Sunday, October 26, 2008

How Do I Do This in Public? How to breast feed my baby out side my home?

I was shopping at my favorite local market when I heard the unmistakable cry of a baby from the next aisle. I pushed my shopping cart around the corner, and I recognized the mother and the now contented baby. Rachel and her baby, Owen, had been clients of mine. Rachel was holding Owen in a sling, and it had taken her less than a minute to quiet Owen’s hungry cries by discreetly shifting his position so that he could breastfeed. During our consultation, Rachel had been eager to learn techniques that she could comfortably use to easily and privately breastfeed outside of her home.
Rachel had easily adapted to carrying and breastfeeding Owen in a sling. This enabled her to take Owen anywhere she needed to go. Rachel fully enjoyed the flexibility that breastfeeding gave her in her daily routine. Owen never had a bottle.

As breastfeeding becomes part of your life, you will both need and want to go out with your baby. None of the new mothers that I know want to be under house arrest during the length of time that they breastfeed their babies. As you know by now, breastfeeding is more than physical nutrition. The mere act of breastfeeding comforts a baby who has become unsettled by unfamiliar surroundings. For this reason, planning an outing around your baby’s usual feeding time is no guarantee that your baby won’t need to breastfeed while the two of you keep an appointment or run an errand

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