Back in the groove

Let's face it, nursing a newborn can be very awkward. It's hard to remain discreet and modest when you are just trying to get the baby to latch on correctly. Which is why I was a little nervous about having to nurse in public, or NIP. But I found this past weekend I didn't do too bad.

Saturday night Jason and I took the kiddos to the mall....it was our first real outing as a family. Of course, Summer was wanting to nurse every 20 minutes and needed a diaper change every 15, but we managed. First we went and got a bite to eat at TGIF's. I nursed twice there, my first time NIP with Summer. Jason was a little nervous but he seemed very relieved when I managed to nurse her while remaining discreet. No one batted an eye, as far as I could tell. Then after walking around for a bit we sat down at a bench in the middle of the mall so I could nurse her again before we left. Again, I managed to be completely discreet....Summer was not completely covered, as I don't believe in making a baby eat under a blanket, but all of my skin was covered. You couldn't see anything. Yet when I happened to glance up, I noticed two older woman stop walking, and turn to look at me in disgust. I've never had a bad experience NIP, so I honestly thought for a minute I was imagining it. But no, they were clearly glaring at me b/c I dared to feed my baby in public @@.

Yesterday Jason was home due to Columbus Day, and we decided to go to Target to pick some things up. We got there and as we were walking around Summer wanted to nurse. I carried her over to a corner, stood facing the wall, latched her on, covered my skin with a burping cloth, and continued to walk around and shop. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and again, no one batted an eye. In fact, it took Jason a bit before he realized what I was doing :o)

So now that I've had those practice sessions I find that I am completely confident with NIP, and I like that feeling. :o) When Brooke was a newborn, I would pump and feed her the expressed milk in a bottle when we were out because I wasn't confident enough in my abilities to nurse discreetly. Now I am glad that I don't have to worry about pumping for that purpose :o)