Breastfeeding in public.
It’s your legal right (in most places).
That doesn’t make it any easier, especially if you’re naturally shy or introverted. Even if people aren’t staring or giving you the stink-eye, you still feel like you stick out like a sore thumb.
But, when a baby has to eat, a baby has to eat. And if you’re not planning on formula feeding or pumping for the odd feed when out, what’s a mom to do?
Head to the Parent’s Room
If there’s a parent’s room, this is your saving grace. Most parent’s rooms at the large shopping centre near me are equipped with comfy chairs for breastfeeding and are relatively calm, quiet spaces. Some even have private alcoves with curtains so you can have some privacy.
Not got the luxury of such a well-appointed parent’s room? There’s always…
Read more like this: 35 Breastfeeding Tips and Tricks
An Empty Room
If you’re at a friend’s or family member’s home and you don’t want to breastfeed in front of everyone, you can ask to use a guest room or study or a spare bedroom.
This is an especially good option if your family isn’t particularly supportive of breastfeeding.
Nothing like this available?
Go Under Cover
Full disclosure – I am not a graceful and coordinated mama. I’m more a hot mess / total klutz mama. So, you won’t find me succeeding very well at using a breastfeeding cover.
If you can, get good at it!
For me, I probably started too late. As soon as my baby hit 4 months old he wanted to see what was going on, and that was the end of the cover.
Dress For It
Here are two more tips for you to try (needs a little pre-planning):
High-waister
If you don’t like exposing your tummy (who does!?) when you lift your shirt for baby to feed, simply keep wearing either maternity tights or other high-waisted tights or leggings. They cover your tummy so you don’t feel so exposed.
Here are some super-high-waist leggings you might want to try. They also help add a little support and compression for your tummy.
The Two-Shirt Genius Breastfeeding Hack
If you wear a maternity tank top under your tee, you can pull it down to cover your tummy to under-breast. And pull your tee up to keep things covered from above.
Keep It Clean
And by clean I mean, not messy. In the first two months or so of my baby’s life I was petrified to whip a breast out in public in case it disgraced me by spraying everywhere… Yeah, having a bit of an oversupply can make life interesting!
I usually managed this by trying to feed in mother’s rooms because I could cover the danger zone with a receiving blanket or terry flat diaper until baby was latched.
I also liked to tuck the blanket / diaper under my breast so it covered my shirt so if baby dribbled or pulled off during a let down I wasn’t getting my shirt soaked.
Finally, make sure you’ve got nursing pads with you.
Just do it…
At the end of the day, this is one thing that’s just going to get easier with practice. Keep on boobing!
Got a good tip? Let us in on it, mama! Leave a comment below.
