In favor of feeding babies

I have been a nursing mama for five and half weeks now. A very difficult five and half weeks that still show no signs of getting any better.

Fortunately, I am extremely stubborn. Obstinate to a fault. So we are sticking with it, no matter how painful it is.

But I did not forsee just how difficult this whole breastfeeding thing was going to be. Not only the incredible pain factor, but the logistics of being a nursing mama in a society that does not always support nursing.

::WARNING: I am stepping on my soapbox for the remainder of this post!::

I remember reading an article several years ago in which Barbara Walters complained about a woman who publicly nursed her baby on an airplane. Um, hello? It's an airplane? In the air? Where was she supposed to go, step outside to nurse? I remember being horrified that someone would be so obtuse about a natural body function.

And now from the perspective of a nursing parent, I am even more horrified.

Breastfeeding is by far the best way to feed a baby. This we know for sure. But our society does not make it easy to nurse babies in public. I have had to nurse Cole in sweltering hot cars, corner booths of restaurants, even a restroom (on the toilet! yuck!).

Occasionally, I will nurse him under a clever contraption called a Hooter-Hider... but when it is 100 degrees outside, I cannot subject my son to eat his meal under a hot piece of fabric.

Now, none of this really bothers me. I am happy to nurse my son anywhere, as long as he gets to eat. But what really irritates me is when I am judged for nursing.

We were in Philadelphia (in record breaking heat, by the way), and stopped in at an air conditioned Starbucks to cool off, change Cole's diaper, and nurse. The restrooms didn't have any changing tables, which was irritating enough, and Cole was overheated and hungry. Mom snagged us a table so I could sit and feed the baby, when we overheard some people sitting across from us say, "Oh, she's going to feed that baby. Is that going to bother you?"

Oh yes. They really did.

My child is screaming with heat and hunger, and I am subjecting him to feeding under a hot piece of fabric for others' comfort, and I am being CRITICIZED for feeding my baby?!!!

Oh boy, they are lucky I didn't hear them.

Just what did they expect me to do? Let the baby cry in hunger? It's bad enough to not have a private place to nurse comfortably. It's bad enough that these people were sitting in comfortable leather chairs while I struggled to hold the baby in a hard wooden chair. And it's not like I was whipping my boob out in front of the entire coffeehouse - I am always covered up in public.

Wow.

Well, I don't know about any of you, but I am always in favor of feeding a hungry baby - breast or bottle. Here's hoping the rest of the world can someday all agree on that.