Memorable Places I’ve Breastfed

For this week’s post I thought I’d so something a little different.  I was thinking about some of the most memorable/weird/funny/different places I’ve breastfed my daughter.   Since we’ve been doing this for 21+months now, we’ve done it just about everywhere!  There are of course the usual places – home, bed, car, play dates, zoo, friend’s house, library, relatives’ homes, synagogue, doctor’s office, grocery store, etc.  But then there are a few places and times that were more memorable for one reason or another that I’d like to share. 

One chilly November day, my daughter and I were visiting friends on their farm.  Though, it was cold, the sun was out and the land was just breath-taking.  So my friend and I decided to take our daughters out for a walk.  She wore her three month old daughter on her, and I wore my daughter on me.  Her daughter conked right out and slept the entire time.  My daughter stayed awake and checked out everything around her.  My daughter and I were kept warm wearing our “Ponchaby” that my extremely creative friend made.  It’s a poncho with two holes – one for mama’s head and one for the baby’s head.  Perfect for baby wearing parents! (Message me if you’d like more info.) Anyhow, we walked for quite a while, enjoying nature’s beauty and good conversation.  About 40 minutes into our work, my daughter was hungry.  She definitely couldn’t wait 40 more minutes until we returned to my friend’s house.  So I guided her head under the Ponchaby and popped out my breast and there she nursed while we continued our walk.  Something about that nursing session was just incredibly awesome to me.  There I was walking and admiring the beauty of nature around me while my daughter was being nourished at my breast – which I consider one of the most beautiful acts of nature.

The next event happened when my daughter was 6 months old.  My daughter and I had accompanied my parents and sister to a Chinese Food buffet.  Towards the end of the meal, my daughter, who was still exclusively breastfed at the time, was hungry.  So I picked her up and breastfed her at the table.  To me, this was a normal event.  However, my parents (including my mom who is pro-breastfeeding and even breastfed me) were horrified and kept insisting that I go to the car.  But I stood my ground.  I had every right to nurse at the table and my daughter had every right to eat at the table.  I breastfed my daughter until she was satisfied.  I felt very proud of myself for not giving in to the “peer pressure” and standing up for my daughter’s rights.

I think you’ll find my next story amusing and at the very least unique.  Every Wednesday, Miss T and I would go to “Wee Read” at our local library.  It’s a program geared to babies and children from newborn to age 3.  The amazing librarian, Mrs. Sousa, leads the parents and children in songs and dances and then we also read a board book together.  My daughter was around 8 months old for this particular event.  I would always wear her in a wrap for the dancing part of the program as she was too heavy to dance around with her without having some support.   Right in the middle of the “Hokey Pokey”, T decided she was hungry and so I popped my boob out for her to eat.  But, I was having so much fun that I didn’t want to stop or sit down….so I continued doing the Hokey Pokey while breastfeeding… “You put your right boob in, you put your boob out, you put your right boob in and you shake it all about…”

Last April, I rented a booth at a local Women’s Expo.  I sell Juice Plus+ (which is fruits and vegetables in a capsule or chewable form; there are no preservatives or weird chemicals in it and there are numerous peer reviewed research studies done on it that have been published in respected medical journals…message me if you’d like more information) and I wanted to promote my business at this Expo.  Since I almost never leave home without my daughter, she was there with me and I wore her all day long as I talked to hundreds if not thousands of people.  Throughout the course of the day, Miss T would nurse and I had my breast out more times than in, as I shared information on Juice Plus.  What was especially pleasing was that I had more than one person tell me how wonderful it was that I was nursing my daughter and how wonderful it was that I was doing it in public!  It really made my day and was very empowering.  We hear all too often, stories of women being shamed by nursing in public that I thought it was beyond wonderful that all I received was positive feedback.

The last story I am going to share happened last July.  My daughter and I went with some friends to a local beach.  It was my daughter’s first time at the beach.  This particular beach was perfect for children because during low tied you can literally walk out for a mile or two and the water is super shallow.    I walked out carrying my daughter and we stopped when the water was at my shins.  I sat down with her so she could feel the water and the sand.  Since this was her first experience, she was quite scared by it at first.  And as soon as she touched the water, she jumped and her immediate instinct was to nurse.  So we sat there, in the middle of the water and she nursed until she was no longer afraid.  Then she had a blast in the water and the sand.  There was something so wonderful about nursing in the water…I can’t really even describe it, except that it must have been a sensory thing…with the waves hitting my body as my baby suckled from my breast.  But whatever the reason, it was amazing and I even have the photo to prove it! (See below).

Where are some interesting places and/or times that you have nursed your child?  Don’t be shy – I want to hear!