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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

i saw a real life hooter-hider

316 replies

wahwah1270 · 12/07/2009 22:35

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?

OP posts:
CoachMom · 23/07/2010 12:40

I just can't believe I'm reading this. I am an American visiting Canary Wharf for the summer. I have been breastfeeding my daughter for almost 9 months now. I LOVE my hooter hider, and I think the name is cute too. It's a bright pink Damask and I use it while out in public. I did try using a muslin once but she pulled it off and I didn't enjoy exposing myself to every Tom, Dick, and Harry.

We visited Nice France a few weeks back and I did breastfed without the cover on the beach...I figured I was showing way less than others.

porcamiseria · 23/07/2010 13:16

MOPearl

Its got fuck all to do with BF in public and attitudes yada yada

SOME PEOPLE DONT WANT STRANGERS/FRIENDS/FAMILY TO SEE THEIR BOOBS!!! simple

thats the be all and end all. I think you are politicising it waaaay to much

If I have a shawl on people will guess I am BF, no drama. But they can't see my boobs, end of.

omnishambles · 23/07/2010 13:29

I've only seen one once at Disneyland California - I was so excited by it that I nearly shouted out...

Never seen one here though and cant be bothered with anything like that myself. If someone happens to see the merest flash of something then they shouldnt be looking - I wouldnt like to 'apologise' for feeding my baby.

And why are people showing lots of flesh anyway - surely you just need to be wearing more appropriate clothing if thats the case?

ZombiePlanB · 23/07/2010 13:30

I use one to feed ds2 and it's a lovely black and white one.

I am hiding my boobs, not hiding bfing. Why should random blokes see my boobs? I have a nice pair.

Maternity covers are great, and multi functional. Changing mat, sun screen, blanket etc etc. I love mine.

Booboobedoo · 23/07/2010 13:35

How many of your were happy to flash your tits in cafes before having children out of interest?

BF may be what they're 'for', but why are we suddenly supposed to shed our cultural self-consciousness and perceptions of our sexuality because we've had a baby?

I know some of you say that nothing shows when you feed, but I have NEVER seen a woman breast-feed without revealing more than I'd be happy to show.

I don't judge her for it, but it doesn't make me feel that I ought to do it just because she's not bothered.

PrivetDancer · 23/07/2010 13:37

It's not the 'merest flash' though if you are patiently waiting for a wide gape with breast expectantly positioned. Or if your baby pulls away from the boob to have a look round leaving you sitting there with boob completely exposed?

Not that I would think there's anything wrong or remotely offensive if I saw that happen to anyone, but I might be embarassed if it happened to me.

BoffinMum · 23/07/2010 13:41

Is it not also something to do with the marketisation of bf?

I was in John Lewis recently during their "Breastfeeding Awareness Week" and watched with horror as an apparently childless Avent rep attempted to flog a special pack of Avent products that retailed at over £100 to some gullible first time parents, as a 'must have' accessory.

Meanwhile I was not able to perch daintily on one of their comfy bf chairs on the shop floor to feed DC4 in public as all this was going on, oh no. I had to stand up and feed him outside the smelly toilet in the gloomiest bit of the basement because the only (stained, very upright) chair was taken by another mother and DC4 couldn't wait.

Says it all, really. Blardy marketeers.

omnishambles · 23/07/2010 13:41

Booboobedoo - feeding your baby is not 'flashing your tits' though is it - and its really offensive to put the two together.

Morloth · 23/07/2010 13:42

I think it is quite possible I have less breast on show than usual ATM.

Normally I like low cut stuff with balconette underwires.

Because I don't want to stretch the necklines of my nice shirts and dresses I am wearing a normal t-shirt with a vest underneath to keep my back warm.

Wish there was a way to keep the great norks when I was finished feeding!

gwenner · 23/07/2010 14:16

I used them with both mine, purely because I have enormous boobs and didn't want anyone to think I was feeding a two headed baby

barkfox · 23/07/2010 14:18

I'm a 1st time mum successfully and happily BF-ing my 8 day old son, and I feel upset and angry reading this thread. There is judgement and mockery, actually, going on here, and I want those doing it to know how counter productive it is for those of us new mums prepared to give BF-ing a damn good go.

I'm currently trying to figure out the whats/hows/wherefores of BF-ing in public. I have very large breasts, a new baby who is learning to feed with me, and can fuss when latching on, and I want to minimise how much I expose myself in public.

I'm not a stoopid woman cowed by anti-BF-ing attitudes - I'm someone with a history of sexual abuse who reacts very badly to the idea of any coerced exposure, and really does NOT want uninvited attention.

I don't know yet what I'm going to do. The 'two tops plus a bra' arrangement doesn't appeal in the heat of July, and as I say, given the latching on dance we have atm, the idea of a 'quick flash' is laughable. Maybe a muslin - maybe something else - maybe just very careful planning. I'm still working it out.

But whatever I do, I do NOT want another BF-ing mother, of all people! looking at me and deciding my arrangement is 'ridiculous'. And if you see me BF-ing out and about, whatever I'm doing, and whatever you think about it, please, don't come over and tell me 'not to bother' doing it. It will make me feel observed, judged and commented on in a hugely unwelcome way.

omnishambles · 23/07/2010 14:21

barkfox - dont take it all to heart - its just MN going on as normal and as a first time mum you probably wont go out all that much until about 4-6 weeks by which time it will all mostly be settled.

congrats btw

porcamiseria · 23/07/2010 14:23

omni you may not like the language used

but breastfeeding involves getting your breasts out! and many many MANY women dont like it.

simple, lets not make it into a political thing. Its not. I dont want Uncle Ted , or my Boss Mark to see see my tits

Booboobedoo · 23/07/2010 14:31

omnishambles: you may find it offensive, but it's just semantics as far as I'm concerned.

I love seeing women happily breastfeeding in public, whether with both boobs swinging freely or in a three-man tent.

What I don't like is the implication that one is somehow letting down the sisterhood if one chooses not to flash the flesh.

Booboobedoo · 23/07/2010 14:32

Ooh, I can tell I'm getting hoity-toity when I start throwing 'ones' around the place.

CatIsSleepy · 23/07/2010 14:36

I think people should use them if they want to

erm, that's it really

niftyfifty · 23/07/2010 14:37

I'm with Cat but TBH when I saw the thread title I thought it was referring to noses ...

Morloth · 23/07/2010 14:38

Don't go being all sensible CatIsSleepy, people are just getting warmed up.

Morloth · 23/07/2010 14:39

Wouldn't that be a Honker Hider nifty?

Booboobedoo · 23/07/2010 14:41

Honker Hider.

I bet loads of you flash your noses about without shame, too.

AhickeyfromKenickie · 23/07/2010 14:42

Barkfox - thank you for bringing up the subject of sexual abuse and unwanted attention. Chickened out of raising it myself. Congratulations on your new baby, and best of luck with the feeding X

niftyfifty · 23/07/2010 14:43

OMG! That's why I just had to look at the thread to make sure ....

BosomForAPillow · 23/07/2010 14:43

Has anyone else noticed that this is a thread from a year ago that has been inexplicably revived?

Think the title/OP should be revised to "I saw a hooter hider a year ago and am probably well over it by now."

(It wasn't me by the way, in fact I had a hooter hider and a year ago felt rather pissed off about this thread making me feel crap about something that was making it much easier for me to bf in public.)

RubyBuckleberry · 23/07/2010 14:44

'How many of your were happy to flash your tits in cafes before having children out of interest?'

not quite the same though is it . FWIW though, I thought very differently about breastfeeding before I actually did it. I also never noticed anyone doing it EVER, incidentally.

I do think that we have some funny ideas sometimes in this country - like it not being an entirely normal thing to feed your baby in public using your boobs.

However, if a lady wants a hooter hider, she should have a hooter hider or an udder wotsit if that is what she so desires. If it helps her breastfeed, that is great. I wonder if Denise VO knew about the old hooter hider before she gave up breastfeeding.

I also thought a hooter was a big nose!

CakeandRoses · 23/07/2010 14:47

barkfox - as omni said, please don't take this horrid thread too seriously. In the real world, most people won't give a damn what you use to cover up (or if you don't).

I bf DS1 for 14 months and bf publicly for 12 months or so of those, mostly using a cover-up similar to a hooter hider - most people took no notice and the few women that did, just admired it and asked where I got it (it was a very fetching paisley print in LIME GREEN no less )

Congratulations on your new son . Hope it all goes well for you.

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