Discreet nursing

Some women are comfortable nursing anywhere, anytime. They feel that baby deserves to be fed and if others are offended, they are free to look away.

Others are more nervous or uncomfortable about nursing in public and wish to be more discreet so as not to attract attention. There’s no right or wrong way, but if you’re one of the latter moms, there are a number of ways to achieve a discreet nursing pose.

Location, location, location

First, choose your location wisely. If you have a vehicle, dressing room, or office available they make ideal locations. If you are in a restaurant a booth is a good choice because it is more private than a table. If, however, there are no booths you can request a table next to a wall and face the wall while breastfeeding.

Cover ups

If a semi private location is not available you will need a source of camouflage. Many companies sell nursing wraps, and some moms like to use these. Some are designed to stay away from the neck for your comfort but also so you can look down and see baby’s face (and your breast, for ease of latch on). One example of a nursing cover up is the Peek a Boo B.

If you have a baby blanket you can simply cover both yourself and your child with the blanket, but don’t do this by covering your shoulder up, as this just screams “nursing here!”. Try bunching up the baby blanket behind baby’s back so that it comes up a few inches above his head, effectively covering your nipple.

photo credit: seaniz

This option usually looks to casual observers like a mother holding a sleeping baby.

Other approaches

With a nursing bra and a button up shirt that you pull up from the bottom (instead of unbuttoning from the top), you will have quite a bit of coverage. Nursing shirts with specially designed openings and baby slings also make it much easier to accomplish discreet nursing in public.

Tags: nursing in public