After reading the MIL breastfeeing thread what about kids reaction to breast feeding?

[nymphadora]

Had dd1s (11) friends for a sleepover and they spend ages quizzing me about feeding dd3 & whether they were fed. One was quite proud she used to bite & pull her mums nipple

I fed dd3 at dd1s school play , right in front of the choir & only reaction from 10 10/11 year old girls & boys was nudging & aww!

Dd2 is quite put out I didn't feed her, I was v ill after she was born and I keep having to explain it wasn't her fault :(

My then 15 year old brother in law was very intrigued but to be honest probably more from a 'oh my god a boob! a real boob!' perspective...

At my brother's wedding last month, my smart-assed 11y/o cousin walked past me BF my three week old & said 'that's disturbing, Elizabeth'.

I was so shocked and annoyed, I may have told him to go f@*k himself.....

Totally inappropriate response but he is such a smartass and constantly like that. I love him dearly so later at the reception, I had him up about it and tried to explain it's normal etc etc to which he made a comment under his breath that I should do it in the toilets!!! I gave him a real kick-ass rollicking this time, using my best BF education. He was back-personify by now and my sister was telling me off for picking a fight with a kid hahaha!!

We are a close family and I spoke to his dad about it later on. He was appalled at his son's initial comment & told me he hoped I'd given him a good telling off! He had been desperate for his own wife to BF their two boys but age refused to consider it....just goes to show what an emotive & pervasive issue it can remain.

Oops that should have read 'back-pedalling'

Most children I meet are vaguely interested for a nano second and ask the odd question

My DD1 was 6/7 when I was breastfeeding DD2. She was very supportive - when DD2 cried when I tried to give her a bottle DD1 would scream "Just give her booby! She wants booby!" In fact if DD2 made any sort of noise at all DD1 would scream "Just give her booby!!". I breadtfed DD2 at DD1s birthday party - her friend's were curious and there was a bit of mumbling to each other, but in general I think they were fine with it - tough if they weren't!

To redress the balance - I went to an NCT teddy bears picnic last summer. My friend FF her DD and was just sorting out a bottle for her when a boy about 4 shouted - "look mummy, some of the babies aren't having booby milk! Booby milk's the best, isn't it? Mummy, I said booby milk's the best, it is, isn't it?" Followed by "but why can't I go tell the other mummies booby milk is the best?"

Luckily, my friend found it hilarous in a "god this town is middle class" sort of way. I told her if it made her feel any better, I was prepared to admit the food I was giving my DS wasn't 100% organic...

My cousin (who was about 7 I think) was quite interested when I was bfing DD, but just sort of observed from a distance. When he got home he told his mum,'You're right, that is what boobies are for.' He didn't believe it until he'd seen for himself.

My friend just tested me to say her 6 year old is trying to breast feed a toy cat. Apparently dolly is fine with a bottle

My dd (5) breastfeeds her orangutan.

I have three stepchildren and was a bit worried how they'd react (eldest was bf for a few weeks, the twins weren't at all)

But it has always been fab. DSS was 15 when DD was born and wasn't particularly interested, but didn't get at all embarrassed. He's 18 now and doesn't bat an eye when I bf my DS (16m - I didn't feed DD as long as this).

He did get a bit when DS was tiny and I had these ice pack things for my bra, DSS thought they were bibs and kept fiddling with them until DH eventually said "errrm you do know they go on AAHNJ's boobs, right?" haha

My DSDs were fine too, they were 9. They just asked loads of questions like why my boob had gone brown (areola getting darker)...
With DS I had mastered the art of discretion, so much so that once DSD asked me if I was BFing THROUGH my Tshirt!

I was sat feeding DD when she was about 9 mo and chatting to my cousin and her DD who was about 7. Cousin's DD asked what my DD was doing and I said she was having some milk and she said with a look of total horror on her face "you haven't got milk inside your body have you?". I couldn't help laughing Cousin and I explained that you only have milk inside your body if you've had a baby (not strictly true but she was only 7) and my cousin told her that she was BF until she was 1. She seemed quite happy after that, I don't think she'd been in contact with many babies before then.

I'm a secondary school teacher and when I was pregnant a 15 year old boy asked if I was going to bf. I said I was, he said "eurgh I won't let any wife of mine do that, why would you want to?" I replied that it was perfectly natural and despite what he might think was actually what breasts were for and as a mammal the way we are designed to feed our young. His friend piped up " yeah but we're not animals are we" - cue the rest of the class falling about laughing.
However I do think it was really sad that the boy had this attitude and was certainly not alone. At the time I knew very little about bf and all the benefits. I'd probably rant at them now after all the stuff I've learnt here.

My dd1 is quite prudish about stuff but hasn't bothered at all about me feeding which is nice.

I was overly PO when friend came when dd3 was a month old & her dd(9) said 'urgh breastfeeding is disgusting' friend told her off but didn't correct her which still bugs me