Breastfeeding in public

Nursing Tank from Target $20

After your new baby arrives, it will feel great to be out and about when you are back in the swing of things. Then there is the moment that every new mother dreads: a hungry baby.  Oh no, the baby is crying and you don't want anyone to think that YOUR baby cries!  You want to get milk in the baby as fast as possible.  Luckily you don't bottle feed and have to get all that stuff in order.  All you have to do is sit down and give the baby a breast. My friend Melissa (and fellow Holistic Moms Network Co-leader) wrote all the details out to Breastfeed Your Baby in Public with Confidence. Like Melissa, I don't think that the solution is to pump then bottle feed! She has great tips.

I don't recommend a cape or cover-up for nursing. They are scary for most kids and confusing for the mom causing stress and a possibly stressed out baby. Most of the time in public, I put a receiving blanking near the baby's face after a latch if I want to be super discreet. People think that the baby is sleeping in my arms when I nurse and they often walk up and comment how sweet it is to see my baby sleep -- haha!

At the very beginning, I planned my outfits around nursing in public. Until my postpartum belly returned to normal, I was self conscious and wanted to make sure that no one would see it. This is where nursing shirts come in handy. The easiest type to use is the simple tank style that has a built in shelf bra. This style does end up showing your whole breast. If you wear a button down shirt on top, the button down shirt does shield most of your breast and tummy no matter what type of shirt that you have on underneath. When the baby and I get in a routine, I prefer to wear a loose shirt that pulls up to nurse. The baby ends up covering my tummy naturally. Other women like to remove their breast from the top of their shirts or use special nursing shirts that I find hard to handle. Try it all at home and see what works for you.

I find nursing bras to be essential. With my first born, I had such a hard time finding a bra that fit well and that I liked (I went to several maternity stores and was "fitted").  Finally I went to a specialized nursing bra store in NYC (I love that NYC has stuff like this shop) and was fitted with super cute bras at a not so super cute price of $60 each. With my second and now third babies, I realized that Target carries a style that fits be really well and looks great for $16. If you breastfeed for as long as I do, you do wear out your nursing bras.