"Just so you know that at 35 mph he becomes a projectile.

How could you care so little for your pet? "

You should see how people travel their dogs downhere in GA. Inthe back of a pickup going 80 on the highway.

[honeygrl]

"So, you're saying that this is the law in all 50 states? Fine. Prove it. Show us the laws for all 50 states that specifically state that a child safety seat MUST be carried in the back seat of a motor vehicle. "

The way I undertand it, being in the back seat is just highly suggested due to airbags in the front seat. Not a law, just part of the instructions with the carseat. We have a car with no airbags so I occationally put my son up front on long trips to keep him entertained without having to stop every hour. I've never been pulled over for it and his carseat is big and easily visible.

[honeygrl]

"I never said that; I said that the law requires the car seat to be in the back. You misunderstood. "

Being in the back isn't the law. It's highly recommended. If you have no airbag in the front seat, it's fine. The back seat is still safer, but not required.

[jwh_Denver]

They claim that since the turnpike is an interstate, drivers can follow the laws of their home state.

That's just plain stupid multiplied by stupid.

[servantoftheservant]

Don't forget other motorists, who were hostage to her not dropping the baby, or getting the baby's head caught under the wheel.

Yeah, and other drivers are 'hostage' to hot coffee spilling and arguments on cell phones, etc., etc., etc. in hundreds of thousands of cars everwhere. Whatever. The 'other drivers rights' argument is bogus unless there is a specific law prohibiting what the woman did.

[honeygrl]

"All children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat"

Should ride, not ARE REQUIRED to ride.

[servantoftheservant]

The baby is alive and healthy. There was no harm.

Imaginations do work overtime. Let us ban all imagined possibilities of disaster. Why aren't your windows sandbagged? A neigbor's gas grill might explode. Don't you care for your own babies? Without the sandbags they might get hurt.

Thanks for a rational comment.

[servantoftheservant]

Um, who pays for the roads she was travelling on? Why, that'd be the taxpayers (which includes me). She doesn't want to use the roads, she can walk.

Roads are paid for by gasoline taxes, and in the case of the turnpike, by tolls. If you buy gas, you paid for the roads.

[honeygrl]

"They go out of their way to research the laws so they can figure out how to break them." -Eaker

Well, my hubby's cousins went out of their way to know the laws on breastfeeding while travelling because they did a lot of travelling (like 12 hour drives) and stopping to feed a child for atleast a half hour every 2 hours slows the trips *way* down. They found out that legally they were allowed in GA and FL to take the baby out of the carseat to tend to basic needs, such as nursing, while still on the road. They didn't research specifically so they could break laws, they researched so they could make sure they didn't break them. Now I personally wouldn't do it, but mostly because I've gotten really good at taking my own seatbelt off and leaning over the carseat to nurse the baby on long trips so that I'm the one in jeopardy and not the baby. Even though that is illegal, I feel it's safer for the baby. If I did it the legal way, I would be safe, but the baby would not. Of course, none of this is with me driving. It's with me and baby in the backseat while hubby drives.

[honeygrl]

"I let my kid skateboard! I let him ride bikes! I have takin him mountiain climbing in the snow at 6000 ft. OH god We've shot guns! Crap!! I gave him a knife!! Man I Suk!! My kid is doomed! "

I can't believe I lived to be an adult... when I was a baby/toddler my parents didn't even own a carseat. They never bought one until they had my younger brother. (guess they liked him more)

[honeygrl]

"EXCELLENT explanation of the mechanics of breastfeeding. You only left out one thing.....burping. Normally, the child is burped (dependent upon age) by being held in a 'sitting up' position while patting the child on the back. You then 'flip' the child so they can nurse on the other breast. "

Breasfed babies don't usually need to be burped. My 2 never did. It's bottled that let in air. Boobies are air free.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Did her "research" also tell her that she didn't have to pull over for a state trooper? Where's THAT law?

I can understand why she did that. The cop might have been a phony...