Evie is creeping up on 10 weeks old. Can you even believe it? It doesn’t seem like it’s been ten whole weeks since she was born. And I’ve been nursing her, like a champ, those whole ten weeks. It’s about now that women start to know if nursing is going to work out for them or not. Obviously, for me, it’s working out. I’m one of the lucky ones. Some gals aren’t so lucky. It’s not for lack of trying. Plenty of awesome women try really hard to nurse their babies and it just doesn’t work out for whatever reason.
But why, oh why, is there still this stigma on breastfeeding?? Why does it have to be so hard to be a mama who exclusively nurses her baby? Society has virtually zero provision for this. WHY? Why should I have to nurse in a bathroom or my car in order to not feel like I’m a filthy exhibitionist?
I know part of that is my own problem. I feel like I’m judged if I nurse in public. It could be actual, it could be perceived. I worry that people will give me stinkeye (or worse) if I even think of feeding out in plain view. However, I did have an incident several weeks ago where someone got skeeved out when I nursed Evie. Of course, I wasn’t thinking and didn’t use a blanket to cover her and I, but I did make certain that “nothing showed”. I didn’t know why I didn’t cover up. In most every other circumstance, minus being at home with just my family, I would have. I just didn’t even think about it. I was flustered, and while I was surrounded by friends, it was a new environment. My brain just wasn’t where it should be. Though, to my credit, I did consider going out to the van to feed her. However, it was a 90 degree day and I knew that even if I started the van up and ran the a/c, it would be sunny and hot in there. Plus, I’d miss out on getting to chat with my friends which is what I wanted to do. I was told later that this person was uncomfortable and I immediately felt awful about it.
Embarassed, to be sure. I’m probably the polar opposite of an exhibitionist. Growing up, it was my older sister’s job to give me baths and I used to make her close her eyes while I got undressed and got in the bath. Not that there were bubbles to hide anything. I was just a modest child. I’m a modest adult too. And to think someone felt embarrassed about something I did… well, it made me feel sick to my stomach.
Why do people still feel this way about breastfeeding? I guess that’s an age-old question. There’s no good, easy answer either. It’s society, media, up-bringing, personal hangups… you name it.
Why do I feel bad about the way I feed my child?
Tags: breastfeeding, Evelyn
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This is me. I'm a thirtysomething stay at home mom to three kids. For years I was a stay at home mom to one kid and trying very hard to have more. It took a LONG time (ie: 6 1/2 years), but finally Liam arrived and charmed us with his blue eyes and ginormous, round head. Then we got a shock: I was pregnant again and this time it was a GIRL. Our hearts and home are full at last and now that we're done having babies, we get to relax (snort) and watch them grow (not too fast now, you hear?). Thanks for coming by, feel free to dip into my archives, read my About and History pages (just don't do Jackson's Story without tissues!) and make yourself at home.
