Adeline holding Penelope.Nursing in front of kids is about as crazy as ... eating in front of friends. Totally wacky, right? Sure, sometimes it can be weird to eat in front of people if you have an eating disorder or some weird hang up about putting food into your mouth, but hello, breast milk is food for baby and baby doesn't have a hangup about food ... yet (though if we chastise breastfeeding moms as much as some of us do baby may start to get a complex).
And when baby has to eat, it's really quite simple, baby should eat. And as a lot of us say, we don't go into the bathroom or under blankets when it's time to eat, so why should baby.
Oh ... is it because there is a breast involved? Oh holy breast of woman -- the most sexual sight my eyes have seen. Surely it will be blasphemy if someone caught a glimpse in the throes of ... of ... a baby eating. And how dare someone do it in front of children!
This weekend I was at a friends house when it was time for my 8 month old twins to eat. And you know where I nursed them?
Right there in my friend's family room.
I was visiting my friend Tina, her husband Rob, and kids Katie, 8, and Robert, 3. Her sister, another close friend of mine, Terumi was there -- Terumi is pregnant with her third and hoping for a successful VBAC (good vibes to Terumi!). Her kids -- Adeline, 6, and Sophia, 3 -- were there along with "big" Terumi, their incredible mom.
When it was time for the babies to eat, Terumi suggested the couch in the family room saying she nursed Sophia there and it was really comfortable. The family room was right off the kitchen where we were all gathered, eating, talking, being in awe of Katie's latest art project. I sat down on that couch and nursed Penelope. Adeline sat next to me, curious but maybe remembering when her mom nursed her sister. And soon she would be there for her mother nursing her brother.
Penelope finished and then was ready to eat some bananas and Tina got out the highchair for Pippi to sit in. While my husband fed her to an audience of kids, I went into the playroom with Hunter only because he gets distracted and I need things to be quiet when I nurse him. But soon Robert, Sophia, and Adi came in the room with Adi asking if she could play with Hunter when he was finished eating. I said "of course" and they waited, quietly, on the floor in the room.
I felt so comfortable, so at home, that I almost didn't think about it until I read Christie's piece on how CBS news says it's awkward to breastfeed in front of other kids. I felt so lucky to have friends who welcomed me to nurse where it was best for me and the babies. Encouraging friends with kids who don't get uptight or go blind at the sight of a woman feeding her babies. Oh my god, my eyes! A nipple in a baby's mouth! I will never see the same again!
Would I swim topless in their pool? Of course not. But we should all know that is not the same thing. Shouldn't we? Nursing is natural. And if you are in a situation where you nurse in front of other kids, it's great for them to see to know how and what baby eats.
Is our society that freaked out by breasts and are brainwashed by the sexualization of teets that so many have forgotten that they supply baby's food? And why force their weird thoughts onto me or any breastfeeding mother? Don't give me a complex about my breasts!
We shouldn't fear breasts -- no matter what they are used for ... food or fun, nourishment or naughty stuff. But don't confuse the two! And as I look down at my two, it makes me realize the power of the breast ... and I'm so glad I was born with them.
What do you think? Nursing in front of kids -- okay or WTF Michele you are a freak?
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Comments 20
Nursing in front of children is not only FINE, but it should be done MORE OFTEN!
Kids need to learn, unlike a lot of their parents, that breasts aren't something to be shocked and amazing at seeing -- they are a body part. Big, fat, hairy deal. And their primary function is to feed babies.
You know, because we're mammals -- mammal = mammary glands. Even Sesame Street had no problem with airing a nursing human next to other mammals, because it SHOULD be that common and understood to children.
I have no issues with kids seeing a mom BFing. It's normal. Bottles are not.
lol I am more comfortable in front of kids then adults.
I think you know I had a whole slew of cafemommers at my house a few weeks ago. Two of which are breastfeeding their babies. There were a total ot NINE children in my house that weekend aged 5 months to 10 years), and the babies were fed right there amidst them all. It was wonderful and natural and normal. :)
I, too, am glad for the friends I have. Usually, the worst thing that happens with a friend's kids when I nurse at their house is that they go nurse their mom, too, lol. But I haven't a mom friend who has a problem with it. Even my non-mom friends are just used to it.
I think it is something that should be done. I don't see that there is anything wrong with it at all!
I nurse Maddox in front of other kids all the time. Most of my friend's nurse their kids so the kids don't even bat an eye. It's just normal to them. I have one close friend that doesn't, but she's totally supportive of it and doesn't mind at all when I nurse in front of her 3 year old daughter. The only time it was a little awkward...well that's not even the right word...hmmm. Different, was when I nursed in front of my 6 year old niece. She asked me when Maddox was going to learn to drink out of a bottle and was shocked when I said "Never." I then told her that babies don't need bottles and can get all their food from the breast. I think it's probably a good thing for her to have seen, as she probably wouldn't have had any experience with it otherwise. I like it when other kids are nursed in front of Maddox, too. I think it's good for him to grow up knowing why woman have breasts. :