Tara over at Mojo of a Mama has posed a challenge for us breastfeeding mams to get out there and nurse in public (NIP). She says
You are paving the road for our daughters to NIP as well! I challenge you to make a list of 5 places you are hesitant/reluctant/afraid to nurse in public.
Next, I want you to go there and DO IT!!
I was really nervous at the start with babypixie, we made a point of NIPing when she was only a week old, hubby came out with us on a weekday morning while he was still on holidays after her birth. It was really quiet & we sat in a corner of the food court and I did it! I was so proud… it was another couple of weeks before I needed to NIP again but I knew I could which made me much braver.
We’ve never had negative comments, we’ve gotten some positive smiles, we’ve had some funny looks, but I find if you appear confident and like you’re not doing something out of the ordinary then it makes it harder for someone to complain. In Ireland you have the right to NIP anywhere you want, see this earlier post for some tips…
Now that babypixie is almost 10 months old, it’s usually a solid food lunch she gets if we’re in town, but I will happily give her milkies while we’re out & about if the need arises…
My personal 5 places that I was reluctant to nurse in:
5) Luas: It was a 20 minute light rail ride from the city to my house in Dublin, full of business men. When we had to go to town I used to dread the screams if she got hungry, until the day I had no choice, latched her on, and no-one even noticed!
4) Dublin at Christmas: It was bedlam, you couldn’t find a private area anywhere, so I learned to NIP propped on a wooden stool in the middle of a busy cafe.
3) The first time on my own… you know I don’t even remember now where it was, but I remember being very nervous!
2) At the bus-stop – I fed her at the bus-stop a few weeks ago, I think it kept the queueing passengers entertained for a while….
1) Galway: Moving here made me realise what a small place it is, I felt that everyone was staring, maybe they were, but I got over that pretty fast, I’ve now NIPed here all over the place, at the bus-stop, at a protest, in cafes & in pubs.
It’s sad that, in general, nursing in public is still very muchly considered to be something you choose to do, a bit showy and almost a lifestyle choice. We spend a great amount of energy fighting for our right to feed our babies, encouraging each other and educating friends and family who may find it embarrassing.
In an ideal world, babies being breastfed would be such a common sight that it would be an unremarkable sight, you wouldn’t need your facts and witty retorts close at hand, you could just sit down and nurse your baby wherever & whenever you wanted. I hope our daughters will live in such a world…
Now for all you Dr. Seuss fans, Mamamojo has a rhyme…
I will nurse her in my home,
I will nurse her when I roam.
Leave me be lads and ma’am.
I will nurse her, Mom I am
Subscribe by email
oh today it was on the bench outside the checkouts at waitrose.
have also done the bus stop one. sometimes i think people would rather endure me nursing bubba than endure a screaming bubba.
I love the challenge and the Seuss rhyme! In July, I was on a plane and harassed by the flight attendant who told me to cover up for the sake of the fathers on the plane (who by the way didn’t seem to have a problem). We’re going to fly to visit my parents in October and I’m nervous about nursing on the plane. I didn’t used to be. I even stood my ground. I just don’t want to repeat the scene.
I agree that it’s definitely a lifestyle choice and I do feel like mamamojo that every time we nursing in public we’re setting the stage for our daughters. I feel pretty strong about it.
Let me think of 4 other places.
That’s awful Leila, you think flight attendants would have learned by now! Hopefully you’ll have no problems this time!
The first several times I tried to nurse DC in public were nightmarish. She didn’t latch easily or well, and I’m, well, bustily gifted. Tyrannosaurus has been no problem. I forget that I’m doing something “unusual” when I’m out nursing him. Yesterday, though, I was out for lunch with my mother and I just got weirded out. There was a lady in there with her TINY (like 2 weeks) baby in a carrier… with a bottle propped. I hate feeling like I’m challenging the world every time I sit down to feed the baby. But that’s what it felt like (especially since it was a very exposed seat in a very open fast food joint).
It was also interesting to nurse him in the sling at my hubby’s work the other night. Lots of drunks (just after the bars closed), a tank that doesn’t leave much to the imagination when opened, a sling that didn’t want to cooperate, and a crabby baby. And yet I managed to keep myself MOSTLY decent! Woohoo!
I don’t get out much, but I do nurse with a cover when I hafta! I LOVED your rendition of Dr. Seuss! (((((HUGS))))) sandi
thanks sandi, but it’s not mine! Mojo of a Mama wrote the dr seuss poem, I only stole the last verse off her!
[...] August 28, 2007 Filed under: Breastfeeding — sarahtar @ 6:34 pm I had to laugh at this post discussing a NIP challenge issued by another blogger. You are paving the road for our daughters to [...]