question for a friend .....

[nappyaddict]

she has quite large nipples and finds she cannot breastfeed discreetly at all. even when baby is latched on you can still see loads of her nipple. she wants to know if she is doing something wrong or is that just how it is for women of large nipples?

When I breastfed my ds I still had some nipple on show. As long as she doesn't have any discomfort I would presume the baby is latched on correctly. If she's worried could she ask her midwife or health visitor?

Don't know why I put breastfed, I'm still feeding him now

if there is no pain and baby is feeding well, then i don;t thikn it is an issue,baby should be getting a good mouthful of breast . but if she has large areolae, then it might be there is more visible of that area of the breast.. rather than the nipple itself?

any advice on how to feed discreetly?

Is she lifting her top up to feed? Once baby is latched on she can pull her top down to baby's cheek so nothing is visible. Is baby still young? I found it took me quite a bit of practice before I could feed discreetly and easily. Now DD just helps herself!

so sort of tuck it under baby?

a large shawl? muslin?

her baby doesn't like being under a muslin/shawl.

I wear a vest top under my normal top and when I need to feed pull the first top up and the vest top down. That way I am not exposing my flabby tummy and can pull the first top over any exposed bit of boob once ds is latched on. Hope that makes sense!

then she might need to accept that part of her upper breast will be on show? is it her nipple or areola that is showing

Just pull it down to where the baby's cheek touches the breast. Am I explaining it ok? I think I'm confusing myself Between baby's head and the top there shouldn't be much on show. Has she watched herself feed in front of a mirror? She may find that a lot less flesh is on show to others than she thinks! Looking down you can see a lot more.

i think she does do that already but is more bothered about nipple being on show than tummy. she is quite slim already.

I've also done what helips said. I was a lot more conscious of my belly than my boob though.

char - does that work for the football hold too?

there are great feeding aprons called bebe au lait (formerly called hooter hiders ). they are the best things i ever bought! i got mine through an internet company called maternity and nursing i think.

is that not the same for baby as being covered by a muslin though?

well fitting vest tops and a cardigan is my best tip for discretion.

vest top up - latch baby on and then push vest top so its down to babie's nose basically.

cardigan shields all this from view.

and get her to practice in front of a mirror if nervous - she's probably revealing less than she thinks.

Yes should work for the football hold. There's always a bit more on show with the football hold, but the top should cover the actual areola. If there's any other bits of boob on show, she could always cover them with a muslin rather than the baby IYSWIM. DD wouldn't allow herself to be covered either so I'm pretty practised at this I would tell your friend not to worry, really. Probably noone's looking to see anything, although I know you do feel self-conscious at first.