Emmerdale

gaeilgegrinds

Just watching now. Has anyone ever experienced problems breastfeeding? I don't anticipate I'll be the type to be flinging my breasts around and will be quite private about it but I wonder will I ever be asked to stop or stared at. I have seen loads of tops and bras that let women do this will very little flesh showing.That piece of film has left me bothered now, oops.

January

gaeilgegrinds wrote: »

Just watching now. Has anyone ever experienced problems breastfeeding? I don't anticipate I'll be the type to be flinging my breasts around and will be quite private about it but I wonder will I ever be asked to stop or stared at. I have seen loads of tops and bras that let women do this will very little flesh showing.That piece of film has left me bothered now, oops.

It's illegal to be asked to stop breast feeding in public. There was a recent incident in a pub in Beaumont that was widely reported on the news about it. They can't ask you to go to a private room to do it and they cannot ask you to stop doing. Don't be bothered if anybody stares at you, it's the most natural thing in the world.

ETA: Leaflet on Breastfeeding in Public

gaeilgegrinds

Well I mean I'll not be out to do it in anyone's face, just privately. Would gladly go to another room for our sake! I'm so nervous now!

implausible

Sure you know what the soaps are like for exaggeration... I'm planning on breastfeeding too and I can't imagine a place where I couldn't nip to the car or another room or at least a corner. Apparently, you get even more discreet with practice!

Das Kitty

I'm very much planning on breastfeeding. I've read two books now so hopefully I'll succeed.

My mam asked me at the weekend if I was "going to be one of those ones with the boobs out in the restaurant?" LOL, baby needs to eat! My opinion is that if people are uncomfortable they can move as it's their problem. That said I won't have them swinging about and plan to use discrete clothing etc. No fecking way am I going to go and retreat to the toilet.

The main offenders for comments are apparently young lads (AH heads) and ould biddies. I'm trying to have my comebacks all lined up in advance.

Haven't seen Emmerdale recently so don't know the particular storyline.

eviltwin

I didnt breastfeed my first child. I remember being about 6 months gone and I was sitting in the cafe of a well known department store in town. The woman sitting at a table near me was asked to leave because she was breastfeeding. To be honest I hadnt noticed but obviously someone did. She had to take her child and go and I remember thinking "no way am I doing that"

Now that was 13 years ago so it was a different time but even though the law says its okay to breastfeed in public it doesnt stop the comments or the stares or the disgusting remarks I have heard over the years. Its going to take a whole change of attitude before we accept it as the norm.

Funny thing is no one has a problem with boobs on show on the top shelf of newsagents but use them as nature intended and all of a sudden its a problem!!! Surely its more offensive to have a screaming baby in your ear?

I'm planning of breastfeeding my new baby, not too sure about how I feel about doing it in public, I'm quite busty so I imagine it will be hard to do it without anyone seeing but if I do decide to do it NO WAY am I feeding my child in a public toilet and god help anyone who dares make a comment to me about it!!!

cbyrd

i breastfed both my girls and to be honest i think if you wear the right clothes and have a handy little blanket that you can throw over your shoulder it looks just like you're holding the baby... i walked around tesco one day feeding my eldest no-one noticed ...she was 10 days old and i needed to get the food for the christening!! if you've a top that you can pull up rather than opening buttons down it's more discreet..there's also a brilliant new product on sale and i can't for the life of me remember where i saw it but it's like a big pouch and it was developed specially for discreet breastfeeding...and always remember its their problem not yours!!! two fingers to them i say!!!am planning to breastfeed this one.. i'm not a get them out type of girl either!!

twomaddogs

I breastfed and never had a negative comment (I'm top heavy too, was a 32E before pregnancy and an F while breastfeeding)

The trick is to wear a top one size bigger than your usual size over a vest. Pull up the top and pull down a little bit of the vest. That way the only thing visible is the baby's head - the top of the breast and your stomach is covered. You cant tell the baby's feeding that way.

The only comments I ever got were good ones (all from old women). One woman came up to me in M&S cafe and said well done for feeding her and asked did I want another cup of tea or a slice of cake fetching before she left. Never got stared at or made to feel uncomfortable at all.

I fed my daughter everywhere as I got more comfortable and used to doing it discreetly. Italian restaurants are great if they have italian staff as they're much more used to it over there. I'd always ask for a table in the corner and would face away from everyone. Starbucks are always good, there's usually at least one other person in there feeding a baby.

La Leche League have coffee mornings once a month - they can be a bit full on as a group, but you can just go to the one coffee morning to get your confidence up about feeding in public. Theyre usually in starbucks and it goes without saying that there's a few in there breastfeeding in the same place, so you can do it the first time surrounded by other people who won't bat an eyelid.

Also, practise in front of a mirror - try different outfits etc to see which is easiest.

You'll soon find out the best places to stop off for feeding - Dundrum has a fantastic feeding room with comfy armchairs, soft music and pillows. Most M&S have a feeding / changing room but the change table is in the same place as the feeding chair - stinky nappies in the same room isn't great. Blanchardstown has a feeding room which isn't the comfiest but is ok. Plus there's always the car, or changing rooms. If I couldn't make it to anywhere I felt comfy I'd head to the nearest big shop, grab any item of clothing and go off to a changing room.

bogtotty

My ds is 12 weeks now and I've been doing the odd bf in public since he was born. There are some brilliant tops out there - H&M do fantastic nursing tops and there's a range called boob stocked by www.onceborn.com that do brilliant hoodies, vests etc. I've already had positive and negative comments - found old women can go both ways, the negative comment came from a 40-something farmer-type who was sitting behind me in a cafe and couldn't actually see anything, just heard me and my sis talking about what I was doing. Needless to say, we ate the head off him, especially as he was reading a newspaper which was liberally sprinkled with mammaries. The (Polish) waitress was brilliant, cited him at least three sections of equality legislation protecting a woman's right to breastfeed in public and told him if he had a problem he could always look away or leave. Other than that, I've only had positive comments and smiles, although to be honest, most people don't even notice. I would advise not doing it until your baba can latch on easily, and don't wait til he/she is starving or the screaming will attract more people than the sight of a bit of boob.

Das Kitty

bogtotty wrote: »

My ds is 12 weeks now and I've been doing the odd bf in public since he was born. There are some brilliant tops out there - H&M do fantastic nursing tops and there's a range called boob stocked by www.onceborn.com that do brilliant hoodies, vests etc. I've already had positive and negative comments - found old women can go both ways, the negative comment came from a 40-something farmer-type who was sitting behind me in a cafe and couldn't actually see anything, just heard me and my sis talking about what I was doing. Needless to say, we ate the head off him, especially as he was reading a newspaper which was liberally sprinkled with mammaries. The (Polish) waitress was brilliant, cited him at least three sections of equality legislation protecting a woman's right to breastfeed in public and told him if he had a problem he could always look away or leave. Other than that, I've only had positive comments and smiles, although to be honest, most people don't even notice. I would advise not doing it until your baba can latch on easily, and don't wait til he/she is starving or the screaming will attract more people than the sight of a bit of boob.

Thanks for the link to the BF tops above, was just going to start a thread to ask!

ebmma

I have to say I've been a bit guilty of staring...But that's because I want to do it myself and was curious about how other people manage.

bogtotty

ebmma wrote: »

I have to say I've been a bit guilty of staring...But that's because I want to do it myself and was curious about how other people manage.

As long as you have a friendly look on your face when you're having a look, I doubt anyone would mind! For anyone looking for more advice, here are a few really good support sites:

www.breastfeeding.ie
www.thebreastway.ie
www.friendsofbreastfeeding.ie

and there's a bunch of lovely ladies on the rollercoaster.ie website too - I don't think I'd be so positive about bfing without them!