Breastfeeding in public...

[MummySteph0311]

I'm new to all this so bear with me please :-)

My LO is only 8 days old & so far we have been house bound after c-section so been concentrating on trying to get to grips with BF rather than thinking of doing it in a discreet manner in preparation for being out & about.

Does anyone have any useful tips? As our first planned venture is for next week when we go to register her birth.

I've got a mums scarf but find it quite fiddly to use & worried that if I feel flustered/agitated trying to feed in public it will make it worse for baby should she need to feed whilst we are out.

I struggled along with muslins and feeding tops with my first and felt very self-concious and uncomfortable with the whole thing (I'm sure that draws attention).

When I was pregnant with my second I invested in some extra large muslins from Amazon (about £20 for 3) and these were great for having extra fabric to tuck in to your top and not worry about the whole thing falling off and exposing you. After the first week or two I realised I just didn't care anymore and stopped using a cover-up!

The vest trick that others have mentioned is a great one. I like M&S vests the best. I also don't use feeding bras anymore, just regular ones that you can sort of scoop and pop yourself over the top of (you need saggy boobs for this mind!). It saves on fiddling around with feeding bra straps, something that I always found 'announces' when you're about to feed and makes it feel less discreet.

What everyone else said plus plan ahead, it's better to be sitting somewhere comfortable preferably with a coffee/cake ready to feed baby than waiting until they start looking for a feed then quickly having to find somewhere and latch on a hungry grumpy newborn.

I agree with those who said two tops and lift one up and one down. I was worried but when it came to it, tbh, I was more concerned with getting him latched on to stop him crying (and disturbing people!) than I was worried about who saw what. Just look at baby, don't look at who is looking and you won't know. If your DP is with you, you can ask him to hold muslin just while baby latches on at first (but that probably does draw a bit more attention to what you're doing!).

Think of places to go where you can sit in a comfy chair/sofa facing away from the room. My local supermarket cafe is deserted much of the time and has wipe-clean sofas away from the counter, so I used to go there a lot - they had free newspapers too!
Also library, health centre, large clothes stores (grab an item and go in a cubicle if you like), etc.

Congratulations!
Agree about the tops -one up one down and make sure you're all ready underneath before lifting up. Try to time it, like others have said so that baby isn't too hungry. The first fe times with both of mine I used to make sure that I chose a corner table if possible to sort myself out and get comfy before trying. Then I could always arrange myself to turn away from the room if I felt embarrassed or needed to have a fiddle about. Make sure you have tissues or muslin to hand and your breast pad is easy to find again. Lost count of the number of times it fell on the floor or got tucked somewhere, especially in those early days when feeding isn't quite in a routine yet. Good luck! Oh yes and don't forget to fasten back up again otherwise you may find you swing about knocking something over you didn't intend to !

My DD2 is 8 weeks so still very early days. Instead of a cafe where I have to pay for a coffee to sit down, I head to the John Lewis breastfeeding room. They are great since mine sometimes feed every 2 or even 1 hour! (She's very fast though so only 10min or so most times. It saves me a fortune in coffee. Once they are more established I went for the cake with DD1.

Check out where are nice free places to sit too, in addition to the cafes.

anoither bebe au lait cover fan, I got black and |I wear black so it was incedibly discreeet and literally gave me wings - with it I fed EVERYWHERE

Hoping to give breast feeding a shot when my little one arrives, how long do feeding sessions last? If there are rooms for breast feeding I'm assuming it can take some time.

Congrats MummySteph0311.
I think everyone's comments here are brilliant. I wish I'd discovered the whole vest under loose top (up-down thing) earlier, as for me was def the easiest and most discreet way to bf. It did take a while for baby and me to get the knack but I'm really glad I stuck with it as little one is nearly 11 months now and still breastfeeding and I never thought I'd last anywhere near that long! I think the most important thing is to remember it is absolutely ok for you to breastfeed in public, anywhere, anytime and if anyone suggests otherwise, or asks you to stop they are stoopid actually breaking the law! Also totally ok if you chose not to though and move to bottle as PDBs (public displays of boobs) are not for us all !!!
LastOneDancing you should totally thumbs-up, that would have made my day

Congratulations!

My dc1 was a messy eater, so I used to wear a loose top, then when he was ready to feed, unclip my bra under the top, then tuck in a muslin into the band of the bra (so it hung down and covered my tummy. I'd then lift up the top for him to latch on. I found that the only way to stop milk going all over my clothes, and actually easier access than a nursing top in the early days.

For what it's worth, I'm not sure many people even noticed I was feeding him in public. I found feeding in front of family more tricky (closer environment, some family members uncomfortable or just staring and trickiness of feeding early on all made it more difficult).

Oh yes, another tip... I used to have a small 'feeding bag' which contained everything for a feed...for me that was a muslin, lansinoh, copious breast pads and nipple shields. This just made things more organised and easier when out and about or even just at home.

Once feeding established, I went for baggy T-shirts, as I could put DS inside it, without any sorting out.
Early post c-section days at home, I was pretty much letting it all hang out though :/
Good luck x

Hi congratulation I agree with the up down method and having a muslin at hand . But to be honest I've bf 4 babies every where and anywhere, and my best advice Is just to do it with confidence, I've never had any negativity,

I've not had my baby yet but I got a breast-feeding cover (you simply slide it over your head- very easy) as a baby shower gift and I plan on using it. Personally i'm not comfortable having it all out on show- but of course each to their own.

I found I just got on. I had BF tops, did one up one down, and used a Muslin to stop 'flashing flesh'. But once I was out there I really didn't care and I got no comments at all, good or bad, so I guess it was just accepted as normal.

Good luck.

I found with nursing covers it look a bit of a faff and it draws attention to you as there's one big block of colour. But if it helps people feed confidently then go for it .

Belly bands from when you were pregnant can cover your belly when you lift your shirt up. Big scarf until you learn what you are doing. Once you got it down you can't see anything really. If someone gets offended ask them what part of the back of a baby's head is so offensive?

stretchy vest down, top up, peephole style bra (mine were Hot Milk).

But - at the age you're talking about it took DD ages to latch on so there was a fair amount of flashing going on as she faffed about, so I found a pillar to plonk myself behind. I also had to kind of wedge my coat under DD as I had to hold my boob as well as her! It was pretty hard and it wasn't until she got a lot bigger that I found it easy - but we persevered!

I think mine is great because you can look down it and see what you are doing to latch baby on etc. Regardless what you are doing- people are going to know your breastfeeding. I just think it makes people abit more comfortable is everything is covered up from the word go- I know i've felt awkward in the past when i've turned around in a coffee shop etc and caught a glimpse at it and got the "look".

Congrats - most people have said it all but i found practicing by just doing it somewhere a bit discreet - so for me it was a park bench in our local park - where people were likely to be walking not stopping so if boob fell out it was a glimpse.
Actually ds was a disastrous bf so actually I often used to do that if out and about rather than stop in a cafe where I would sometimes have a screaming baby pulling away from the boob

It is harder when they are tiny because you have to hold their heads and sometimes your boob at the same time, plus faff with a top. As they get a bit bigger it becomes much much easier, so if you try it once and get into difficulties don't give up! Just wait a week or two and try again.

I found it much easier once I was able to ditch the breastpads as well. Bloody things continually screwed themselves into a ball inside my bra, which was impossible to fix without lots of undignified digging around in my bra. Lansinoh breastpads are best because they have two sticky strips to hold them in place, but even they folded over. Tesco own brand are shite. Once my supply stabilised at about 8-10 weeks I gave them up and haven't leaked.

I'm a big fan of H&M vests too - the long ones with elastic adjustable straps. They pull down and ping back up, unlike my Topshop vest with cotton straps, which pulled down and then stayed down because the straps had stretched. I had to get my friend to tie the straps together at the back in the end after flashing her involuntarily about 8 times in one afternoon. H&M ones are cheaper, more flattering and come in lots of colours.

I went to a breastfeeding support group that really helped in latching help/meeting other breastfeeding mums. It was a lovely supportive yet "public" enough environment to learn the ropes and feel empowered whist breastfeeding. The same new mums became my friends and we all started meeting up in our local Nero where we all fed our babies whilst in each other's company. Now four and a half months later its very natural for me to breastfeed in public and I have no time for low lives who may have anything but respect for new mums for doing the hardest job in the world.

Also totally agree with other posters on the one down and one up strategy of layered dressing. I live in jeggings with a tank top worn under a normal loose Tshirt. Breast feeding tops are limited in variety and you will have to compromise on your style to fit them within your wardrobe.

Many congratulations...the best time of your life has just arrived :-)

I agree about joing a b/feeding group, it's a great place to start feeling comfortable feeding in public. Or venture out with a breastfeeding friend- there is "safety" in numbers.

Be as discreet as you want to be for your own comfort, but don't worry about trying to protect the sensibilities of others. I had an easily distracted baby so would pop off without notice leaving my nipple bare frequently.
But I came to the conclusion the was a problem for others if they chose, not a problem for me.

Just a little tip. I never breastfed my daughter in public when she was younger and we only breastfed at home so I wasn't that bothered about how we did it. However, that's how she got use to it. So now when I breastfeed her she won't let me cover up and insists on having my whole breast exposed, she likes to stroke my skin. So breastfeeding in public is more embarrassing for me as she will not let me cover myself.

Just my own experience. Enjoy your little one and congratulations!

For me it wasn't showing off boob that was the issue, as the baby mainly conceals that.

It was the tummy!

So definitely have a vest top on, and then pull the top if the vest top down to expose breast. Yes, it will lead to misshapen vests eventually, but by that point, you'll be a pro (and won't have the tummy!)