I had my first nursing in public incident... sort of.
A very close friend had a baby shower. I made sure she wouldn't mind if I brought my babe along to which she replied, "Of course! It is a baby shower after all!" Including her, there were 3 pregnant women, family, close friends, and her grandpa who mostly stayed in the background taking pictures.
On two occasions my babe was hungry so I fed him. I stepped outside of the room to get a good latch and then returned to the group. I didn't use a blanket, but nothing was showing.
Anyhow, I guess one of guests complained to my friends that it made her uncomfortable that I nursed my baby. She told her that was something that should only be done in some one's own home.
Okay, I swear it was 80 degrees in the house. My babe and I were both sweating. It was way too hot for a blanket which would have covered his head, not my breast since it wasn't showing in the first place! But of course, that wouldn't have been good enough since I wasn't inside of my own home anyways. Also, we were there for 5 hours! Everyone else was chowing down, but my baby should wait until we are home to eat?
I am really disappointed. Of all the "public" places I should feel comfortable nursing my baby it should be at a close friend's baby shower with a bunch of baby crazy ladies and pregnant women, right?
Sadly, the girl who complained happened to be pregnant herself. Really, taking this into account I actually find it more sad than offensive.
There is so much running through my head that I will probably come back to this topic again.
Anyone else have a similar story? A positive nursing in public experience? Anyone relate to how this woman may have been feeling?
When will people accept the fact that we are mammals?! Where else in the world do people rationalize this ignorance? I swear, Western culture is mind boggling. Next time, squirt her in the eye.
ReplyDeleteso sad that this soon to be mother is so immature herself... what a pity.
ReplyDeleteHow sad for her! She is already set on denying herself and her baby a possibly wonderful experience. I harbor no judgment if nursing doesn't work out, but I feel like most women owe it to themselves and their babies to at least try! Good for you being self-assured enough to nurse your baby among friends.
ReplyDeleteOK, I really find some of the comments on this blog a little disturbing as they are attacking this mother and calling her immature and ignorant, and saying "how sad." Perhaps she just sincerely believes that such a thing should be kept private.. and what is wrong with that?
ReplyDeleteMy wife will always go to another room and take the 20 minutes to feed the baby unless she is just with the girls (and she knows none of them will mind) or just with family (and even with male family members apart from myself she feels a little weird about it). Really it is not that big of a deal to go feed the baby in another room if you are unable to cover up because of the heat.
Personally, I think you should have checked to see if anyone would mind (out of courtesy for those around you).
I also think that if this lady had a problem with it, then she should have asked you nicely if you could breast feed in another room or cover up, rather than simply complaining to the friend later.
We should all be concerned about offending others and try to be as nice and courteous as we can... especially with something as controversial as breastfeeding in public which some people feel is innappropriate.
So no one needs to be concerned for the courtesy of others when wearing revealing shirts, but to discreetly feed their child they do? What about being concerned for a mother and her child's comfort?
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