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?

For me the problems with all these aprons/mummy bibs/baby hats/hooter hiders is that its like hanging a big sign around your neck saying

"hey everyone, look - I'm breast feeding".

So people WILL stare - not because they are trying to see your breast but they are trying to work out why a grown woman is wearing a huge floral apron around their neck in the middle of starbucks

i dont really want to draw attention to myself, i just wanted to have a coffee and feed my baby/toddler, so i just use loose tops / two tops / a scarf. Its only really for latching on/off, the rest of the time teh baby's head and your clothing hide any bare flesh

but i agree with the posters who say that if it makes women feel better, good luck to them.

not sure why teenagers can wear minis that barely cover their knickers and cropped tops in a shopping center without anyone raising an eyebrow, but the thought that for a FEW SECONDS there might be a few inches of breast showing ( if you peer very closely) horrifies people

It's personal preference of course, but I can't see any need for them at all. They may even give more ammunition to the "you must cover them" brigade who will start to expect all breastfeeding mothers to use them.

That is hardly the problem of women who prefer to be covered though PaintingTheFence. It is still the problem of the "you must cover them" brigade.

From what women have written on this thread, they are not concerned with anyone else being offended just that they personally prefer to not have their breasts visible at all.

Fine with me. I don't like having my upper thighs out - they could scare passers by. But I have no problem with mini-skirts even on those with less than perfect upper thighs, because they are not my thighs. I don't expect to get shit for wanting my legs covered even though it is perfectly OK to have them out.

Great analogy Morloth!

I have a lime-green-and-brown one and I'm using it with my third. I'm not ashamed of bfing, I'm not trying to hide it nor to passively-aggressively draw attention to myself (WTF??!!). I use it because it's an easy way of covering up FOR ME. I'm size G/F and in this weather I'm often just wearing a strappy top, or v-necks that I pull aside, which if I take down exposes a lot of skin. Fantastic if you can do it with just a muslin, but I've rarely managed that, so ffs don't start judging because I use something else.

I think that whatever suits you and your baby is fine minnie

though i am a bit disconcerted by those who insist that bf involves " flashing tits" or " getting breasts out" or people "seeing your tits" or " coerced exposure" or "unwanted attendion" or " uncle Ted seeing my tits" or " exposing yourself in public" etc etc

( gosh i wonder why bf rates are so low....)

i have obviously been doing it wrong as i dont get out / flash anything. i just put my baby / toddler up my top. nothing comes OUT, the baby goes UP.

works for me anyway

If you pull you top up rather than down nobody can see a thing anyway no matter how enourmous your boobs are! I just don't get the problem. If anything it was my belly which was exposed, but got round that by wrapping baby round my tum. I never had an issue of any sort BF-ing in public. Just didn't make a big song and dance about it!

Yup - what Kristina said....

Well perhaps Kristina you have mastered the perfect technique that doesn't involve flashing any flesh (and putting your baby UP your top surely has the same effect than a hooter hider, or whatever they are called, anyway, in that your baby and breasts are hidden from view?) but I have never managed to feed my DC without showing a bit of breast.

Maybe that's another reason why someone may want to use one of those things, to hide their less than perfect technique from judgemental fellow breastfeeders...

I had a nice cover, can't remember the name of it, not for feeding ds4 but for expressing in the car. It was sort of a light poncho and looked like a shawl rather than a big apron. I don't mind bfing in public but the thought of anyone seeing my elongated nipples through clear plastic was too much!

agree Maya

Kristina has maybe forgotton what the early days are like...........

honeydragon my last comment on this post was over a year ago as this is an old thread that has been resurrected. As it happens now my DD is here I don't have a problem bfeeding her in public even when I had to use nipple shields. Unfortunatley DD now has a tendency to launch her head off my nip to look about if I hold her to feed, so I now need to lie down to feed her properly but thats fine she usually doesnt need a feed when out and about anymore.

But I do maintain that they are a great invention for people who do mind getting their norks out in public.

Marge & Kristina: you speak the truth!

i am not judging you or anyone else

i am disputing with those who are adament that I HAVE to " flash my tits / get my breasts out" and "have unwanted attention" when i'm bf. i dont. Please stop telling how I have to breast feed

i am not boasting about my perfect technique and i have not forgotten how to Bf. I am just telling you that i do it differently.

I agree with you Morloth, and that's why I said it's personal preference.

Actually I may have made the same post a year ago. Blame it on the bf hormones.

Yes, that's what I said.

I said you HAVE to flash your tits.

That's exactly what I said.

Glad that's cleared up.

I use a poncho because I don't use nursing tops (couldn't afford to buy them) and so I'm in normal clothes. That usually means hoiking a t-shirt or other top up over the top of my bra, exposing belly and back to all and sundry. I'm not coy about a bit of tit but I do mind sitting in a coffee-shop half naked!

boffinmum the nursing cover - bebe au lait - is much different than using a muslin or similar. There's a wire in the bit in front on top by your neck (just cloth on your neck though) so that you can see the baby and don't have to faff about with it as it all stays in place. Baby also stays cooler as light fabric but hole at top. That's why it's better and different than just a muslin. I've used both and nursing cover was much easier.

No one sAid they were mandatory. Whomever said it wasn't sneery on here... Read the op !! Horrible attitude!!!!

KristinaM, I made the comments about 'coerced exposure' and 'unwanted attention.'

I would urge you and anyone else to read my original post again, and to try and see those comments in context. 'Unwanted attention' is something that frankly isn't that much within the control of the woman breastfeeding. It may not bother some women at all. It may disturb others a lot. For me, with my history, it disturbs me.

And by 'coerced exposure', I'm expressing my dislike of the attitude among some BF-ers that the only acceptable approach is 'I don't care how much I expose myself'. And that women who feel differently are prissy, or silly, or too modest, or whatever. It's just not that simple.

I feel that pressure to expose oneself is coercive. Not nastily, or deliberately so - I think a lot of the time, people feel they are being encouraging - but it's a pressure to feel and act in a certain way that makes some women uncomfortable, and puts them off BF-ing.

It's far more reassuring to be told there are lots of ways of BF-ing in public, and that everyone will find their own way.

Otherwise it just becomes another 'test' and another thing to fail at.

Glad I saw this thread. I'm definitely getting one having seen them. In a dark colour so they blend in with what I am wearing and so I don't look like I am wearing a flowery bib.

I really want to BF when DC1 arrives in December. I don't want to have to stay in the house all the time, but there is no way I could feel at all comfortable lifting up my top in a cafe or shop or on the bus and feeding a baby.

Nor do I want to have to dress in funny BF-ing clothes with splits in (although I bought a couple of tops in the Blooming Marvellous sale).

Plus I will be taking a 3 month old baby on a 11 hour flight and besides my DH, there will likely be a stranger sitting next to me. I couldn't stand the idea of feeding like that. A pashmina would be hot and keep falling on the baby's face, surely?

So I think they are a good idea.

You will probably love it, miffster
Agree with barkfox.

I think they're fine actually, certainly no worse than any other non essential baby item-ie changing bags that cost a squillion times more than a normal bag because they've got blue teddies on the side and a little insert for dirties, or those ring things to prop babies up when they're learning to sit rather than pillows lol

Tis all about personal choice.

I occasionally used a shawl with DS3 who was the most on/off feeder from the word go,can't see that one of these is any different.

I'd like to hear from the OP again. I hope she doesn't ever actually walk up to a bf mother and tell her "not to bother" with her cover! How awful. Because guess what?? She probably knows everyone can see she's bfing and just wants a cover. Because it works best for her. She likely has no issue with you not covering yourself. Just because someone choOses to use a nursing cover doesn't mean they think everyone else should. Nor does it mean that they don't want people to know they are bfing.

It's all been said I'm sure.

I'm lucky to be able to feed very discreetly and have a couple of breastvests to cover my tummy which works great.

I think it's beyond mean to poke fun at someone who is using one of these. If that works well for them then fantastic and good luck to them. Whatever gets you through the day, is my parenting motto. And especially when it comes to breastfeeding which I've always found very challenging.

Really mean of people to undermine other people's feeding choices - whatever they entail.