Apparently there has been a flurry of discussion regarding breastfeeding in public. Blogging Baby has some links and stuff for the more intellectual of you out there....
All I can think when I see this particular photo (and I thought it when Abby whipped out her breast pump on ER a few weeks ago too) is.... don't you know it is easier to go up from the bottom when wearing a button-down shirt? Duh. Wear a bottom-snap maternity bra and go up from the bottom....
I nursed my babe in the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas this week.... the man sitting next to me (in the big cowboy hat & pink shirt) didn't have a CLUE what I was doing.
In the last week I've also nursed in the following places: United, Delta, Ted, SkyWest & Big Sky airlines, Salt Lake City airport, Denver airport, Billings airport, Helena airport, Las Vegas airport, Tony Roma's, Don Miguel's, The Sands Convention Center, several theaters & expo centers.... frankly, I was thrilled to be in a hotel room and finally home so we could NOT be so amazingly subtle in our nursing..... it's nice to just let it all hang out once in a while.
So, for your amusement, here is Homestead's Handy-Dandy guide to public breastfeeding.
Rule #1. If it is my house, it will be your problem. I don't go in another room to feed the babe when I'm in my own house. You don't want to see my boobie? Don't look. Generally speaking I will cover up with a blanket but let's face it... that's because I'm more concerned about my fat roll than the boob.
Rule #2. Plan for the event. I prefer bottom-snap bras. Motherhood no longer carries them but I think Target does. I hate fishing around my shoulder to hook a bra. For this weekend's trip I wore a lot of stretchy-knit t-shirts with vests over them. Easy to sneak a baby under a t-shirt and the vest covers the fat roll and also hides if you leak through a bra pad or if the bra pad gets squinched up or you don't have time to hook you bra.
Rule #3. Be as subtle as needed. I don't go for the dramatic blanket over the shoulder thing..... I just drape it over the baby's head and kinda tuck it under my arm. With SB I would often tuck it up and under my bra strap because he liked to grab the blanket and yank it off while eating.
Rule #4. Leave the paci in as long as possible. I like to have her sucking away on the paci while I get her in place, then just yank the paci and let her grab onto the boobie.... keeps her quiet and she's ready to suck.
Rule #5. The SLC airport has several private rooms (off the women's bathrooms) for nursing. It is nice when you are tired of being covert with the nursing thing.
Rule #6. The Billings airport has the nicest nursing lounge.
Rule #7. If your mother tries to be "helpful" and arrange the receiving blanket while you are getting ready to nurse I promise you will flash the world your tit at least once.
Rule #8. Be wary those little ladies who want to pull back the blanket and "take a peak at that sleeping angel"... you will either flash them or you have to say something like, "Angel on Boob. Warning. Angel on Boob."
Rule #9. No matter what, something you do will totally ook-out your brother.
Rule #10. All of these rules apply to babies who know what they are doing. I have a whole 'nother set of rules for just starting out with nursing.
So what do you think? Am I crazy to spend so much time posting about this tiny little microcosm of society? (Dude, how do you spell microcosm?) We, the nursing mamas.
3 comments:
A to the MEN. I don't even have kids and I can't stand people who are so anti-nursing-in-public. What ever you do is up to you, but don't hate on the baby trying to get some milk and the mama trying to give it!
And you, with the baby at the NFR! You should have just whipped out the boobage and flashed the big screen--I've been watching on TV, so I totally would have seen and said, "Hey! Isn't that Homestead...and her BOOB!"
I've had a long, soul-finding journey on this particular subject...since you asked. ;) With my first, I was so shy. I thought everyone was staring at me (the one time) when I NIP'd. Turns out...they were all staring at my mother, who was draping our HUGE baby quilt in the air, in my general direction, in an effort to "give me privacy". Then, I had my 2nd baby. And I couldn't go home every time he had to nurse. And now- I forget that I'm in public when I nurse. People don't notice. I think it's funny. I've nursed in every single restaurant I've eaten in; I've nursed in every store. At ever park. Heck, I've chased Ethan around in Barnes & Noble while nursing.
I could go on a rampage about this entire topic, but I'll spare you the epic comment, LOL!
OH- and HANES T-SHIRT BRAS! They are heaven-sent for nursing mommies! No snaps, no fumbly-bumbly bra-like clasps. Just yank it down, flop boob over (they even have underwire ones that work wonderfully for those with larger boobies) then tuck it all back in when you're done. I swear by them!
twiqHey, this is a subject close to home for me, too . . . . I was, in my glory days, a lactating machine. All the discussion about bottom snap bras and being subtle KILLS me . . . by the end of it, I could lay Little on the floor and dangle the boob in his mouth -- The thing was like a tube sock with an orange in it -- then, I just tucked it back in my pants!!
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