Public breastfeeding.

I apologise in advance if this turns into a rant, but I will be discussing something that makes me angry. Today I'll be talking about public breastfeeding. Breastfeeding in public is something that i have actually never done but one day I am definitely going to try to! I am slightly self-conscious because I have a son who has a tiny head and I have, well... large assets. I'm possible going to my town show (festival thing) in two days and I plan to express one bottle  for my little boy, if he gets hungry again then I'm going to give public breastfeeding a go. I'll  let you know how it goes. :)

Loving the beanie!

When I go out in public and I see a woman breastfeeding I feel admiration towards them. Not every breastfeeding mother feels comfortable doing that (guilty), and it gives me inspiration to try. Breastfeeding is so beautiful and natural and women shouldn't have to feel embarrassed to feed in public (but you shouldn't do something you're not comfortable with either, that's not what I'm trying to say), and I cannot wait to see how I go when I finally work up the courage try it. Although I do have to mention that once I was at an appointment once when Noah was about 7 weeks old and I was sitting in the waiting room feeding him an expressed bottle of breast milk and this rude lady next to me says to the person next to her "Aww poor little thing, he doesn't even look a month old and she's feeding him bottle already. People are so lazy these days!", Okay... firstly, formula feeding does not make someone lazy, and secondly, I have never even met this lady! Who is she to judge someone she doesn't know. Seems like you can't do ANYTHING without being judged!

Moving on.

Something I cannot stand is when people get disgusted at breastfeeding mothers in public. Hello! It's completely natural and should not be shunned in society! (can you tell I'm getting fired up by how many exclamation marks I'm using? haha) I don't know if it's just me that thinks this but it seems that the people most guilty for giving out the dirty looks are elderly women, one was once talking to me saying "I was at church the other day and the reverends wife was there with her baby, then suddenly she started breastfeeding her baby in front of the whole church, can you believe that!". She fed her hungry baby? how disgraceful! (please note the sarcasm). I knew this would lead to a rant and again I apologise, some people just make me angry. :)

Another thing that really annoys me is that people suggest that you feed your babies in a toilet cubical. No... just no. Would you like to go eat your food on the toilet? Didn't think so. Babies are not any less of a human than anyone else that gets to eat freely in public. Same goes with a blanket over the head to cover up, if the mum wants to do that then she can, and if she doesn't, then she shouldn't have to. And I bet those people wouldn't like it if others gave them disgusted looks and made snide comments while they were trying to eat, though some people do deserve to be treated the way they treat others. As for feeding cubicles designed for mothers to breastfeed in public comfortably, I think they are a good idea for mothers who are more comfortable with the idea of a little privacy. But they shouldn't have to feed there if they don't want to.

So what I'm trying to say is that breastfeeding is something that should be embraced, publicly or privately.

Oh the irony!

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