Anyone tried the "hooter hider" or as it is known now the bebe au lait nursing cover?

[ukemmalewis]

Hallo, I am a mum to be (in about 4 weeks!) and have been trying to find some practical and discreet breastfeeding tops but there aren't many around! So i came across this invention that has had rave reviews in the US but I was wondering if anyone has tried it here?
Want to know how useful it is?

\link{http://www.bebeaulait.com
\bebe au lait nursing cover}THanks ladies.

Em x

I love the Hooter Hiders, I'm training to be a breastfeeding counsellor and realise the importance for some mothers of being covered up, especially in the early days when they are still shy about it.
Personally I always wear the kind of tops that are easier to pull down rather than top up so the cover was perfect for me, I don't use it everywhere but sometimes, in the pub for Sunday lunch for example, it's perfect. Also I have one of those extra fidgety on/off babies that never stops wriggling! I don't particuarly like my nipples so the less they're exposed the better!

Hooter Hider may cover the mother up.... but they are, er, kinda drawing attention to the fact she breastfeeds....lol...
If I was a bfc, I would advice those mothers worried about exposure/privacy when feeeding in public to wear vest tops underneath their normal top....hoik top up, vest down, and voila....no exposure, and you keep warm.....well, of course one could advice those bellyhugger things...they seem to be less attention drawing...

I was looking on the net for something when i was feeding in public (boobs like energetic puppies!)I came across this
The fact that it looked like a blanket with a hole cut in it was one thing but the name!!!!!!!! Mamoflage!!!!! So funny!

Hmmm...she looks so relaxed and discreet sitting there with a stoopid blanket on her and two chubby legs sticking out of it, doesn't she?????

Sheesh!

The name is funny, though, I agree!

OH god...that looks so funny....and I mean, yeah, one would look completely sane wearing somehting like that in public ....

i saw someone using one of these this week. i was pissing myself, & almost went up to her & told her she looked ridiculous. but she looked like rather a stressed first time mum so i restrained myself. but honestly, ridiculous.

I would like to see the makers of the bizzare hat thing go on Dragon's Den and try to talk about it. Now that would be really great telly. Imagine the scary blonde woman's face ...

Just clicked on the Mamoflage link. Surely that constitutes child abuse???? She's smothering the poor bairn!!

God that is so funny.

lololololol....

I have used a cover (like the bebe au lait but a cheaper one made by a WAHM, dead easy to make yourself too acutally if you can sew a bit) & see nothing wrong with them, if it helps a mum to continue bf-ing why denigrate it? I love bf-ing but personally don't like the possibility of being accidentally exposed & believe this stems from childhood abuse experiences so there can be a different side to the story. I was lucky bf-ing worked out given the psychological shit the past had left me with, nevermind the pregnancy & birth stuff. I don't always have enough EBM on hand to give an expressed bottle & certainly don't want to feed in a toilet so used the cover, however much faffing it took & ridiculous-looking it was. Due to ginormous boobs & particular nipple anatomy I have to use both hands to position so even with special tops, belly bands, etc there was no way I could feed discreetly other than lying down - ok in a park on a picnic mat in good weather but not really on anywhere else. I would have been pretty upset if someone had said something negative to me about it. I do agree the baby's hat is a bit bizarre! but if it doesn't hurt baby then fair enough, not everyone's choice, etc

dh has just seen Mamoflage and pointed out that the poor baby will think every time there's food everything goes dark. dh reckons in later life that he'll have to switch the lights off in order to eat!!!

pmsl! I can't laugh any more, I will give birth!!

elvis, sorry to hear about your issues, and I am very pleased to hear that breastfeeding worked out for you dispite all of that....
I think, most of us just find those Biblooking things a bit bizarre and if anything it seems to make bf less discreet...because, everyone will look at you wearing that thing....
however, I am sure that you are NOT the only person it worked for....!

TBh, my personal experience has always been more along the lines of someone coming up/close&personal, thinkiing Baby is alseep when I was feeding them, and them not realising until I discreetly pulled Baby off, Jumper down and then, discreetly as possible put brastrap back....

So fairlady,

If you were the type of mum who would not leave the house unless she had something to cover her what would you rather the hooter hider or the moboleez??

erm...I think I would go for a tummyhugger thing...lol....tbh...I used to use muslins a lot...not so much because of me being worried...more to protect my clothing from the projectile breastmilk puke straightafter, lol....but, I suppose it can be draped in a way that an onlooker would not see anything...and would probably draw less attention (whilst with Baby in tow) than a specific contraption....
Oh...what I have found practical at certain times was the use of a bog standard poncho....more coincidental, really, as it was fashionable when I had ys...

Gosh, am surprised by all the anti hooter hider sentiment on this thread. I LOVED mine and think it was definitely one of the most useful baby products I bought. Also, because DD only ever fed with nipple shields it enabled me to faff around with the shields and get her on without exposing myslef. It was also a lifesaver on flights and long train journeys and most importantly, windproof. If it helps make people more comfortable when feeding why judge it? Why not encourage it?

I know it's an old thread but couldn't resist this which, despite being called a "slurp 'n' burp" is actually the most sensible option I've seen. that's a US site but I've seen it on UK ones too.

SoupDragon, that looks like a better idea...looks like the mum wearing a sling...

egyptianprincess...I can understand your sentiment....but tbh...the more bf in public...the more normal it will become....

I know they can help really shy mums, but those things just scream "I'm embarrassed to feed my baby" to me - which while it may be what society is causing those poor mums to feel, is not the attitude we need.

The cafes (particuarly my favourite) near me are, with DS being 9mo, now completely used to me BF. The waitresses are now not at all shy with me and will take my order while DS is feeding and not avoid my eyes (or DS) when DS pops off to smile at them, flashing half my boob at them! Hopefully that attitude will make other mums more comfortable and it might just spread the idea that BF in public is completely normal.

That said, I remember walking DS back to a friend's house because I felt too exposed in one cafe. He screamed the whole way back (only 5 minutes) and I swore I'd never do that again, so have defiantly fed anywhere since, but if it had taken one of those awful contraptions to make me feel comfortable, I would have used one.

I saw a mum using one at my gym cafe, i was there after tumble tots so was at a table ith another mum, she pulls her top up to feed, nobody blinks an eyelid, i pull top down and cover baby and breast from above with scarf,nobody blinks an eyelid, this womans feeds baby under patterned tent the whole cafe was peering and staring

prob not what she had in mind

ChairmumMiaow, better a baby is breastfed underneath a Hooter hider than not breastfed at all.

Yes indeed, SoupDragon. But isn't a bit of a tittieburka?

I'm a Pashmina sporting lass myself. Much more glamorous.

that is true of course soupdragon

Oh, I wouldn't use one but if that's what it takes for a mother to feel comfortable feeding in public then fab.

My feeding history:
DS1: Used feeding rooms
DS2: Hid in quiet corner/scarf/muslin
DD: Tits out in the front window of Starbucks

lol....now you are saying....that has been my "natural" progression, too....I was never shy or uncomfy, really...but 12y ago with ds1 I suppose I was trying to fit in with my social environment more....and with each of them I cared less of what others might think!