Breastfeeding in a muslim country

[madambutterfly]

I am off to Istanbul for easter with our daughter who will be 12 weeks old and I am a bit nervous about the whole breast feeding thing in a muslim country. I really want to make sure I don't offend anyone. Has anyone been here and have any top tips??

don;t know about istanbul, but lots of muslim countries are fine with it, more so than this country where breasts=male play things. i've seen women with their faces covered breast feeding.

I've never seen anyone wear that in Istanbul. Looks like an Arab thing.

i am sure you'll been fine breastfeeding where you like in Istanbul...

you'll proberly have to practically fight them off looking at your baby and making coo-ing noises!

(much more family friendly)

Isn't Turkey not officially Muslim, anyway? I mean, I know many people there are, but it's not a Muslim country, they don't practice Islamic law etc etc.

I lived in Turkey. They are much more relaxed about BF than here. You won't have any probs (obv don't do it in a mosque or anything but cafes etc are fine).

No Sharia ("Islamic Law") in Turkey. It's a secular republic.

While we're on the topic, what about somewhere like Pakistan?

I would think that tmmj's response (buy an abaya or similar and bf under it) would be appropriate?

It is positivly encouraged under islamic tradition. It is seen as being beneficial to both mother and baby. BF is public is quite the norm in many islamic countries

no one will ever object to you breastfeeding in public in islamic countries but muslim women tend not to feed in places with a lot of men around. But it should not matter to you, as fact most men won't look at you at all if they realise what you are doing.

Agree though that Turkey is secular, and so do what you'd do here.