Breastfeeding and getting out and about?

I don't use a cover and nurse in public here all the time. I find it to be a lot more accepted than in the US, Ireland and UK where we were living before. The quran says that it is a woman's duty to breastfeed for two years and the husband should support it as long as both mama and babe are happy. So I find that it is really socially acceptable here. What I do is the same as what Kelly_C described. I wear a stretchy tank top (something from H&M for example) under a regular shirt. I pull up the regular shirt and pull down the tank. This keeps me super covered. When I was learning to nurse in public I practiced in front of a mirror so that I could see how it looked from someone else's perspective. Nursing tops are also useful like that. If you aren't totally comfortable nursing in public prayer rooms are an acceptable place to pop in and nurse. Baby Shop also usually has a nursing room and you are usually free to use a dressing room in an empty shop. That's if you don't want to nurse with other people around. A muslin cloth or a scarf is a good idea too. You can try hooking it in your bra strap so it stays put. But don't let the other people dictate how you are nursing, if you know what I mean. Do what feels right for you. Your baby, your right to feed her - anywhere, anyhow. I totally agree with KW also, if it such a faf expressing and using bottles that I would say if you are able to get nursing in public down then I would do that. If you feel like your baby nurses a lot you can try nursing while wearing her in a sling or wrap. It is a fantastic thing to be able to do if you can. That way you can nurse hands free or while you're out and about. And, if you do get some sort of comment or are asked to move or leave a place (which I haven't heard of happening here) let us know. We're all behind you and I will happily travel for a nurse-in. Lol. And KW is totally right regarding the breastfeeding advice in the baby whisperer. I am a breastfeeding supporter and have seen that book ruin many fantastic breastfeeding relationships. Hope that all helps. xx

I found the best think for me was investing in a couple of really good feeding tops. Do you have them? I found I didn't need any of these feeding cover thingies at all as there was literally nothing to see. I had a couple of 'good' tops, and a couple of plain ole vest tops, and would make sure I had one or other on when I was out and about. Depending on the design, you literally only have your nipple out. Then I used a regular muslin cloth to drape over my shoulder while we positioned ourselves, and made sure I picked the chair in Starbucks facing the wall rather than out towards everyone else, et voila. It did take us a few tries to get it down, but I was desperate to get out after the first week so we would go walk the mall or park or whatever every day, so it was a fairly steep learning curve! Just think about why you a trying so hard to cover up, too. If its out of modesty on your part, then fair enough. But if it's for other peoples benefit, I would maybe relax a little. Good luck to you and little one!!

Welcome to the club CoffeeGal!!! My daughter is almost four month old now and I still struggle with this!! With some experience though, I have found that a bright cotton scarf both to hide my post pregnancy body (:cool:) and to cover myself when nursing outside works best. LO doesn't get too hot and bothered and the scarf acts as an accessory for all other times :)

That's wonderful that you've already gotten out of the house with your LO! I remember my first few weeks BF'ing and how self-concsious I was feeding in public (always with a cover). My cover is also fairly heavy and my LO would get hot, sometimes I use an Aden & Anais muslin swaddling blanket draped over me and LO instead. They are fantastic blankets! The only place I know to get them here is a shop in Jumeriah Centre (next to Magrudy's on Beach Rd).

Well done on getting out and about already! My LO is six weeks old and other then essential hospital appointments I didn't go anywhere much until my LO was 4 weeks old. I have found the covers to be the most difficult part of breast feeding. I have started using a really lightweight wrap just until I get her latched on and then remove it from her head and sort of cover up my exposed bits with the rest of it. It's quite big so easy to wrap around me. I choose my clothes carefully and I find that for me it's easier to pull up a top and latch her on and then wrap the cover round my tummy. I understand your anxiety completely. My LO is 6 weeks old and woke up suddenly whilst I was in Carrefour in MOE demanding to be fed immediately. I was with my mum-in-law who didn't really understand I had to leave immediately so by the time I got to the loo baba was really crying hard and I was in a heap of sweat. There was nobody using the feeding room so I was so relieved to just latch baba on quickly and easily without covering up first...I did that after. It's such a hard thing to get used to. I never realised that there are so many people who don't know anything about breastfeeding and can't understand why you need to feed so often. I am starting to notice that my LO has gone from being a permanent attachment to feeding for a shorter time and leaving a longer gap in between feeds and this is only at 6 weeks. I think you are doing brilliantly. Breastfeeding mothers seem to put themselves under a lot of pressure to get out and about very early on and it's just not very easy in the early days when your LO is feeding constantly and you are trying not to expose yourself! Best of luck with everything. I am also going to start expressing now as my LO is just over 6 weeks. I decided to wait 6 weeks just to make sure breastfeeding was established before I started introducing bottles. I plan to give her maybe one bottle a day and maybe more as it gets closer to the time when I have to return to work. I know people who haven't waited that long though and their babies have no problem switching from bottle to breast. I have bought a Breastflow, Tommee Tippee CTN and a Yoomi bottle to see which ones she likes best. My sis is coming from home tomorrow and bringing me over a breastfeeding cover called a Braap which doesn't cover babies head and is less hot and cumbersome than a full breastfeeding cover. I will let you know how I get on with it and if it is successful maybe you could try using one to make bfeeding in public a bit easier. Best of luck!!! xx

Well first try expressing, for me it was a giant pain in the backside and frankly easier to just feed directly, I just didn't let-down well for the pump and pumping a bottle a day would have been a mission, other people can fill a bottle in minutes. DS also was very fond of the bottle and actually went on a nursing strike at around 4 months after having one and I completely stopped all bottles after that. Other babies switch well between both and some prefer the breast. If you don't give a bottle before around 12 weeks you will probably find it harder to introduce one if you need to. Its really something to play by ear. My LC told me between 8 weeks and 12 weeks is the best window to make sure you don't mess with your supply or latching but if latching/feeding is going really well then maybe sooner would be fine, perhaps once a week better than daily though. I actually gave from birth but latching was a major drama and I wish I hadn't, my poor nipples needed a break though! I never got the hang of the nursing cover so I did used to just excuse myself and go into a quiet room if it was a situation where feeding openly was an issue. At something like a friends BBQ I wouldn't have worried about a cover anyway. Maybe practice a bit with the cover at home, is yours made of very heavy fabric, does it have the wire at the top so you can look down and air can come in?, maybe you can use something more lightweight (just a light muslin scarf draped over your shoulder the right way (get a friend to help you) is really all you need anyway. As your baby gets older feeds will be much much faster and even if you do excuse yourself or nip into a shop changing room etc it won't be such a big deal. I would bite the bullet and find a way to comfortably nurse when out and about, carrying around expressed milk is not as convenient as it sounds (need to keep it cold, need to heat it up, have to chuck it if they don't drink it, sterilizing bottles etc etc) vs having it on tap when required ;). PS as an aside, be careful with the baby whisperer in regards to BFing advice, there is a lot of good advice in general in her books especially in regards to tired signs etc but a lot of her feeding advice (esp in regards to snacking and hindmilk etc) is actually quite wrong or misleading, something I wish I'd known sooner.