Carnival of Breastfeeding: Here? At the restaurant?

By kim ( June 20, 2009 at 1:29 am) · Filed under Uncategorized, , , ,

Welcome Carnival of Breastfeeding readers! This month’s carnival is about nursing in public. Please go check out the other posts in the carnival (links at the bottom of this post)!

I was a week and a half postpartum. My mom was staying with my husband and I, keeping me well fed and watered while I adjusted to life with a newborn. I’d had a quick, uneventful homebirth followed by a tumultuous first week including supplementation for “too much” weight loss, two blood clots, and a very fussy baby.

On this particular day, my mom and I had been up quite a bit the previous night and both of us were tired. She offered to treat us to dinner and suggested an upscale joint where we could get delicious gourmet hamburgers. I was in (Guacamole and salsa on a hamburger? Can life get any better?) and we were joined by my husband and dad.

We sat down, ordered our food, and were waiting for our salads when my newborn daughter, sleeping peacefully in the carseat next to me, began to awaken.

And fuss.

And demand to be fed.

I had prepared by wearing a nursing bra and nursing shirt and decided that if I hoped to be comfortable nursing her in public when she was older that I had better start now.

I cradled my daughter next to my breast, jiggling her to keep her calm while I prepared to feed her. I looked up to say something to my husband, felt something funny, and looked back down.

My hungry daughter had latched herself onto my breast through the shirt! The look of confusion on her face was priceless and I burst into laughter.

My family, when they realized what was happening, joined in, and the server arrived with our salads just in time for me to pull my daughter off my shirt, leaving behind a sticky circle of saliva. Shortly afterward, I was nursing my 10-day-old daughter in a booth at a restaurant attempting to eat with one hand.

I never thought I would be so bold.

Check out these other posts on nursing in public! All posts will be up by the end of the day on June 22, so keep checking to make sure you get to read them all!

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