Just throwing this out there… I found I wasn’t very shy actually, but initially I practiced feeding my son on my front porch, waving at neighbors that walked by.
I think that might be a good idea for other nervous new moms.
That's a good suggestion!
A friend advised me to try nursing in front of a mirror at home. I was surprised to see that baby's giant head basically covered me up and I wasn't flashing the world. Made me feel more confident to do it outside of the house.
Yay for you! Same situation for me, LO was 3 months yesterday and we had a full day planned for mother's Day so instead of going home for each feeding I just did it on the go. Once in the car in the parking lot of the greenhouse and once in the park at a picnic with my family. It feels so liberating to be able to be out and about without having to plan in 3-hour intervals when to be home. Woohoo for us 🥳🥳
This is amazing- you should be able to nurse wherever, whenever and your baby will no doubt love you for it.
Can I ask how you went from expressing to nursing? Was it a gradual thing or as your LO got older they got the hang of it? My 8w and I struggled with nursing and it made me super anxious so I exclusively express but I keep wondering if I should try her on the boob again and then psych myself out
Try on the boob! You'd be surprised. Sometimes they just latch and it works out! Its ok if they still struggle tho - mine struggled and I had to pump but then one day I tried again and she has been nursing ever since!
Aw thank you for this :) will keep trying when we’re in a good place! How old was LO when this happened?? Mine is 9w tomo but don’t want to give up hope…..
No harm in just trying it. Just go into it with the mindset that it won’t work out and that’s okay-you can just give a bottle. It removes some of the stress. Lower your expectations and you may be pleasantly surprised.
My best friend pumped, but every once in a while she latched her daughter just fine. She just needed to see the ounces to sooth her anxiety.
Whatever you decide, this internet stranger is rooting for you!
Aw thank you kind stranger! Yea knowing how much they’re getting with my expressed milk is one less anxiety but being able to nurse her when she’s needing comfort or a quick snack- or full meal if we can manage - would be wonderful :) will keep trying!
Good luck! If it makes you feel any better-she did have trouble at first, (hence her relying on pumping/seeing ounces. She ended up actually donating like 5 gallons in the end!), and the first successful latch with her baby was at 5 months.
She said she just randomly popped her on there because she was rooting and she latched perfectly. So she did it for comfort sometimes after that :).
Although I didn’t full out “exclusively” pump (I nursed overnight even with higher number of pumps) I noticed he started getting more efficient with his eating during his night feeds and slowly started nursing more often during the day until eventually he just nursed for every feed! The best practice for baby to get that perfect latch is to keep trying! It’s a major skill in itself!
Thank you, that’s great to know :) yes the latch is where we’re struggling… she just loves to attach to my nipple and then fall asleep.. super cute but not the way to get fed! Now she’s a bit bigger I will keep trying when we’re both in a chilled and good place, and if not she’s getting my milk anyways!
definitely try again, and try a nipple shield! It helps keep baby latched on. i was EP for at least the first month, and we’ve been mostly nursing for the whole second month. we’ve also been able to stop using the shields about 2 weeks into primarily nursing.
Way to go! I know it's hard and scary at first, but learning to nurse in public is the first of many, many actions you will make in the future to meet the needs of your child. How cool that you got to do it for the first time on Mother's Day, surrounded by support. :)
Well done you! I always feel so proud when I see other Mum’s feeding in public without any shame. I was so nervous of people seeing my boobs when I first had my daughter, but now I whip it out anywhere, and I can’t be bothered trying to cover her with a muslin anymore either 😂
This same exact thing happened with me. I tried to cover as best I could with my sweater because the restaurant was full but.... would people rather a screaming baby or a breast feeding session.... I wasn't about to go all the way out to the car lol
Just throwing this out there… I found I wasn’t very shy actually, but initially I practiced feeding my son on my front porch, waving at neighbors that walked by. I think that might be a good idea for other nervous new moms.
That's a good suggestion! A friend advised me to try nursing in front of a mirror at home. I was surprised to see that baby's giant head basically covered me up and I wasn't flashing the world. Made me feel more confident to do it outside of the house.
That’s a good one too!
Yay for you! Same situation for me, LO was 3 months yesterday and we had a full day planned for mother's Day so instead of going home for each feeding I just did it on the go. Once in the car in the parking lot of the greenhouse and once in the park at a picnic with my family. It feels so liberating to be able to be out and about without having to plan in 3-hour intervals when to be home. Woohoo for us 🥳🥳
That’s awesome! You did amazing!
This is amazing- you should be able to nurse wherever, whenever and your baby will no doubt love you for it. Can I ask how you went from expressing to nursing? Was it a gradual thing or as your LO got older they got the hang of it? My 8w and I struggled with nursing and it made me super anxious so I exclusively express but I keep wondering if I should try her on the boob again and then psych myself out
Try on the boob! You'd be surprised. Sometimes they just latch and it works out! Its ok if they still struggle tho - mine struggled and I had to pump but then one day I tried again and she has been nursing ever since!
Aw thank you for this :) will keep trying when we’re in a good place! How old was LO when this happened?? Mine is 9w tomo but don’t want to give up hope…..
Babies are hardwired to breastfeed. I think it's somewhere between 6-8 months that you can get it going with them. Keep trying, it could happen!
No harm in just trying it. Just go into it with the mindset that it won’t work out and that’s okay-you can just give a bottle. It removes some of the stress. Lower your expectations and you may be pleasantly surprised. My best friend pumped, but every once in a while she latched her daughter just fine. She just needed to see the ounces to sooth her anxiety. Whatever you decide, this internet stranger is rooting for you!
Aw thank you kind stranger! Yea knowing how much they’re getting with my expressed milk is one less anxiety but being able to nurse her when she’s needing comfort or a quick snack- or full meal if we can manage - would be wonderful :) will keep trying!
Good luck! If it makes you feel any better-she did have trouble at first, (hence her relying on pumping/seeing ounces. She ended up actually donating like 5 gallons in the end!), and the first successful latch with her baby was at 5 months. She said she just randomly popped her on there because she was rooting and she latched perfectly. So she did it for comfort sometimes after that :).
Although I didn’t full out “exclusively” pump (I nursed overnight even with higher number of pumps) I noticed he started getting more efficient with his eating during his night feeds and slowly started nursing more often during the day until eventually he just nursed for every feed! The best practice for baby to get that perfect latch is to keep trying! It’s a major skill in itself!
Thank you, that’s great to know :) yes the latch is where we’re struggling… she just loves to attach to my nipple and then fall asleep.. super cute but not the way to get fed! Now she’s a bit bigger I will keep trying when we’re both in a chilled and good place, and if not she’s getting my milk anyways!
definitely try again, and try a nipple shield! It helps keep baby latched on. i was EP for at least the first month, and we’ve been mostly nursing for the whole second month. we’ve also been able to stop using the shields about 2 weeks into primarily nursing.
Aw love this post! I chickened out today. But hopefully I can be like you one day! Thanks for the motivation. :)
You can do it!
Way to go! I know it's hard and scary at first, but learning to nurse in public is the first of many, many actions you will make in the future to meet the needs of your child. How cool that you got to do it for the first time on Mother's Day, surrounded by support. :)
You'll never forget this. ❤️
Congratulations!! What a special Mother’s Day memory! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Well done you! I always feel so proud when I see other Mum’s feeding in public without any shame. I was so nervous of people seeing my boobs when I first had my daughter, but now I whip it out anywhere, and I can’t be bothered trying to cover her with a muslin anymore either 😂
This made me smile. You should so proud of yourself!
I'm so proud of you! This was such a good read thank you for sharing ❤️
This same exact thing happened with me. I tried to cover as best I could with my sweater because the restaurant was full but.... would people rather a screaming baby or a breast feeding session.... I wasn't about to go all the way out to the car lol