i saw a real life hooter-hider

[wahwah1270]

in an uber baby friendly south london pub today, the sort of place where no one bats an eyelid that i feed one year old dd, a woman put this ridiculous lime green hooter hider on to feed her young baby son. if she hadnt worn the hooter hider i doubt i'd have noticed her feeding. i sooooooooo wanted to tell her not to bother with it but bit my tongue. am i alone in not getting the hooter hider concept?

I am a bit wierded out by how look at me the hooter hiders & big nipple hats are.

Perhaps a version that included a headcovering for the mother, with a fluorescent sounder beacon on top could be marketed.

shulte

you have maybe missed a fairly critical point

some people do not want to get their boobs out in public. Its nothing to do with BF, nothing to do with public acceptance and attitudes to BF, nothing political

they just dont feel comfortable about strangers seeing their breasts

how DARE people make them wrong for that??

its not about "shame around BF" FFS!!!

sUGH!!!!

OMG - I know I know I've arrived so late, but just googled Hooter Hiders and ROLFLMAO!!!

I think I was pretty discrete whilst BF for 14 months. I wore singlets/vests as an undergarment that could be pulled down, and I could then pull my top up if top wasn't front opening (so I wasn't exposing belly/boob to the world). If I felt at all 'exposed' then I'd just use a muslin or sarong over shoulder.

But if it works for you ladies, by all means go for it - anything that supports BF is a winner for me.

Bet you use it a few times then abandon it for a muslin/sarong though. Light easy, always to hand.

yes, porcamiseria.

I see that on top of the years of therapy, counselling and self management I've gone through to deal with my abusive childhood - all the homework I've done to reclaim MY body as MINE - to feel entitled to control who has access to it, and why -

I now get berated by some members of the BF sisterhood for my silliness, shame and 'modesty' because I don't want strangers seeing my breasts. Apparently I 'shouldn't' care.

It's MY BODY, my feelings, my baby, my life. I'm BF-ing because I want to do the best for my baby. Don't make it hard for me and women like me. My experiences aren't unique.

Well said, porca. It does irritate me when people just make something up out of thin air and then present it as fact.

As for your restaurant slippery slope fear, schulte - errr...no. Now here's a 'fact' for ya: one of my hooter-hiding friends uses her hooter hider as a buggy blanket. Or, I suppose if you are a sling-wearing mama you could wedge it into the straps and use it as a sun screen. No extra packing needed.

miso - oooh, like it, like it! You should take that to the Dragon's Den!

A friend of mine at baby group has one, it's neon pink. I do wonder how it makes her any more discrete when BF'ing, after al it is neon pink and does rather draw the eye but there you go!

I agree with porcamiseria - why does breast-feeding in public or indeed everything about breast-feeding have to be a political act to some people?

Despite the fact that breast-feeding is the most natural thing in the world etc etc, I'm still not comfortable having strangers look at my breasts (or my stomach for that matter). Nothing to do with being ashamed of breast feeding.

I am just pleased to see I am not alone in my aversion to flashing (a) my large boobs and (b) post baby belly to all and sundry

honestly the BF Mafia on here are fucking LOOPY
"its like sayhing I am afraid of BF"

FUCK OFF

i meant ashamed, freudian slip eh!

I think were missing the point, when i use mine, i am NOT trying to hide the fact i am breastfeeding, people are well aware that i am considering its a patterned one!!

I simply do not wish to get naked in public, not in ikea, not at bluewater and not in the park, its not because i am ashamed of feeding my baby, its becaue since i grew these flaming monstrosities at about age 12 i have never really wanted to unleash them on the world, my choice, my issue, just the same as if i was a naturist or a topless sunbather...

Nobody but nobody wants to see my huge nipples flailing about outside my top, including me!!

I am repressed. Horribly, mystifyingly, mortifyingly repressed. So utterly repressed, in fact, that I have only just learned to cough in public without turning beetroot red.

How I long for the pure, fresh and wafty liberated state of mind enjoyed by you easy-come-easy-go free-spirited Carefree Mummies, who are always on the ready to bare your bazookas at the merest whiffle of a hint of a snifter from your lovabubbles. I am not so fortunate, which is why I Secretly Squirrel away my Morocco Moles when my baby cries for sustenance.

And so, in my agonising gaol of woe, I hang my head doom-low (though not quite so low as my baps will go), knowing full well that as I veil my va-va-voomas for a feed, I am not only imprisoning my body: I am imprisoning my mind.

Sob.

There. You lot happy now?

I am seriously considering getting one, in black of course! they are only £22.50 on amazon

and for all the mafia. this will likely make me BF MORE and for LONGER

maybe till DC2 is five, happy now!

there are lots of benefits of advertising that you're BFing with a massive pashmina or hooter hider

In my local Costa the staff are really baby friendly and if they see anyone with any sort of BF cover up and an empty cup / plate they'll offer table service for top ups because they know you cant move

also if I am on the sofa /comfy chairs and I see someone on a hard chair get one out I will offer to change seats. Strangers offered the same to me when they saw the muslins getting tucked into the bra strap

sal - no doubt, if customers saw you in costa flapping your tits around they'd run a mile (hmm...thus vacating their comfy seats anyway...should've thought through the logic of that one first

I am seriously considering one of these for next time. However, one of the best things about bf without one is that no-one will sit next to you on a flight if you do get 'em out and start feeding as everyone boards. Likewise busy trains/ buses. It's very handy when you need extra space for your nappy bag etc.

Exactly barkfox. I hear you.

Hey if these covers are so much less descreet and so much more obvious that people are bf then that's great for bf awareness, too! Just as good as no cover or a muslin...

Good point StarExpat...Gonna embroider 'Breastfeeding and proud' on mine, I think!

Or how about 'Come and ask me how?'

Thing is, everyone's assuming people are looking at them. Nearly all the time they aren't. They are too busy getting on with their own lives. The only people usually interested are other pg or bf mothers.

Women fret too much about how they appear in the regard of others - weight, clothes, bf ... we crucify ourselves in the name of appearing visually satisfactory. If this was blokes they would just get on with it and not fuss or fret so much.

Sorry boffinmum but in barkfox's post and mine a bit earlier about sexual abuse, you have to also consider that some people are anxious about this. Even if no one is looking.

Also some use them, as mentioned many times, to help remove distractions for older babies. Among other reasons. We're not all repressed. No one is saying we should wear them. Each woman makes their own choices.

OK, sorry, forgot that.

Boffinmum: "If this was blokes they would just get on with it and not fuss or fret so much. "

hahahahahaha! Err, have you ever met a man?

surely you've seen this one before?

(apols if it plays an ad first - hideous)

Yes, but men wee standing up in front of each other. Communally. I am sure bf would become a macho activity with them sizing up each others' nips enviously.

Oh how happy am I that bfing doesn't involve sizing up each other's nipples!! that would have definitely put me off bf in public!

I really can't see why people have got so upset about my post.

BoffinMum also makes a good point methinks.

Have you lot never sunbathed topless?