Nursing in Public

Within the first 7 months of K's life, I haven't done much of nursing in public. Reason? There are two: the nipple shield and leakage.

The nipple shield was introduced to me at the hospital right at the first breastfeeding. As an inexperienced feeder, I remember mentioning to the nurse about some pain sensation while breastfeeding to which the nurse came to the rescue with the nipple shield. At that time, I thought of it as a life saver. However, what I didn't know was that the baby could quickly get used to it and would be unable to nurse without it.

I still seem to have the love/hate relationship with it which brings me to my next point - the leakage. Besides the fact that the nipple shield is a hassle to use in public (it's hard to put on without exposing the whole boob), it's great if a woman is a leaker. When K needs to nurse, my body (OK, boobs) is more than ready. If it wasn't for the nipple shield, K's face and clothes would be sprayed with milk at each nursing. (I apologize for those raw facts.) The nipple shield holds the excess of milk without getting anyone dirty. Summing up, my pros for using the shield are:

1. It eliminates any pain associated with breastfeeding
2. It protects things and people from being hosed

and cons:

1. The baby becomes quickly addicted to it and doesn't recognize the actual nipple causing nursing without the shield impossible
2. It's a hassle to use in public - it has to be cleaned with soap and hot water after each use and boiled once a day; plus, it's hard to put on without getting half naked.

After 7 months worth of worrying, I've decided to stop it (the worrying, I mean). K and I were both hooked to using the nipple shield; it was time for others to get used to it. Until now, I would pump at home to take the milk with me to wherever we went. This required tons of planning on my part - pumping in between feeding to collect enough milk and at the same time keeping the milk supply for K at the right level to satisfy her hunger every 3 hours. Then freezing and thawing the milk, carrying all the bottles, nipples, etc. - was all doable but how annoying.

The first time we tried the nursing in public (actually in my car) was at IKEA. I was very ready for it - a nipple shield and boppy in place; K didn't notice we were anywhere other than at home. Then, we tried a couple more places, in some even without the boppy (I keep forgetting to bring it with us). K was perfectly OK with it; I was just OK (there is nothing better than nursing on our couch at home) but happy we didn't have to rush home only for the 10-20 minute breastfeeding session.

Last weekend Len, K and I decided to go to SF. We left early in the morning and didn't plan on coming back until late at night. Again I forgot the boppy but did bring my collection of nipple shields - one for each feeding; this way there was no need to worry about washing them.

When we were at the Pier (F.isherman's Wharf), K started showing signs of hunger. We found a place - a tall curb way behind some benches, got comfortable and started nursing. I had Len on one side, a stroller on the other, and bushes behind me blocking the view of anyone who'd dare to lurk at me. Everything was going well, I was happy with the new nursing in public experience, K was getting full, even the fact that a couple joined us at the curb 6-8 feet from us didn't bother me much. Everything was going well until I tried to find my nursing pad. (I still wear nursing pads, as I mentioned earlier - I am a leaker).

Right before starting nursing K, I put my pad on my lap and put K on top of it, so that it wouldn't get lost. But when we were done nursing, the pad was absolutely gone. Len and I checked everywhere - even K's pants and diaper; there was NO sign of it. We knew it couldn't disappear, so we kept looking for it knowing that we'd eventually find it, and it was better to find it there and then, than somewhere else and be embarrassed about it. Again no luck. When we finally gave up, I noticed IT! My pad was sticking out from underneath the man's shoe (Yes, the man that was sitting next to us!!!) I wasn't sure if I should laugh or run. I knew one thing - I wasn't going to claim it.