did you ever see anyone bf before having your own kids?

[moominsmummy]

talking to alot of other mums I am surprised that so many of them had never seen anyone breastfeeding until they had babies themselves. (I was a bit naive in this as have grown up with lots of bf going on around me)

did you ever see anyone breastfeed before you had your baby(ies)? If not would you have found it useful to have met someone who bf whilst you were still pg?

am just wondering if it's worthwhile for PG ladies to have the chance to meet bf mums to see what happens and hear about their experiences?? (FWIW i wouldn't be bothered about a stranger watching me bf but can appreciate there are many who would be bothered)

I must also have watched my mum BF youngest brother but don't remember. Def. don't remember any bottles though

I can remember two times - once a friend of my mums (I think I would have been about 5), and once the mother of friend (I think I would have been about 10). I can remember being really intrigued by it as I certainly didn't see it as a normal way to feed a baby - tiny tears had a bottle. Its possible that I saw it more times that that - I don't think I noticed discreet breastfeeding even when I was 8 months pregnant with DS. DH said something about there being lots of people feeding babies in Starbucks and it had completely passed me by.

Lots. I had no idea that ff was so prevalent until I was well past mid 20's. i honestly thought everyone bf'd unless they'd had surgery.

(Grew up in a bit of a hippy commune, obviously )

So friends mum's, my aunt, then latterly friends

The only person I can think of who I actually saw bf her baby was a lady at a pub we were at when i was very newly pg with ds. She was a friend of a friend, and turned around so her back was to us to feed her dd

Other than that, I can't think, although I know my cousins bf. I probably didn't take any notice until I was pg myself! My mum bf me, and a close friend bf her dd until she was almost 2, so it was pretty normalised for me. I knew when I was pg that I wanted to at least try bf-ing, and i was extremely lucky that ds had such a good latch and that i had good support in the form of MN!

I would agree - to an extent - that it's a class issue. IME it's often an education issue (which is all too often a class issue in itself, unfortunately) Better educated people do tend to be more inclined to try bf-ing, whereas people who are less educated are more likely not to. Perhaps because they're less exposed? Or perhaps because they're more likely to believe the formula companies' advertising? It's not an absolute though - I think it's basically down to what's in vogue at the time. Breastfeeding is becoming a more fashionable thing to do - thanks to the likes of Charlotte Church and Myleene Klass - so I think we'll see a rise in bf-ing in the next few years. I just hope that the health service can provide the support necessary!

We did have a heavenly childhood Moondog.

My best friend next door went to Ela Beach (tho prob not at the same time as you). I went to Murray.

I saw my mother bf my younger siblings up until I was 9.

But as a teenager and adult, I can count on the fingers of one hand the people I've actually seen bf.

That stick in my mind - one woman sat on a bench in a shopping centre, and one childhood friend who's now got a 6mo lo.

But really, I think I must be just very unobservant.

I saw all my sisters and SIl's breastfeed. I remember too my nephews and neieces watching me when i fed mine.
i also fed on trains, in cafes, at cricket matches, onplanes. It would never have occured to me not to feed.
I do remember my FIL being shocked rigid and totally silenced when I fed. It was great. i used to use it to shut him up and get him to bugger off occasionally.
strategic BF.

My aunt when I was 12. Then nothing for 20 years.

I've never seen anyone BF before having my two DDs and i enjoyed BF them both until they self weaned at around 12 months.
My eldest DD used to stop what she was doing when i was BF her sister and would get hold of a dolly and stick it up her jumper to breastfeed it!

This made me think, the answer is yes I did but they were all in Sweden!

Actually I knew a few mums in the UK who bf but as I worked in a nursery at the time, then no I didn't see any feeding.

The Mums I worked with in Sweden were happy to bf anywhere (almost) but the majority of them stopped at 6-7mths because expressing just wasn't part of their plans in their return to work or simply they had had enough of being bitten! (lots of support groups over there too.)

I felt so sad when I learnt one of my swedish friends when she had her baby and had problems the hospital had told her to cup feed her son, meanwhile me with ds1 was encouraged to ff and express and bumble by within hospital. If I'd known about an alternative I would have given it a go

If I'd known about cup feeding

yes, sometimes i think you all live on the moon!