Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Breast Fed in Public and Lived to tell about it!

(Alternative title for this post was LOOK MOM, NO CAPE! :-))

So it was story hour at the library today. It's a really great program for babies under 18 months. We sing a few songs, do a little baby sign and hang out afterwards for some mommy chat. I knew that my little guy would need to be fed after story time and I wanted to run by the grocery store before coming home. In the past, I would have thrown the makings of a formula bottle in the diaper bag and been done with it, but we were running late and I really DO want to get more comfortable feeding him in public, so off we went with no bottle.

About half way through story time, T. started getting a little fussy. When we made the sign for milk, he started reaching down my shirt and it was pretty clear to everyone that he was ready. I tried to distract him and we finished story time, then hung out with the other moms and babies for a little bit. I figured that I could find a back corner of the library to have a little privacy while he nursed. No such luck. Busiest library in the state because on a random Tuesday morning, every back nook that I could find was occupied with someone READING! Of all things, in a library, really???? ;-) I decided that my best bet was to go back down to the room where we had the story hour and tuck myself in a corner to feed him. I will admit, though, I was more than a little worried. What if one of the other moms said something? Accused me of warping their child or something? I reminded myself that I had a legal right to feed my child and that no one would probably pay attention anyway. I pulled a chair over to a dark corner of the room and away we went!

So guess what happened???? NOTHING! One of the other moms came over with her little girl and talked to me while I fed T. Another mom came over, changed her baby and maybe inspired by me (?????) also started to nurse her baby. T. was asleep by this time, so I just put him up on my shoulder and continued to talk. MUCH better than being buried in the back of the stacks somewhere. I feel like I conquered a little something today.

2 comments:

  1. You are a brave girl! I would get stares in the ladies restroom lounge at the mall all the time...and that's what it was there for!!

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  2. Good for you! Luckily, the group I go to is a babywearing group and pretty much all the moms breastfeed their children into toddlerhood. They breastfeed whenever, without leaving the circle, and nobody gives it a second thought. It was a great way for me to learn to breastfeed in public and not feel weird about it.

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