Thursday, January 31, 2013

First time nursing in public {Breastfeeding Bloghop}

Today I am linking up with Sisters 'n Cloth for the breastfeeding blog hop and discussing the first time nursing in public.  For me, being able to breastfeed comfortably in public enabled me to keep nursing my babies until they were 18 months old.  It meant that I didn't have to know how much milk I needed for the baby when I left the house.  I didn't have to worry about how I would keep the milk good or warm it up. 

I can remember the first few times I nursed Miss Froggie in public.  This was  in the year 2000 and in the summer in Texas.  It was over one hundred degrees every day.  And Miss Froggie was quite the hot water bottle.  I remember sitting on a bench and latching her.  I had most of my breastfeeding gear and a baby blanket.  But it was so hot and Miss Froggie was sweating already.  I just couldn't imagine keeping that blanket over us once we were latched. So I took it off.

To be honest, this was easy for me.  I mean I was SO HOT and so was Miss Froggie.  But it was a little more difficult for dear husband.  He had to be assured that I was not exposed but he agreed it was too hot for a blanket over us.  The next time I remember was in a restaurant.  I nursed her in the booth.  (I've found that if you sit in a booth and nurse on the inside breast, no one out of your table can tell what you are doing.  And in general, once latched it just looks like you are holding your baby.)  This time dear husband asked if it would be better to nurse in the bathroom.  I was honestly surprised.  I asked him, sitting on the toilet?   He said, "oh, no, I guess not". ( He had been under the impression that women had chairs or couches in the bathroom.)

After that, we were both pretty comfortable with the nursing wherever we were.  I have done different things with different babies to keep myself modest.  I like the new light weight nursing covers that keep you covered hands free, but I think they make it obvious what you are doing.  I use them with a new baby that is still learning to latch quickly.  If I am out with family or girl friends I am discrete but I don't worry too much.  If I am out in mixed company I usually keep everything very covered.  Although, some of my babies have liked to uncover themselves.  This can cause more of a scene than quietly latching.

I think the best advice I was given was to practice latching in front of a mirror.  That way you can learn to latch without showing anything.  This gets super easy as baby gets older, because they can do it all themselves.  Now, with the fourth baby 8 months old, we have nursed just about everywhere.  The park, the pool, the amusement park, in the car (not while moving), in the mall, in my office, in the doctor's office, on play dates, at church.  When we have moved or traveled, I have checked the laws in the new states.  Mostly they say the same thing.  Mother can nurse wherever she is legally allowed to be.  But so far, I have not been asked to move or leave anyplace.

I am thankful that I had my girls first.  It would be a little more awkward to nurse a baby in front of tween or teenage boys than teenage girls.

7 comments:

  1. My first time nursing in public uncovered happened totally by accident. I had walked with my mother-in-law to a local cafe, with my 4 month old. I didn't think to bring a blanket. We sat down to eat, and of course, she thought it was time to eat too. I was very nervous about it at first, but realized once we got started that I actually got much fewer looks than I did when I was using the blanket. I never looked back after that! I did use a nursing cover for a bit when my youngest was starting out, because he was not a "good" nurser. He would start nursing, pull off, squirm, fuss, latch on, pull off, etc. It turned out we had a dairy sensitivity, and once we figured that out, things went much better! Thanks for linking up! ~Melissa

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    1. Don't you love how they always want to eat when you are eating? I think I got fewer looks without the blanket too.

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  2. Haha! I've had similar comments from my husband, too. But there are plenty of times that I want a cover for my own comfort. Like you said, it's usually in mixed company. :) ~Jeniffer

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  3. My oldest is an 11 year old boy and he doesn't seem to be phased too much by me breastfeeding his little brother. In fact, when I was going through some of the earliest photos we had after the birth of my youngest, I found a ton of pictures of me breastfeeding Peanut for the very first time. I guess I was very 'into' the moment, because I hadn't even realized that my oldest son was taking the pictures the whole time. I must admit that despite there being a lot of 'boobage' in those pics, they ended up being some of my favorites.

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    1. That is really good to know Mystika. And someday he can be a supportive breastfeeding daddy :)

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  4. I was just gonna say like Mystika...I have two boys almost 14 and 10 and they have been sooooo good about the whole hey momma's boob is hanging out(I'm a bit less descreet in home.) We've even had some great laughs when baby has popped off and I've gone into sprinkler mode. I am blessed with great boys!I only hope this all helps them to support their future wives.

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