Do You Really Support Breastfeeding?

On the way home from the park, I cried in the car. I had done that to my son. He was hungry. He just wanted to eat. He doesn’t understand this great big battle happening in society about whether or not it’s okay to breastfeed in public. He doesn’t understand why he can’t eat when he’s hungry. He doesn’t understand why it offends someone. Here I was, punishing my infant so that the adults around me wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. I apologized to him and promised never to do it again.

Since then, I feed him when he’s hungry. I feed him when he wants. I feed him when he needs it. I don’t worry about where we are or who’s around and I don’t try to shove his head under a blanket. 

My sister’s little girl is 18 months old now. I remember when I went to her baby shower. She almost made me cry with how upset she was when I started to feed my son. She went on and on about how I needed to use a cover and how she would always use a cover. I proudly stuck out my chin and told her that I hoped it worked for her and it didn’t work for me. Then, I fed my son just like I would any other time or place.

It didn’t take long after my niece was born for my sister to realize that nursing with a cover sounds like a nice easy idea, but doesn’t always work out that way. Since then she has apologized for the things she used to say. Now, we sit together and feed our babies sometimes. We don’t worry about covers and we don’t worry about other people’s opinions. We just worry about our babies. We just do what is best for them. I’ll never regret that. Breastfeeding isn’t shameful. It isn’t something you have to hide. 

Written by: Sara Parise