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TLOL Mom's Share Their Thoughts On
Nursing in Public
Tammy:
My husband and I are expecting in August. He has two children (6 and 10) from a previous marriage and a wife that did not breastfeed so this is new to him as well. It is really important for me to at least give it a good shot. He understands and supports my reasons for breastfeeding (and I plan on pumping too so that he can be involved in the feedings), but last night he said "your not going to breastfeed in front of people are you?". I snapped back "well if our baby is hungry, I'm not going to worry about offending other people. God gave us this gift and I intend to use it". I additionally stated that I am not the kind of person to just "whip" my boob out, exposing it to all (that would be embarrassing to me), I would use a blanket or nursing shawl for privacy and realistically, if there was a private room available, I would likely go there (for my own peace of mind, not others).
Gracie:
I will admit that I use to think it looked bad for a woman to breastfeed in public. I figured they should go some place private. I was very wrong when I thought that...I was uninformed. Now that I am planning on breastfeeding I've done a lot of reading, reading and reading. I never knew it was healthier than formula, and I never realized how often they needed feed. (I have never been around babies) I don't know where I expected them to go...it would be ridiculous for them to go to the public restroom and sit on a toilet (after all I wouldn't want to eat my lunch there) or out to a cold or hot car, and it would be impossible for them to never leave the house until the child is weaned. I would suggest if anyone comments to you about breastfeeding in public I would inform them about the importance of breastfeeding and the fact that you are not trying to offend anyone...YOUR JUST TRYING TO FEED YOUR HUNGRY BABY!!!! Personally I would rather feed in private, but if I'm out and my baby is hungry, she will get feed in public. I might get embarrassed the first couple of times until I get the hang of it, but I sure don't plan on hiding out in the house.
Kenyatta: I've only had occasion to feed Christian in "public" a couple of times, and that is only because, I'm modest
While no one has ever posed the question to me in that way, I restrain from breastfeeding in public because Christian is what I call a Flapper. He'll grab my shirt (no matter how big it is), and flap his arms, exposing me to the world ... and even while I've nursed him in the car, in the backseat, he still managed to "flap" me while people were passing by. I was mortified at the time, but I continued nursing. I just think the whole issue of whether you choose to breastfeed in public or not is totally personal. And if Christian is hungry - I'll feed him .... So far as nipple confusion, up until about 10 weeks, it's advised to stick to the nipple before introducing the bottle/nipple, because of nipple confusion. With Christian, it was more of an issue finding the right nipple.
Tracy:
Kenyatta, your story reminds me of an occasion I attended with my first baby. He was just a couple of months old and we traveled a distance to go to my husband's grandparents 50th wedding anniversary party. I never thought anything of nursing in public; if I didn't mind why should anyone else. You could never see anything anyway but the assumed position! Anyway, Keagan started fussing to be fed, and I was sitting at a table in a far corner of the ballroom, so I proceeded to feed him. An older man (60's) stared for a couple of minutes (I will reiterate...you could see NOTHING) and then came across the room. He said, "That's disgusting. You need to take him to that bathroom to do that." I just looked at him and said, "I watched you eating and it was TRULY disgusting, but no one asked you to go eat in the restroom. We're here for dinner and he's having his."
Needless to say, he walked away miffed, but not only was I not going to wean my baby for a 1 day event, but I wasn't going to discomfort myself for this man. I nursed my son until he was 18months old (28lbs. of baby!) and I nursed my second until she was 24months. Stick to your guns! If anyone is that offended by you nursing an infant (and it's not like you're going to whip it out up at the alter!) they're a little anal retentive. Sorry to ramble on for so long, but I'm such a strong advocate of BF and the bonding as well as the health benefits. I wish you well at the upcoming wedding! And may baby enjoy it,too!
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