On holidays I have been really happy to see mum's feeding their bubs in public, some covered up and some not :clap: yay for all the mum's out their normalising breastfeeding :D
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On holidays I have been really happy to see mum's feeding their bubs in public, some covered up and some not :clap: yay for all the mum's out their normalising breastfeeding :D
*Lke* :D
I never thought I would have trouble BFing in public, but for me it certainly has become easier over time. Now I barely bat an eyelid when DS needs a feed and we're in public. I'm so relaxed about it now that I can do it anywhere, any time, even whilst walking and shopping.
I haven't mastered doing it while walking - DD weighs a ton - but have no issue feeding in public!
Awesome though!
I try to make eye contact and smile at Mums bfing and if I get a chance tell them that I think it's great that they're bfing their babies in public. I remember what is was like when I was bfing in public and the positive comments were enough to ease my nervousness. Plus, I know plenty of Mums also get negative comments, so I'd like to balance that.
I saw a lady yesterday feeding her bub while walking through Myer! And the bub looked over a year old, too, so well done to that mum for having the arm strength to even attempt it :lol: She was quite a small woman :p
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Wow, I'm impressed at feeding and walking around - I salute you lady in Myers!
Haha, totally!!:
Jeez, I have trouble keeping DD on my knee at the moment when I'm sitting down - the wriggler!!
I've found that my Ergo can actually be adjusted to wear over DS, lying crosswise when he's feeding, so I can feed and walk and it just helps support the hand under his head/around his shoulders, and still have my other hand free. It's indispensable on big days out!
(I'm on my phone so can't easily link to photos but I think there's one of us doing this when he was younger - still works though - it's number 51 in the album on FB that my sig links to)( Not even sure if my sig is showing when I post from my phone?)
My stepmum used to pop my lil bro in the carrier and feed while she walked, i could never get the hang of it but she unclipped one side, let him slip down and off they went.
That's great. I always wished I could've got the hang of doing it in the ergo, but no such luck.
Apart from early on I've been ok about bf in public, but recently I've had my nerves shot by dome funny looks, and a couple of negative comments - one girl told me that once they're old enough to ask for it they're too old to have it, and another said 'how old is your daughter' with a big emphasis on the old. :)
SO rude! Sorry you had to listen to that :hug::
You know what, I've been thinking about the whole feeding in public recently and other peoples responses to it. Why do they think it's their right to comment anyway? What happened to if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything? I mean if they disagree with what someone is wearing would they go over and say, "Oh your too fat to be wearing that," or "You shouldn't smoke, its bad for your health"..I mean really, how is it any of their bloody business?
If it offends someone so much why not look the other way and continue walking!
:D awesome!
I used to feed DS in our sling. I walked around with him on the boob at nearly 2 sometimes. Or he'd see a chair (you know, in a shop for sale) & decide thats it, time to sit & feed, lol. I was lucky, never had a negative comment. Even when he was older. Made it so much easier to feel comfortable quicker with DD :)
That's terrible!!!!:
I have heard lots of people say that - if they are old enough to ask for it, they are too old. Never heard it said to a mother *while* bf an older child though!!!
Yep, I didn't actually know how to respond. She said it in a pleasant voice with a smile on her face, which kind of made it even harder.
Hmm, my DS might not yet be able to speak English, but he's known how to "ask" for booby since he was born.
I haven't yet had any negative comments whilst I've been BFing in public but I'm dying for someone to try. They won't forget me in a hurry, especially when they can't drive themselves home cause their car keys are shoved...well, you get the picture. :D
Yeah I have no problem bf in public, my DH has more of a problem I think, he is always trying to cover me up.
I can walk and feed, but DS is a lightweight, and as Persephone1 said, he knows how to ask for boob even though he can't talk!!
In relation to the whole, once he's old enough to ask for it he shouldn't get it, I get the same with teeth - once they have one you won't feed. Well I AM!!
I was ready for this one, but didn't get it. Babies ask to be bf from birth, that's what crying is. So just because they're asking in a way we can understand doesn't make them too old. I taught my DD to pat me on my chest from about 6 mths when she wanted a bf. I would ask 'boobie' and pat my chest and she'd copy at first and soon she'd just pat me on the chest whenever she wanted it. And she sure wasn't too old to be bf when she could do that!:
It's only in our current Western culture that you hear that (and I'm embarrassed to admit that I felt this way before DD. So just by letting people know you're still bfing can have a big impact, even if you don't realise it. It's what helped changed my mind, seeing others still bfing their toddlers and children).
EXACTLY! :clap::
i *think* i may have shocked a few old biddies at the Myer cafe in the city today :rofl: but hey, she wanted boob and who was i to deny it lol?!
i remember with DD1 not even realising that there were people in the world that found BF in public offensive. it was bliss! but then as she got older and you start to get that look (most of you know the one bahahaha) that i realised that there were some very strange attitudes. and i am ashamed to say that it has rattled my confidence this time. NOT that it stops me, but it does make me a bit tense, especially if i am on my own browsing through shops...
Dude I fed DD while at the woolies service counter buying DH's ciggarettes over the weekend... :lol:
Not one of them failed to notice as I turned around to put them in my trolley (about 6 people lined up behind me) & continued to feed & push the trolley to the car :)
I was out shopping today and saw a woman walking around with an 18 month old and she was breast feeding AND pushing a shopping trolley with another toddler in the trolley. She was a really tiny woman too. I looked at her, made eye contact, gave her the thumbs up and said "you're a machine!!"..... she smiled at me and looked really chuffed.
Awesome!!
wow now that's multitasking MummaSue, I am loving all these examples :D
I wish I'd had your response lined up Jennifer, I always get so tongue tied!:
I'm back on course feeding my 14mo boobie monster in public now again anyway - I unashamedly fed her on Bronte beach at the weekend :dance:
Good for you, Swoop! It's Murphy's Law isn't it, if you're prepared, no one bats an eyelid, if you aren't, you're sure to cop it.
I found it helped to read articles and info from other cultures and how bfing is treated there. That Mongolian one was fabulous (you can find it if you Google) and I heard others that don't spring to mind immediately, from Pacific Islands and Africa. Puts it in perspective.
Pftt. Obviously my DS would have been too old at 9 months then. As this is when he started coming up to me and shoving his head down my shirt.:
I had an elderly lady congratulated me about bf in public. I could see her watching me and honestly thought she was going to have a go at me. But she came up and told me how nice it was to see a woman feed in child in public without worrying about any old fuddy duddies complaining :) made my day! I was on a foul mood before that XD
been back home for a few days and I must be paying more attention and today in the local BW I saw a women pushing the pram while she fed her bubba while looking at the toys.
Great thread. I have to say I am actually really looking forward to the ease of feeding DD wherever & whenever she wants it. I never got this far b/f DS and now that DD & I are getting the hang of things it will be heaps easier out in public. My main concern is more about keeping DS restrained while I feed DD, if I'm out on my own with them it becomes a bit of an exercise.
could you use your phone as a distraction?
Yep, the phone might work for a few minutes, but he has the attention span of a gnat right now. When we're out in public he just wants to get out and run.....so I have to buckle him into the pram, give him something to occupy him and hope he doesn't muscle out of the straps too quickly. Determined little character. Thankfully it looks like DD is going to be an efficient feeder so it won't always take long.
I've noticed they seem to be installing a lot more fenced off play areas in parents rooms recently - I know you won't always be in or near a parents room, but when you are that's useful to keep in mind.
I wish someone would tell me that I was a machine, although, she's generally in a carrier so I guess that's cheating a bit LOL. Whenever I do the supermarket shopping it's a certainty that DD gets hungry half way through, so I finish the shopping with her happily munching away (instead of screaming the place down). Even the teenage checkout boys at Woolies are now used to seeing me with a boob out LOL, not only do none of them look embarrassed or like they're trying not to snigger, one of the young boys actually commented on what a lovely bond it was, which I thought was incredibly mature and insightful of him.:
I also fed my then 2 and a half year old DS to sleep whilst waiting in line in Myers once. Yes, it was a verrrrrrry long line.
:D love it Suse and I love how it is now normal for those checkout boys so when they have future children that breastfeeding will seem normal.
Infinity - sounds like you have your hands full with your little hudini :)
I was going to say the same. I wish there were more of them!:
Suse - wow, you can keep two kids happy with bbs in shopping lines - you're superwoman, not a machine!!!
How very mature of that young man. He is going to make a great partner and father one day.
I love breastfeeding in public - it's quite liberating being able to get your boobs out into the fresh air :)
So far I've found that I have had the most positive reactions from older people - at least three times I've had grey-haired ladies commenting on how lovely it is.
The most negative reactions I've had have been from younger women. I was in a Dome cafe just the other day and two women in their early thirties commented (so I could hear) that I didn't "have to do that while they were eating". Can't wait 'till they have babies - karma will them :)
I haven't yet mastered the 'walk and feed' - I'm too busy watching her to be able to not walk into something, so I try and stay seated and still :)
it's great isn't it!!!!
Re the age thing, my mum asked me how long my friend fed her DD (who's the same age as Pip - 3.5yrs) - when I said she still was Mum got the "old biddy" look and said it was disgusting. I told her that she was an old biddy and that it is my friend's and her DD's choice!
I love seeing a mum & bub bond, I'm always so jealous.