to breastfeed in public even though DH is uncomfortable with it and thinks I should find somewhere private?

[Sequine]

DS is 7weeks. He often struggles to latch and slips off repeatedly during a feed, so I dislike feeding under a shawl and find it hard to be discreet, as I need to keep reattaching him. I wear wrap dresses so I can just pull dress and bra down at one side. I don't really care if anyone sees my breast and don't feel the need to hide away in a corner or find a baby changing room for privacy. I've BF in the middle of Costa, in restaurants, in clothes shops and in a furniture shop, also in GP waiting room and in the back of a taxi as DS was crying and hungry. However, DH thinks BF should be a private thing and thinks I should either feed under a shawl or take a bottle of expressed milk. He said not to be surprised if shop manager asks me to feed elsewhere. My BF support group all say they feed anywhere and are against shawls as they think it makes BF out to be something obscene.
What do others think? Would you be offended by someone BF a small baby without a shawl? Are there places where its inappropriate to BF?

Scream has the solution.
Ignore him & carry on as you are.

Although I will say that your bf group have no business being for or against shawls per se either. The members can have an opinion on feeding under a cover for themselves, but not for anybody else. If you did want to use a shawl, that would be your absolute right and perfectly valid, regardless of whether anyone else thinks it makes feeding out to be obscene or not. I hope they are only responding to your DHs idiotic views and not judging the use of shawls in general.

Well I wasn't comfortable with breastfeeding in public, and although I did it and didn't cover up as such, I always wore loose tops (and often wore a boob tube to cover my tummy) or used a muslin. I never went in a loo or changing room or feeding room but I did look for quiet areas. I don't think it's fair to call her DH a twat, some people are more comfortable with BF in public than others, I wasn't, although I BF both DSs for 9 months. Why don't you talk rationally about it?

I don't get this "discretion" thing to be honest... It's only a boob

I agree with everyone else, your DH is being daft.

What scream said.

You don't think it's fair to call someone a twat when they think themselves entitled to tell a woman what to do with her body and imply she should expect to be subject to illegal behaviour because she's doing something they don't like iwantakitchen? Your twat threshold is set far too low, in that case.

To clarify, I mean other people wittering on about covering up, obviously if the woman feeding prefers to cover up that's up to her.

YANBU.

As a general rule, if it's appropriate for you to be somewhere with your baby, it's appropriate for you to breastfeed there if the baby's hungry. Breastfeeding is not a private thing to be hidden away.

Your DH should also be aware that someone asking you to stop breastfeeding in public is breaking the law.

I have pretty much BFd my two anyway. In my months of doing so I concluded there were only two places that it was wrong to do so; in a swimming pool at a toddler swim session; I tended to gush like a fountain so this was not pleasant for anyone else in the vicinity. The other was in the petting area of the farm. I didn't do this myself but saw someone feeding the baby with one hand and helping her other child stroke the Guinea pig with the other. Given there were numerous wash your hands signs everywhere it didn't see ideal to be repositioning the baby with a hand that had been on a Guinea pig!

Outside of these examples I reckon feeding in public is pretty much always fine! What exactly is his issue?

Just because your breasts are big and floppy flowers it doesn't mean you have to pass your massive insecurities and troll like tendancies on to other people.

FlowersAndShit Forgive my asking but what colour are your fireproof undies?

Or are you taking the piss?

Poor flowers and shit. Can't be easy to hate women that much.

Ew, you eat cheese toasties in public?

You are happy, DS is happy. This affects DH how exactly???

If it was you feeling uncomfortable feeding in public then that's different, you're the one doing it, you need to be comfortable. I fully support every woman's right to feed anywhere but also to have privacy if that's what they prefer. But you are happy feeding where you happen to be, DS is happy and feeding well, what is the point of disrupting a routine rhat suits you both?

My DP closed the shutters in our living room the other day for discretion.. Our baby is 9 months old and I've been openly bf'ing her whereever the need has arisen (including in front of fil and all my DP's male relatives) so I was a little taken aback at his sudden concern about discretion.

A boob is far more preferable to most than a screaming baby but if your DH insists ok discretion hand him the child and let him deal with it until you can find yourself a nice, clean, non cramped, non shared, non toilet like facility with no one else around so you can feed!!

I hate it when I'm trying to eat and someone is nearby eating something I hate- such as cheese- it gives me the boak.

Consideration goes both ways, you know

Why are boobs do offensive? Men often walk around showing their nipples (swimming pools, beaches). What is the difference? The size / texture you refer to. But I know a few A- B cup women who breastfeed/fed. You could hardly call the large or floppy. And if you were eating a cheese toastie at another table, wtf are you doing staring at another table long enough to clock what everyone is doing? If I sit in Costa I'd struggle to tell you anything about those sat at a table near me. Privacy is just as easy as not be a nosey fucker.

I'm kind of with your dh. I fed using a nursing cover with the structured top so I could see down and use both hands.

I've seen far too much of one friends boobs recently. It is really hard to feed discreetly sometimes but I don't understand the reluctance to use a cover. It's hard to look at someone when their boobs are out. Easier with random that you're not talking to.

Boobs are only offensive when being used to feed a baby, when they are splashed all over the sun "newspaper" for the sexual gratification of men no one seems to mind...

Diddly do you eat with a cover over your head?

Chipped I would also not choose really low cut tops to wear. I've got another friend with massive boobs that she really puts out there, I don't get that either, it's distracting.

Simon Cowell also needs to do up another shirt button whilst I think about it.