Yipppeeee... first step to in-public BFing confidence!

Well, this is my big WOOHOOO! :happyforyou:

***Updated on 2nd page 31/03***
***Updated on 2nd page 03/04***
***Updated on 3rd page 26/05***


Right, so i never wanted to breastfeed, i hate my breasts generally being touched & from the babies (& their parents) i'd known previously, formula feeding was just, the way to go.

Well... first... we got me breastfeeding... now, i hate the feel of it (don't worry our attachment is fine!), & for my own comfort i'd rather he was a formula fed baby... but as he's a good, quick, non troublesome feeder, i'm persevering.

Now, i have huge boobs. Like, i could donate breast implants to a small small-boobed nation - huge. So feeding is one of the most ridiculously awkward encounters of each day for me. Gotta have three and a half of the fluffiest largest pillows to help prop him up, get my boobs in the right place, test to see if he can suck comfortably, move around a bit... yes, yes i know, you're catching my drift. Oh and i should mention that i can't feed him 'Madonna-hold' style, i have to hold him like a football...

So because of this, i was totally put off the thought of BFing in public - i mean seriously, what was i going to do... fit a backseat full of pillows in his pram? And then of course, there's the playful-baby exposing lots of nipple act he likes to do at the start of EVERY feed, & off course mummy's in general shyness about getting her boobs out for the world to see. It's not like i can hide them with his head, they're like three times its' size!!

Well... (yes i'm now coming to the end of my drawn out, lacking in conciseness story) today i breastfed in a feeding room at the shopping centre!

Okay... so it isn't quite 'public' yet... but i'd expressed and packed a bottle of EBM in case he woke knowing there was, like zero chance, of me flopping 'em out ('scuse the crassness).

BUT I DID... behind a drawn curtain & still with the wrap draped over my boobie and his head... :lol: but, still, I DID!!!

I guess I'm just proud because i underestimated myself... and i fed him just sitting on a standard food-court kind of chair with no pillows. Managed to hold the little fat porker up like a big football while he guzzled away (my poor arm!) and practice trying to maintain BFing 'dignity' for when i eventually attempt to conquer a cafe or the like.

Thanks for reading my big long ramble... had to share with you all. :dance:

Well done Ashnut! :clap:

I have been contemplating this task myself... i on the otherhand have small boobs (that have become reasonable sized of late ;) ) and have no idea how i am going to do it without exposing myself to the world!

Sounds like you had a few other factors that dont come into my problems so an een bigger achievement

Also well done for continuing to BF when it is not something that you intended to do or particually enjoy doing :D

WOOOOO!!!!! Well done :D

Well done babe! I'm the same, not a huge fan of feeding in public for the same reasons, I've got big bazooks too, DD most of the time but bordering on an E in the first months of b'feeding, and it's just not as easy, as comfortable or as discreet as it is for smaller breasted mummies.

I have done it though on occasion and am more relaxed about it this time than I was with DD.

The feeding rooms in most larger shopping centers are excellent and I like feeding in them for the privacy and comfort.

Well done Ash! That is a fantastic :dance:

Yay! Good on you.
I remember feeding in public for the first time, so scary! After awhile I didn't mind flopping them out anywhere and everywhere!

Good on you Ash :clap::clap::clap::dance::dance::dance:

Congratulations :thumbsup:

well done

Woohoo thanks everyone for sharing my excitement :D :D

I'm excited for you too Ash. Woo hoo!! That is awesome. Well done. Truly you should be so proud. And who knows what will be next!

YAY!!! :happyforyou: That's wonderful!!!

Celsie. xoxox

Awesome Ash!!!!!!!!!!:dance::D:D

You are braver then me...lol...

Hey Ash!

I completely understand what you are saying about the huge boobs! I went up to a H cup while feeding DD, and it is virtually impossible to keep that much flesh covered while feeding! But with a cloth, it made things a whole lot easier, and it gets better over time.

In regards to your feeding him at home, and your positioning, I found the football hold something that i could do only every so often (couldn't co-ordinate the pillows), and found that it was a lot easier to hold her in the "normal" position, and try to recline a bit myself. So I would have a pillow behind my butt, and then lie back onto the chair (it that makes any sense!). When out in public, i kind of tried to do the same thing, but obviously didn't have any pillows, so it was easier, and more comfortable, once she started feeding faster. I had already kind of been doing this, and then the CHN (another rather large breasted lady) recommended doing it in this position as well, as then bub is not lying on its back so much almost being suffocated by boob, but is in a more comfortable position, and your nipple is a lot higher too.

Also, when you are at home, have you tried lying on your side on the bed and having him lying next to you? Its a bit funny the first couple of times, until you get it right, and you might have to still leand back a bit on to a pillow, to bring your nipple up a bit, but it gives your arms a break!

Anyway, congratulations on your successful feeding of your beautiful boy in a public area! It might have been in a parents room, with a curtain pulled, and with a cloth on, but it is a great first step!

Try not to give up on your breast feeding with your son, it is possible, even with larger breasts, to maintain that great relationship between mummy and baby! But if you do decide to give it up, at least you know that you tried!

Congratulations hun!!! That is fantastic and like MR said - who knows what will be next!!! :clap::dance::clap::dance:

That is SOOOO awesome Ash!!!:D:D Good on ya!!! I learnt when feeding in public, a cheesecloth was my best friend... I would bunch the end under my bra strap, and drape the rest over bub. It was light and breathable, but offered some pricacy under there!!!:cryinglaugh: So proud of you girl!!!:clap:

I am so proud of you Ash!!!!!!! :hug: :hug::clap::dance::D

Awww thanks guys, you always know how to make me smile! :D

Ali - thanks for sharing all that, im a HH/I at the moment (not fair bras are like eighty five bucks!!!!!!!!!! :() so getting it from your perspective is all the more motivating!

I'll try what you suggested& see how i go, BUT i did feed him in bed this morning and it worked, my gosh comfy as and i could half go back to sleep - one qu though - do i hold him on his side? I assume its not the greatest for hiim to be just on his back?

ETA - Jodie i must have mummy brain, yesterday i had no idea how on earth to keep the cloth on my shoulder.... it all makes sense now... lol :lol:

AWWW WAY TO GO!!! It's a great feeling though huh!!! I remember my first outside experience and I felt really like I could conquer the world after it...lol. So a HUGE applause to you and well done!!

you know you ARE a STAR by FAR, you go girl, what a fantastic mumma you are to overcome such anxiety and feelings of being uncomfortable and still move through all that and breastfeed your bubba and in a public place no less! i am absolutely in awe of you knowing the reservations you have faced. thanks for sharing your achievements, it gives hope to women who feel similarly but know that you have overcome it. well done and big ticks to you and your little one.
beckles

Happy to help! Glad that you found lying on the bed comfy. I vaguely remember not quite holding her, but more just supporting her on her side. It wasn't that long until she was able to hold herself in that position when she wanted to.

I totally agree with you about the cost of bras! It is utterly ridulous!

But again, Congratulations!

Hi Ash - congrats on bfing in public when he's still so little! It took me a little while to be comfortable with the idea too, but now (as plenty of BB girls know) the whole world could be passing by and I wouldn't care. Just takes a bit to get to that point!

Re bfing lying down (which I agree is pure bliss and to this day I am most thankful to the midwife in hospital who showed me how - if only it were mandatory to teach it!). I bf my DD with both of us lying on our sides facing each other. Eventually you are able to twist yourself into all kinds of positions, for eg, now I can bf with both sides without turning over, but like anything it takes practice!

Way to Go Ash, your a brave woman :dance:

Way to go Ash!!!! I wasn't brave enough to do that until DD2 LOL

Woo Hoo Ash! :clap:

Baby Step Number 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since this original post i've had a couple of feeds in parents room but thats all until last night....

i had to feed Alex on a train on the way home from Melbourne! Woooohoooo.

It was pretty awkward & uncomfortable but Anthony helped me :)

Unfortunately it has further cemented my belief that really 'public' feeding will never occur, like at dinner and sorts, but i at least have some confidence to get out there when there is parents rooms around and stuff.

Well done Ashlea, that really is an amazing effort. Keep those baby steps coming, I think you are going to surprise yourself. Remember, it gets much easier to feed when they are a bit bigger and can attach by themselves and don't need to be supported so much.

Congrats Ash!!!!!!!I envy you!!!;)

Well done Ashlea! :thumbsup: I look forward to hearing more baby steps! It really is the most convenient thing... and some great suggestions too from all the girls :)

... AND SHE CONQUERED MOTHERS GROUP!!!

'nuf said

Well done hun :)

Awww :confetti: :dance: :clap: baby steps??? pffft..... leaps and bounds honey..leaps and bounds!!!!!

Woo Hoo! About Mothers' Group! :dance: Maybe you will be as much an inspiration for them as you are for some of the girls in here! :)

My goodness ashnant - you'll be out there bfing wherever you want to b4 you know it! What a great example you're setting for other mums who are similarly shy/nervous about bfing in public.

Well done!!

Told you it could be done!

Thanks guys, having so much encouragement makes me all the more keen to get there!
:hug: to everyone that's been clapping for me! It's really a great thing. :)

OMG, that is awesome! I knew you could do it ;) . So, what's next ??!!

Congrats, Ash!

I'm an H cup, so I sympathize with how difficult it can be to BF! (Not to mention find clothes that fit properly, get comfortable to go to sleep, manage the backpain, etc.) It does get easier though, I promise (the BF that is, don't know about the other stuff!). After 7 months of BFing, I sit down and feed Aurelia whenever, wherever - we're just so used to it iykwim?

:D

Hmmm... next should hopefully be somewhere like one of the benches at target as opposed to dropping everything and running off to the parents room lol!

Babysocks - thanks for sharing your experience... always good to heat from someone in a similar position lol. Apparently the 16HH i've been wearing is actually an equivalent to AU-16L... mmmm L for LOL - large enough to have their own gravititational field, I say...! :lol:
"Not to mention find clothes that fit properly, get comfortable to go to sleep, manage the backpain, etc" - Sleeping... hmmm i have lost all hope of ever being able to sleep on my back... i'll suffocate myself!!!

I'm glad there are other women who are big breasted and understand the joys and trials of BFing! I'm a 46 DDD and I stayed home for 3and half months when my oldest finally latched on after having hear tsurgery at 2and half months old. I didn't want to wear a shirt the majority of the time because he was very hungry and i was very uncomftable, then I finally got over it at realtives wedding. I had good encouragement at the time from another relative who BFing her second child at the time.
Congrats to everyone!!!:clap: