8 tips for nursing in public

I've written about nursing in public previously and the post was really popular so I thought I'd put together my top tips for week 2 of the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt which is all about Mum-to-Mum sharing.

Nursing in Public is quite often in the news and can be quite daunting for a first time Mum with a brand new baby.

1. Practise nursing in front of a mirror so that you can see what other people will see.  Looking as you do from above can give you the wrong impression of what everyone else is looking at when you nurse.
2. Make your first trip out an easy one, go along to a breastfeeding support group so that you are in good company and doing the same thing that everyone else is doing.  You may even pick up some great tips from the Mothers at the group.
3. Take someone with you when you go out in public for the first time and plan ahead.  Feed before you leave the house so that you are not in a rush to find somewhere to nurse as soon as you get there.  There are some great places to nurse if you are still nervous about it such as a restaurant booth, a women's lounge in a department store or even a changing room in a womens clothes shop.  When you gain confidence all you will need is a chair or comfy place on the floor to sit.  The friend is there to keep you distracted so that you are not looking around and thinking that everyone is staring at you (they are not).  If you are deep in conversation the feed is over before you know and guess what?  You did it!
4. You may need to put a little thought into what you are wearing.  There are many options.  Here are some of my suggestions:

•  Wear a nursing vest and then if you choose to wear something over your shoulders to provide more coverage or keep warm.

• Wear a loose fitting top over a nursing vest.  Lift up the top and pull down the nursing top and you are covered on all sides and hiding your stretch marks.

• Use a sling and in some cases noone will even be able to tell you are nursing.

(An Asian Style Mei Tai, A Maya Ring Sling and a Moby Wrap)

There are lots of things you can use to cover a shoulder while getting the baby latched on or for the entire feed.  I hear the Snugglebundl can be used as a discreet cover.  The Mamascarf can also be used for discreet feeding, and the Breastvest can be used to hide those stretchmarks while wearing your own nursing bra.  Of course a muslin or blanket can work just as well or the tail of the sling shown above.

5.  My top tip for the month and I mention this a lot, but patterned tops are great for hiding all kinds of bodily fluids.

6.  A toilet is not a great place to breastfeed, there are plenty of options open to you.  My last resort has always been the car.  It's comfy and quiet.

7.  Find your breastfeeding supporter, the one person in your life who supports your decision to breastfeed.  It might be your partner, sister, Mum or friend.  It may even be your 90 year old Grandad.  Hang out with them when you go out of the house so that they make you feel confident when attempting to nurse in public those first few nerve racking times.

8.  Remember, you have every right to breastfeed your baby wherever you are legally allowed to be.  I have bever been asked to move or stop breastfeeding in public, so be proud to breastfeed in public and feeding your baby is the most important part in all of this.

You're probably thinking - Why do I need to know all this, I'm just going out with my baby and we'll nurse and all will be easy and OK, but I get asked about nursing in public all the time at breastfeeding support groups and some people may be afraid to ask.  Use as you will!

If you have enjoyed reading this post about nursing in public and you'd like to read more about breastfeeding and share your top tips about breastfeeding please check out these other participating bloggers.

Lactivist

Dispelling Breastfeeding Myths

Natural Mamas

Diary of a First Child

Circus Queen

The Lovely School of BabyWearing have kindly offered a Moby Wrap as a competition prize.

 The School of Babywearing™ is a social enterprise that runs a variety of training courses for parents, professionals, businesses and other interested organisations about wearing babies and children in slings and baby carriers.
As a social enterprise, we use our profits to fund the work we do. Our mission is to spread the word about the benefits of babywearing widely throughout the UK.
We do this through all our activities which include providing babywearing training courses, distributing literature and other resources and supporting babywearing consultants.

Please use the rafflecopter below to enter the competition for both the Moby Wrap and the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Grand Prize as you have now found the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Logo!

a Rafflecopter giveaway