Breast Feeding In Public

 

Picture by giantbomb.com

 

Babies that are breast fed are very portable and easy to comfort no matter where your schedule has you going.  Many women however, worry about breast feeding in public.  The worry of nursing in a public place is normally worse than the actual experience and often times the only people who notice you feeding are the other mothers who are doing the same thing.

Many women find ways to breast feed discreetly.  You can ask your partner or even a friend to  stand in front of you while you lift your shirt from the waist.  When you breast feed, the baby's body will cover most of your upper body and you can pull your shirt down to her face to cover the tops of your breast.  Some mothers prefer to put a light blanket over their shoulders as a type of cover.

When you are visiting someone else's home, you may feel more comfortable either leaving the room or turning away from people when you first put the baby to your breast.  If you would like more privacy, breast feed in an empty room, car, or public restroom.

A lot of restrooms are becoming more baby friendly and they even have a seperate are with a changing table and a chair.  Several shopping malls now offer special mother's rooms where the mom can breast feed her baby in privacy, which will help sensitive babies who are too distracted by feeding to nurse well in public. It won't take long at all though, before your baby will learn to breast feed without any fuss at all.

An alternative way is expressing or pumping  your milk at home and then offer it in a bottle while in  public.  Keep in mind, offering bottles with artificial nipples in the first few weeks can and probably will interfere with breast feeding.

When breast feeding in public, you should always use what works best for you.  During the first few weeks, it will take some getting used to, as it will be as new for you as it is for the baby.  With some time, you'll have no problems at all.

If you don't feel comfortable breast feeding in a certain location, then you shouldn't.  You should feel a certain level of comfort when you feed, as the baby can tell when you aren't comfortable doing something.  If you show your baby that you aren't nervous - you and your baby will be just fine.