Nursing in Public

Okay obviously I truly love the grocery store Publix way too much since I originally typed nursing in Publix as my title first time around. Over at The Slacker Mom 's breastfeeding blog hop, the topic is would you ask to nurse in public?  My answer is a resounding hell no.  I mean would you ask to eat your lunch in public?  No of course not, so what is any different about feeding your child in public?  I doubt most parents would find someone to ask if they could feed their wailing baby a bottle in a store.

My state (and I assume most states) have laws in place to protect nursing mothers from public indecency laws.  This is another reason I wouldn't' ask permission to nurse in public.  It is against the law not to let me.  Honestly though I never had any problems with anyone about nursing in public.  In fact, most places were great and one particular winery even let me go in the back to their break room and sit on the super comfy couch so I didn't have to sit on a hard, uncomfortable bench.  I loved that winery.

With that said, I do have to admit that I was not a huge nurser in public.  I did it a fair amount of times when Kai was itty bitty.  Heck I have nursed at the zoo, at numerous wineries on the way home from family vacation (and no I didn't nurse and drink wine),  at Kohls, at a billion restaurants' parking lots among other places.  But as soon as Destructo became aware of his surroundings, he got super nosy.  And that made nursing in public a challenge because he just would not stay on the boob long enough to nurse.  Then he would pop off and milk would get everywhere.

What I would do is find a quiet, semi-private area such as a dressing room, the car, or a bench outside where it was fairly quiet.  This way I could get him fed and go about my day, but have enough quiet that he nursed well.  My mom's group was always fun to go to.  All the other women would nurse their babies right in the room, whereas I had to go to the nursing room with Captain Curious to get him to eat.  My son.  I tell you what.  He likes to make my life interesting for sure.  

On a side note, two products that I had that I highly recommend are Hooter Hiders Cotton Nursing Cover - Aero and  aden + anais 4 Pack Muslin Swaddle Wrap, Mod About Baby.  I used the Hooter Hiders cover when I was first learning how to nurse and didn't have the coordination, but quickly found it to be a pain.  What it was super useful for was pumping in public.  I didn't have to do it much, but I went to the racetrack twice when Kai was young and had to pump in the car.  It worked great to cover everything up.  The Aden and Anais blankets were great for a million things, but I used them as nursing covers all the time.  They were super light weight so you weren't burning up using them and small enough to easily carry in your diaper bag.  But they are large enough to cover everything.  I was just never comfortable nursing in public without any sort of cover.

I also feel that nursing in public is a way to be a breastfeeding advocate.  I had only seen one woman nurse a baby my entire adult life until I had Kai.  If more women nursed in public, girls would grow up seeing this as the norm.  By nursing in public, I show anyone that happens to see that I am not ashamed of nursing my baby because it is what nature intended for my child.  Women should never be made to feel that they need to hide breastfeeding since it is what breasts are intended for.  It is just in today's society, that they have become sex symbols and that isn't right.

What are your opinions on getting permission to nurse in public?

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