I breastfed in public today!

[Divvy]

Yay me! Baby is 3 weeks old. Day out at a steam rally. I nearly went back to our car to do it, but thought stuff it, lets try!

18 month old dd nearly blew our cover though, as dh let her run round us playing, and she tried to whip our blanket!

Have I broken a law? What is the law?

funnypeculiar - smell?

Does it give of a smell?

So what is the current law, just so I know my rights if challenged

I have never been able to express properly, only ever get about 50ml max after expressing for an hr - yet I have tons of milk. Well done on feeding in public. I don't - got massive boobs and DD likes to feed for a couple of mins then have a look around - I don't feel comfortable at the whole world seeing my boobs. I do go out though to people's houses and feed so it has not bothered me. If I want to go to a cafe, I just time it for in between feeds.

Well done on your 1st public breastfeed! I remember feeling so proud when I did it the first time and I never looked back. You will quickly grow in confidence and will be whipping your boobs out anywhere LOL! BTW don't know if you are aware of these breastfeeding vests?

www.figleaves.com/uk/product.asp?product_id=EJ-821&mci=&size=&colour=&image=r10088-p33313 3-front

They have clips to get quick access to your boobs and your nips stick through holes (looks very S&M) but the rest of you is totally covered so you can feed in public by lifting your top up and all anyone can see is the vest underneath and not your bare skin. You also don't need to wear a bra with them as they have inbuilt support. I always wear one and feel naked if I haven't one on when I BF in public!

But I have always wondered how you get your nips out of the holes when you are in a public place? I can just see myself wrestling my nips through the holes while dd is screeching for food.

Congratulations!!!!! You have the right to bf where ever you like I did in church, at a naming ceremony during the service, theme parks, park benches, cafes the floor in a playground. I have even politely asked to sit on a bench to do it when there was no space- the man was very obliging and moved up.
Soon you won't even think about it
dd2 is 5mths now and I am still going.
with dd1 I never bf in public and lasted 6wks along with lots of expressing faff.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK [SMILE]

That's great Divvy . And good news on the DH front too. I had to be with a whole group of bf-ing women before I felt confident to do it the first time.

pudding25 - I have fairly large boobs (was a J cup at my biggest when feeding DS) and once I got going I fed in public all the time. I didn't have any special tops, but did do the vest top under normal top trick - pull down vest top (covering wobbly PN belly) and pull up normal top = min nork flesh on show!

I just wear a baggy normal top and bf bra. My technique is to lie the baby down first, unclip bra from the top and slide handunder the front of my top pushing it to the feeding side so material still covers both sides and push the bra down and baby covers the front iyswim. I have got a couple of bf tops for situations where I might feel uncomfortable for more discretion.

pudding practice in front of a mirror at home so you can perfect the method you want to use iyswim. It will give you more confidence and you will see which way works for you.

Divvy - as the current law in England stands, you are legally entitled to bf wherever and whenever you want. If someone asks you to move on from a place where you would be otherwise entitled to be with your child then you can sue them for sexual discrimination.

In practise, what this means, is nothing. I'm sure you're not going to go through the hassle of finding a lawyer, paying said lawyer, getting lawyer to take on the case and going through the courts. What it does mean is that you can breastfeed wherever you like.

I assume you are in England? Not Scotland? The law is different in Scotland.

Pudding25 the holes are really big like about 10cm diameter so unless you have massive nips you can get them out fine! It's really easy, just wear a fairly baggy top, stick your hand under your top to undo the vest clip and pop baby on. It's extremely discrete and noone can see a thing, in fact lots of people have thought that DS is just sleeping in my arms when I feed him (well, when he was a lot younger anyway!).

Hi Divvy. Well done! I would also add -forget the blanket next time. I was living in West Africa when I had DS1 where women bf everywhere and in front of everyone. And so I quickly lost all feelings of self-conciousness when bf. My DH is from that part of the world also so he has no problems. I regularly bf in Morrisons as DS2 always gets hungry when we're in there for some reason. I can honestly say I've never had any problems bf in public but I\m fairly old and ugly!!! Ive noticed that younger women are often much more self conscious.

Well done! Its a great feeling isnt it!

horray for divy. its a great taste of freedom, well done.
and well done for normalising it for all our benefits
thanks xxx

i used to pull the boob out over the top!

Yippee!

Congratulations to you and well done.

I'm tandem feeding a toddler and a newborn, though not in public - it's far too complex feeding two at once when one is tiny. But the more of us do this, the more acceptable it becomes.

Well done! Don't be bothering with blankets tho. And another vote for a vest top underneath a tshirt as the best BF outfit. Just unclip your feeding bra, pull your boob over the top of the vest and pop baby on, with tshirt covering all the (still flabby in my case) midriff flesh.

Stick with it and you'll be a pro soon!

re. the law thing

the law has nothing to do with YOU being allowed as of course you are allowed

The law states that NOONE is allowed to bother you or ask you to stop

Thank you everyone

It has taken me 5 children (over 20 years) to get the hang of breastfeeding! Wish it had worked with the others but I only managed a week at most with all, until my nipples were shot to bits! I can see where I was going wrong now, if its hurting after the first few sucks, I now take him off, and re-latch, instead of suffering in pain.

If anyone reading this, has tried breastfeding in the past, and it hasnt worked out. Please dot let this stop you trying again.....and again! I feel I am proof, that jsut cos it hasnt worked before dont mean you cant in future.

I also soooooo get breastfeeding now. How special it can feels, when it is going right.

xx

Hurrah - well done!!! I have one child who I breastfed everywhere - in church, cafes, pubs (nice ones!), shopping, even got the hang of doing it walking around tescos. No one really notices and it is better to do that than to let baby scream. I was very shy at first but then loved it and I miss it now ds is 2. I did it for about 9 months until he got teeth (understandbly!). I never had a negative reaction. I had a few male friends and relatives who would all troop out the room at feed times but that was their ignorance. I try to encourage my pregnant friends to breastfeed. I understand that some women have problems (i was lucky) but I really don't comprehend the view some women have of 'Ugh, I'm never doing that!'. My husband is very prudish and never liked the idea when I was pregnant but he is now a convert. I bought breastfeeding tops from Jo Jo Mamam and I also used a muslim cloth.

Well done Divvy.That is fantastic.
You must be so pleased you have cracked it thistime.

Actually, days out will be easier with b/feeding. You just get up and go with a few spare nappies. No faff with bottlesor powder or warming bottles.

Divvy - that's such a lovely post! You go Mama! Well done.

Trinity - the law that no-one is allowed to stop you is only applicable in Scotland, I'm afraid. I know you live in the Frozen North , but that law doesn't apply to the rest of the UK, unfortunately.