Breastfeeding in Public A Disaster Story.

Okay so my little girl will be a week tomorrow but yesterday was her big sister's dance recital that I swore I'd go to. So we took little Lilah out. It went pretty well actually cause she ate just before we left and slept most of the recital.

Anyway, I decided to wake her up about 10 minutes before intermission cause it'd been a couple hours since she'd eaten anything (it's a very, very long show), and she needed a change. I went to the bathroom and changed her then took a seat on the bench outside of it to breastfeed.

Oh was that a bad idea or what! Jeeze, intermission hit as soon as she was starting to latch on and about 200 people came swarming toward the bathroom and being noisey and really upsetting the little girl. I just couldn't get her to latch on at all and she was seriously, seriously upset. It was horrible.

Well we decided to leave at intermission cause our little girl was done with her two acts, and she was getting antsy (most parents leave at intermission anyway). So we took the poor screaming baby to the car where I intended to breastfeed for a few minutes to get her to calm down, but everyone was in too much of a hurry.

Well we got her in the carseat and after sucking on mommy's thumb on the way to dinner, she fell asleep (yay for car rides, right?) and slept at the restaurant untilllll you guessed it! The food arrived. Lol. Mommy didn't get to eat until we got home, but it was okay cause bbq is good cold. But yeah, I finally figured out that she was so fussy because the blanket I'd been using to cover up was sooo hot (and I live in GA it was hot anyway) so I pulled out a sheet and it was all good. She ate while I.. tried to eat.


Anyway, anyone have similar experiences with crowds? Is there anyway to handle feeding in a crowd or is it best to just try and find a quiet place or wait till the crowd has dispersed?

I've fed in a crowed before without a problem. I think the trick is for you yourself to stay calm and collected and not act like you're nervous about it. I think babies can sense when mom is uneasy and it makes it harder.

not crowds but in bathrooms...
for some reason all public bathrooms in my area removed the couches and chairs in there so i had to go into the bathroom and try to get my boob out of the shirt while holding a screaming baby! some lady came in n was like "do you want me to hold the baby while you go to the bathroom?" lol i was like no thank you! lol
n then last night she was eating once an hour n devided she was hungry in pizza hut right when our pizza got there! so i fed her then i ate cold pizza...but its all good..lol

I havn't had a bad experience yet, but I love your babies name Lilah.....it's so pretty.

Thank ya'll, yeah it was probably the combination of that hot blankie and the fact that I was tired and irritable, huh? After we got the blankie sorted out and I'd calmed down it seemed to work much better.

And thankya Suz   Your little girl is sooo beauitful  

Jeni0601 wrote: not crowds but in bathrooms...
for some reason all public bathrooms in my area removed the couches and chairs in there so i had to go into the bathroom and try to get my boob out of the shirt while holding a screaming baby! some lady came in n was like "do you want me to hold the baby while you go to the bathroom?" lol i was like no thank you! lol
n then last night she was eating once an hour n devided she was hungry in pizza hut right when our pizza got there! so i fed her then i ate cold pizza...but its all good..lol

z

Geez even if I weren't trying to feed my baby I wouldn't let some stranger hold my baby while I went to the bathroom. Too many crazies out there..

i went to the local fair ground a couple of weeks ago, and while we where there, Kelsey decided she wanted to feed, so I sat on the bench, got my nursing blanket out and started to feed her. I got so many filthy looks, my sis and gar were like, "what you never seen a woman breastfeed before...fcuk off!"

I've also had to eat while feeding her, but I've figured out how to do it so we are both comfortable...now I can do a few things while feeding her...read a book, eat, fold washing...even tuck my step daughter in and answer the door lol (I know how to walk and breast feed now lol)

I sometimes feed her in the car too

I've never had to but I really don't know why people get all weird about it. Especially if you are covered up! Who cares!

I nurse my son at work, so I'm extremely thankful for the fact that my boss spent a lot of time in Europe, and will sit and tell me all about how boobs are exposed in certain countries with no taboo. He's a big supporter of breastfeeding.  

What is it about babies that makes them wake up the minute their mama gets her food? I know thats what my son always did!

well brayden does NOT breast feed in public, but in the beginning when i tried i remember being at the docs trying to feed him as a lil girl ran around and kept trying to look at my boob...THEN brayden pulled the blanket down so everyone was exposed....that was a nightmare.

TxGirl wrote: What is it about babies that makes them wake up the minute their mama gets her food? I know thats what my son always did!

I know! It doesn't matter what time I try to eat dinner, Matthew wakes up the minute I sit down with my plate and wants his dinner. I've been eating a lot of salads lately -at least they're good cold.

heh Kit doesn't get upset by big noisy crowds but she's soooooooo damn curious that it's almost impossible to feed her in public anymore. She's too busy wanting to look around and she plays with my wrap when it's over her. She only nurses if she's really hungry and then only for a few minutes....just enough to keep her satisfied. hehe

Ciara wrote: well brayden does NOT breast feed in public, but in the beginning when i tried i remember being at the docs trying to feed him as a lil girl ran around and kept trying to look at my boob...THEN brayden pulled the blanket down so everyone was exposed....that was a nightmare.

Haha, I know that feeling, my step daughter is very curious about it and I really don't mind, since she's MINE, but I've had other kids that want to poke and touch too and it's like "uh.. no!" But yeah at home I don't bother with the blanket and even around relatives I don't, cause it's not worth the trouble and they don't mind.

My 18-month old watches me nurse my 3-month old, and she always points and says, "Sean's eating!" She also gets excited when I use the pump to fix a bottle before we go out. Anyway, at a restaurant yesterday, she grabbed my boob in front of everybody and screamed, "Mommy, pump!" At least all the people standing near us had kids, and laughed.