Breastfeeding in public
By winterose
@winterose (39887)
Canada
April 28, 2008 12:44pm CST
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977333807
According to Harvard Medical School:
Most new moms and pregnant women are aware of the benefits of breast feeding: studies have shown that breastfeeding helps protect babies from infections (for example, ear infections, lung infections, and vomiting and diarrhea), food allergies, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), as well as chronic problems such as diabetes, asthma, and obesity. Breast feeding is good for moms, too. It can lower a woman's risk of several medical problems, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and osteoporosis.
But most women who have tried to breastfeed will tell you it's not as easy as it might seem. For some, one of the most difficult aspects of breastfeeding is figuring out how to continue to do it after your maternity leave is up and you return to work.
of course if you plan to breast feed after you go back to work you will need a breast pump so that your baby will still have the benefit of having mom's milk just without the breast.
Did you breastfeed your baby?
Did you go back to work and still breastfeed?
Did you stop breastfeeding once you went back to work?
Did you use a pump for when you were outside, or did you breastfeed in public?
6 people like this
3 responses
@Rosekitty (19368)
• San Marcos, Texas
29 Apr 08
I nursed all 5 of my children..ages 36,35,30,24 and 23 and now they are or have nursed their own.(if they are girls..LOL)
I was as desreet as possible and at times i just didn't care since as they got older they moved more and things showed that were covered.
i think its a natural thing to do and should not be looked on as something bad..like some people feel should be only done in private..when babies are hungry..they are hungry!
3 people like this
@moneyandgc (3428)
• United States
29 Apr 08
I nursed all 4 of my children. Well, the firstborn was only nursed for a week. I had no experience or knowledge about nursing. All I knew was that it hurt and I quit. I did pump for him for months though. I honestly thought that I was going to kill my baby if I gave him milk-based formula! I read about the allergies and how they could go into shock. It scared the heck out of me and nobody in my family ever nursed so it wasn't as if I had never seen babies formula fed! Anyway, when my milk finally dried up I gave him soy formula.
My second, third and fourth babies were all nursed over a year. And they were all nursed in public at some point. I know how to nurse without flashing anyone and most times nobody even knows the baby is nursing.
My youngest is going to be 2 in less than a week. She is still nursing but only once or twice a day first thing in the morning when she wakes up. She was wanting to nurse constantly and I couldn't take anymore of that. Now I can re-direct her attention pretty easily and she will forget.
I am a stay at home mom, so I didn't have to worry about going back to work. Good thing, because my youngest absolutely refused a bottle! We put pumped milk in a bottle for her over and over and she wouldn't take it. I figured she wouldn't take it from me so my husband tried and my sister tried..nope..she wasn't having it! 
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 May 08
thanks for sharing your experiences, I am enjoying all these responses.
1 person likes this
