Breastfeeding in Public

Breastfeeding in public is a big topic and one that often stresses people out.

Not as obvious as you’d think…

People will sometimes say to me – “Oh I’ve never really seen anybody breastfeeding in public”. They probably have it’s just that you can do it really discreetly.

I know that when I had mine and I’d be feeding in public people would come up really close. They would comment on the baby and walk away again. It was clear that they hadn’t got a clue that I was feeding!

Odds are you’ll feel like you’re way more exposed than you actually are. You could always ask someone your comfortable with how much they can see when you’re in your own home before trying in public.

Don’t Stress

If you get stressed or tense about feeding in public, that will pass on to the baby and that can interrupt feeding. It can be really hard initially to get it mastered to feed discreetly. So ,if you know that this is going to stress you out it might be worth investing in a breastfeeding cover or ‘hooter hider’!

Hide those hooters…

Hooter hiders are a brilliant invention! They’re a bit like an apron that you put over your head and it goes over the baby and the top rim is ‘boned’. So you can actually look down and see what you and baby are doing. The great thing is that nobody else can see. Hooter hiders cost anything from about £5-£50 so you can spend what you like them.

These are really practical for when you’re out and about and will need to breastfeed in public. I’ve known of some people sit on the toilet to feed their baby because they were too embarrassed to feed in public. This is really sad because what you’re doing is actually completely natural and you’d never eat your dinner on the loo, so don’t allow yourself to be judged in that way. But if you know it’s going to stress you out, feeding in public, think about investing in a hooter hider.

If you’d like some balanced, realistic advice about breastfeeding & bottle feeding check out our feeding module or our full antenatal course.

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