We are sitting at the airport. Em is eating some fruit salad. She is licking the fork. Lucy is nursing in my lap at the Starbucks inside the terminal.
“Mom, does that ever embarrass you?”
“What?”
“You know. Having your boob out.”
“Nope. Lucy has to eat. Are you embarrassed that you have your tongue out? Everyone can see you eating.”
She smirks at me, the way you smirk at your mother.
“It’s only weird to see a woman feeding a baby because you don’t see it very often. The more people see a baby eating the less weird it will be.”
“Yeah. That’s good, Mom. That will be good.”
Yep. It sure will.
Excitement on the side 
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You know what would be weird? A mama not feeding her baby. It’s so simple.
Bingo.
this.is.awesome. !!!!! i’m just over 6 months in bfing my first & plan to go to a year. trying to get more courage to bf in public without embarrassment & this post totally gave me a push in the right direction – thank you!!!
Excellent!! Just do it. It is like wearing a teeny tiny bathing suit on vacation. The first time you drop your towel you realize no one is looking at you. YOu can do it!!!
Like my six year old daughter says “if guys can walk around shirtless, the least they can do is allow their babies to nurse on Mom wherever needed.”
It is about programing ladies.
Like Lainie Kazan says in My big Fat Greek Wedding, “Let me tell you something, Toula. The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.”
We are the ones that program such thought process. Nursing in public should be seen as just as natural as a man crossing the street without a shirt on.
YES!! To all of this. :)
LOVE this :) I nursed all three of my babies (the oldest is 13, the youngest is 17 months!) for a full year each. I was a little bashful, so I tried to keep covered when nursing in public. Partly because of not wanting to show my boobie, but mostly because I was concerned about making others uncomfortable. That is until #3 was about 10 months old and I was in a car dealership having my van serviced. The waiting area happened to be in the middle of the showroom, directly in front of the salesmen’s cubicles. I asked the receptionist if there was a less public place I could nurse the baby. She asked a manager and I was promptly shown to the ladies room! They were kind enough to provide a chair and an “out of service” sign, but I was PISSED!!! After that, I vowed to never even bother to ask. If someone was uncomfortable, they could go sit in the bathroom!
The bathroom!! That makes me bonkers.
YAY!!!!! You’re my kind of people. So refreshing. Mom and baby look….happy!
I have no pictures! I’m super sad now! I think it took me about 2 months to realize that wrestling around with that darn cover was *way* more distracting than just feeding my little man. It’s crazy how children (even ones in breastfeeding homes) understand so well the societal “norms” and taboos associated with feeding babies. Lucky girl has a very smart mama!
Thanks for stopping by! :)
You know I think boobs are awesome. And I could read about them all day long.
Perfect explanation :)
What a wonderful way you have of explaining to your daughter. Good for you!
Thanks, I try really hard.
Many years ago, (the babies in this story are now 31yrs and 34yrs old) we were flying back to the States on leave during an overseas military assignment. We were “hopping” standby with 3 children total. Having been diverted from Germany to Spain, then England, we finally managed to get a flight to a Stateside base. You can imagine how tired we all were. When we boarded the commercial airliner for our final leg, we were separated, as the flight was full. Shortly after take off, my then 6 month old, and 2 1/2 yr old were beyond comfort, and needed to nurse. In extremely cramped quarters, the only way I could arrange them was to have the baby on my lap and the toddler standing in front of me! Yes, they were both STILL nursing (a question I got ALL the time!) There was a passenger to my right in the next seat. She bristled, and declared, “well I never!” I replied smiling, “I’m sure you didn’t, it’s my first time too!” The Flight Attendant who was passing out drinks laughed, and so did the passenger. For the rest of the flight, she was helpful, full of questions, amazed at how both babies were so “good”.
I am so glad to see public travel nursing continues in the vain of confidence!
LOVE your reply!!!
You speak the truth, oh truthy one.
It took me a while to build up the courage to whip it out wherever, but I more or less got the hang of it. Much to my grandmother’s chagrin.
Heh.
Well done. I nursed for two years but never once did so in public. I was dumb and fearful. I applaud you.
Not dumb. Maybe fearful. :)
Love!
Thanks!
You are braver than me! By my second I wasn’t shy at all about whipping out the boobie in public, but I could never bring myself to take pictures. Now I think I’ll be really sad that I don’t have any.
I don’t have as many pics of my first as I’d like, so I have about a zillion with my second.
#2 isn’t done quite yet. I have to get on that.
Hahah! I read this comment on it’s own. Out of context I thought “umm. Ok. Yeah. You get right on that #2. Uhh. Good luck.” Oh man. Poop jokes never get old. And neither do I.
That just made me laugh out loud. I needed that. Ahh, poop jokes…
Good. I hesitated for a second. Poop jokes aren’t everyone’s thing. But I figured if you didn’t laugh you wouldn’t be hanging around long anyway. ;)
Love it! Thank you for sharing, and the picture too!
Thank you!
You.Are.Fabulous. My “older” of the two babes is only 2 1/2 and I was a proud mama when I heard yesterday that he was breastfeeding a baby doll at his preschool. :)
That is the best! The first time my oldest was nursing a doll I was so moved.
Well, it’s obvious to me that the reason no one is bothered by your breastfeeding Lucy in public is because you applied false eyelashes to that baby before you got there. I think that’s terribly wrong. :p
Pffft. They are gonna flip when they find out I am getting her eyeliner tattooed on for her birthday.
Good on ya! One of my friends is a big advocate for ‘booby’ as her daughter put it and anyone who can’t get over the idea just got told to grow up. I really don’t understand the stigma that’s attached to it now a days :S
Yep, grow up works for me.
SOOOOOO awesome!!!
Thanks!!
There is kind of a stigma attached to breast feeding out in public and I have no idea why. It’s natural. Bravo to you.
Thank you, sir. :)
Yes! That’s all I have to say. :)
:)
You are so ballsy!! For the short time I nursed Logan….I covered up. Not for anyone else’s comfort but for my own. I didn’t want everyone to see my gigantic belly and/or boobs. I wish I had your bravery!!
Ha. Bravery is a word for it ;)