breast feeding in front of in-laws/visitors

7 replies

cryingatthediscoteque · 05/02/2007 15:37

I feel fine about feeding in front of anyone. However, I was thinking whether it might make some of our male house guests uncomfortable eg. father in law/uncles etc. I have massive boobs which are hard to "hide" and still need to have a good look when latching the baby on.

I have no problem leaving or staying, but would like my guests to feel comfortable.

OP posts:

MissGolightly · 05/02/2007 15:44

It's your house and they have come to see you and the newborn; they should expect a certain amount of boobage as coming with the territory! Don't feel guilty! If they are that uncomfortable they can go and make a cup of tea and make themselves scarce.

Having said that I did used to hide away in the v early days with DS, principally because he was so hard to latch on in the first week or two and I felt silly doing all the squishing and wiggling required to get a latch. But this quickly wore off and by about week three I would whip them out in front of anyone.

hippmummy · 05/02/2007 15:51

I wouldn't worry - it's amazing how quickly people can avert their eyes, or offer to make tea as soon as you say 'ooh, I think s/he needs a feed!'.

No one will expect you to hide away in your own home!

Nettee · 05/02/2007 15:57

I used to latch on ds in another room or with my back turned and then come back to join the party with everything fairly discreet. Didn't help when DS would then throw back his head and look round the room but I tried. Hated feeling that I should be banished away on my own - certainly not in your own house

Mumpbump · 05/02/2007 16:15

I think bf is pretty normal nowadays. I only met one person who didn't like it and it was only afterwards (due to quite a few people being there) that I realised he had discretely left the room whenever I went to bf. When you're bf, your breasts stop being a sexual object. I have even bf in front of dh's septugenarian (sp?) aunts and uncles and they didn't bat an eyelid...

cece · 05/02/2007 16:18

My dad always used to go and make a cup of tea but he is the only one who ever did this. Hoewever, at my in laws house I used to go off to a bedroom (with a tv ) and feed them there. FIL is unable to move so felt it was a bit unfair to him plus I was embarassed infront of him!

margo1974 · 05/02/2007 16:23

Another tip if you're big boobed - roll up a muslin square and put it underneath the boob "perks" it up a bit and increases your vision.

I think you can do that without many people paying too much attention

good luck

yellowrose · 05/02/2007 16:40

cryingat - i have big boobs too - when ds was very young and i still wasn't that confident in doing it without exposing too much flesh, i simply went into our bedroom and fed ds when we had guest. no one ever commented, they knew i was bf ds and i felt more comfortable doing it in private.

also ds became increasingly distracted as he got older and wouldn't feed for more than a minute or so when other were around and talking. nosey little monkey !

you can also do this when you visit other people, simply ask to use a spare room. i used to do this and everyone always nodded in acknowledgement.

if you feel strongly about actually bf in front of them, a baby blanket is great, just drape it over your shoulder, no one sees anything. also don't wear tops that have buttons on the front so you have to open buttons to feed. you tend to expose too much flesh from the top. much better to have a t-shirt or other top you can just pull up. a friend of mine wears a poncho on top of tightfitting tops. always looks fashionable !

how old is your baby cryingat?

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