Comments on: Why Are We Afraid To Nurse In Public?

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:21:31 +0000

When I was first nursing my son I was very nervous and I didn’t feel comfortable doing it. I would say it took about 8 weeks for me to really feel I had the technique and that certainly made me feel more confident. I guess as time goes by it becomes so common place to just get your boobs out to nurse! I didn’t find I got any comments even when he was a toddler. This was in the UK. However, I have now moved to Hong Kong where they have a very different culture towards breastfeeding. I no longer nurse my 3 year old and I am expecting my 2nd child and I must admit I’ve bought some covers to make me feel more comfortable about nursing in public. There is a huge amount of bottle fed babies over here and I think I have only ever seen 3 mothers breastfeeding their babies. I will see how I go – part of me thinks I should be out and proud just to make a statement but at the same time I want an easy life when I’m with my children – I don’t want them to see me be confrontational with someone – because if someone says anything I will be unleashed!

By: The Verve Path

The Verve Path — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:11:23 +0000

I was very nervous at first because we had so many difficulties. We used a nipple shield the first 5 months… try wrangling a breast, baby, and a floppy plastic piece!! UGH! By the time we finally did get rid of the shield, M was not much for nursing in public. He was highly distractable. We did nurse in lots of places (restaurants, family’s living rooms, malls, cook outs, etc), but the majority was in our car just because that was the only place I could get him to focus if we weren’t at home.

I really hope the next one is easier and I can nurse in public more… I am much more assertive now and want to be able to help make it more common to see!
.-= The Verve Path´s last blog ..E.T. Neosporin =-.

By: Mommy News

Mommy News — Sun, 09 May 2010 23:26:37 +0000

Thanks so much for your comment Ahmie. I’m so sorry what you have gone through with your step-mother and your father and his family are missing out on such wonderful children. It really is a shame. Good for you for sticking to your guns! –Judy

By: Ahmie

Ahmie — Sun, 09 May 2010 23:15:34 +0000

Logan, I could hug you for what you did for that mom. I’ve never been shy about nursing in public (expecting kid #3 any minute now, typing around contractions but have been having them several times an hour for a month now so who knows when this one will make an appearance, official EDD is Wednesday). I am physically handicapped and there is no way I could relocate when my baby is hungry, so I’ve been pretty brazen about putting my baby’s needs ahead of the whims of strangers (or older family members) around me from the start almost 6 years ago. Unfortunately, it has lead to an estrangement from my father’s side of the family, but I decided if they’re going to undermine THAT early and fundamental of a parenting choice and commitment, I don’t need them in my children’s lives and their loss because my kids are awesome My step-mother YELLED at me for nursing my TWO WEEK OLD firstborn DISCRETELY (was wearing two shirts, no flesh exposed, turned to the wall to get him latched on, etc) in their living room, and this was after I’d driven 6 hours from where we were living at the time to househunt in the area my family lives in and squeezed in some time for my dad to meet his first grandchild. He defended her and hasn’t seen that grandchild since (will be 6 years old at the end of this month). Whenever someone thinks that is harsh of me (I’ve had a very difficult relationship with my father all my life, it was just the last straw), I ask what kind of mother would I be if I put the mental comfort of adults who are able to LOOK AWAY over the need of my baby to be nourished? To those who are squeemish about it, I remind them that we live in three dimensional space and there are PLENTY of points in space that do not include me or my child to look at instead. My child, until s/he has teeth, has ONE source of nourishment. That takes precedence.

By: juliea

juliea — Sun, 09 May 2010 19:54:04 +0000

This is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately…I actually wrote a blog post on this very topic. I just don’t understand what is so taboo about it! It’s just boobs, we really need to get over it. I’ve realized that it isn’t my problem, it’s their problem. I’m just trying to feed my baby – and I will do it unapologetically.
.-= juliea´s last blog ..WARNING: NIPPLES AHEAD. =-.

By: Krista

Krista — Sat, 08 May 2010 14:28:51 +0000

LOGAN YAY!!! You’re awesome!
As someone who’s been described as “extreme” when it comes to nursing, and as a person who never misses an opportunity to pull out my breast in front of any family member, dad and brother and inlaws included, I really thought I was going to be a person who was a proud public nurser. The only thing that’s held me back is that I have a baby like the one described above — she CANNOT concentrate unless we’re in a dark quiet room, so if we were to nurse in public, she would certainly pull off, flip the nursing shawl to the side, and lean as far back as possible to look around. She’s done it before. If she did that, I’d be pretty exposed, and I too have pretty large breasts. If I thought she could stay latched on, I’d have no trouble because between nursing tops and her head, there would be plenty of coverage. But I’m inspired by these comments to go ahead and do it anyway. If no one has the courage to “whip it out” and freak out the detractors, we’ll be relegated to the bathroom forever. Solidarity ladies!!

By: Tiffany (As For My House)

Tiffany (As For My House) — Sat, 08 May 2010 14:05:50 +0000

Logan –

I wanted to give you a huge round of applause!!

I think a situation like that – without your intervention – could potentially result in a struggling new mom giving up on nursing her baby.

Since nursing is still not seen as normal and commonplace in our society, we really need to support the new mamas!
.-= Tiffany (As For My House)´s last blog ..The Good Lord Provides… =-.

By: Mommy News

Mommy News — Sat, 08 May 2010 01:49:57 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing your story Logan and for supporting that mom! I’m sure you made her day as well! — Judy

By: Amnesty

Amnesty — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:07:07 +0000

Logan, that is FANTASTIC!
Personally, nursing in public has never bothered me, but I think that’s because I come from a big family of long term breastfeeders. When my oldest son was born, three of my aunts were nursing their babies (ages 5 months to 13 months) so there were several family gatherings where we were all sitting around with babies on boobs. One of my aunts (married into my family) was somewhat self conscious, and it was actually seeing her wrestle with her nursing cover, compared to my other two aunts who didn’t use them, that convinced me nursing covers are WAY more conspicuous than just simply and discretely lifting your shirt!
I still nurse my youngest in public, and he’ll be 2 next month. And I’ve NEVER (over 3 kids) had a negative comment or even dirty look, directed my way. And I live in the South

By: Logan

Logan — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:41:15 +0000

I’ve never been hesitant to nurse in public, but i understand women who are. To each her own. I just wanted to share a story about a time recently when i was at the zoo.

I was walking by the concession stand seating area with my daughter and noticed a woman attempting to breastfeed her baby. She was having a really hard time of it. She looked like she wasn’t a practiced nurser (i found out later that her little guy was only 8 weeks old) and hadn’t really gotten in to the easy habit of it that comes with time. Plus her little guy was squirming and trying to rip off this nursing shawl that was covering him. So that poor woman is doing her best to feed her son all by herself when she’s not really sure of what she’s doing, is trying to wrangle him wiggling all over, hold her breast, and hold this shawl in place. She looked so overwhelemed.

At that exact moment some horrible lady sat down at the table next to her and muttered (loudly enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear) “Nobody wants to see that. Why doesn’t she go to the car or the bathroom?” I think it was the last straw for the frazzled mama and tears started welling up in her eyes and she started struggling to pack up her son and get out of there without further embarrasment.

I smiled some encouragement to her cause i have definitely been there and sat down at her table right next to her and started nursing my daughter (who wasn’t even hungry- i just wanted to show a little solidarity). The nasty lady nearly went apopleptic. She was upset by a woman covered with a shawl nursing a newborn. And here i was with the audacity to just hike up my shirt right there in front of god and everybody and nurse my toddler! I thought her head was going to explode. It was hilarious. She made this really sour face and said, “That’s disgusting.” I smiled sweetly and told her she could leave if she didn’t want to see, so she did. That new mom was so thankful and relieved. It made my whole day.