- Hi guys, welcome back to my channel.
In today's video, I'm going to give you
my best tips for breastfeeding in public.
A few months ago, I posted a video on breastfeeding,
and it has been so highly viewed,
I'll link it down below if you haven't seen it.
But the biggest thing to come out of that video
in the comments was requests for breastfeeding
in public tips and also what I
would wear when I'm breastfeeding.
So I'm gonna cover some of that today.
If you're new to my channel, I would love
for you to stick around and subscribe.
I post three videos a week on parenting
lifestyle hacks and things like that.
So I would love to have you.
And just a really quick disclaimer,
whether you choose to bottle feed or breastfeed,
who cares, it really doesn't matter,
but if you choose to and your body
allows you to, I hope you like these tips.
My first tip is to know your rights,
and I'm going to help you do that right now
by letting you know that it is completely legal
for you to breastfeed in any public place.
And it is actually illegal for anyone
to discriminate against a breastfeeding
mother who is breastfeeding a child.
And it doesn't matter what age that child is.
So it is illegal for anyone in the public
or anyone who's running a business
to discriminate against you or ask you
to leave their premises if you are breastfeeding.
So I just take comfort in knowing that.
It is actually illegal.
So if anyone did ever approach you,
you have that, that you can say that.
And in Scotland, they actually take it one step further,
they've made it a criminal offense
to discriminate against a breastfeeding mother
in Scotland, so you can actually prosecute there as well.
My next tip is to plan ahead, and I know
this can be quite difficult in the early days
when you have a newborn who feeds like every hour,
but if you are going out, you can kind of
map out what you're going to do.
So what I like to do is feed my baby
right before we go out, then go straight to shopping
or doing whatever I have to do,
and then plan to have a coffee so that
I can have a coffee break and also feed my baby.
It's also great to get to know
really breastfeeding friendly places.
Ikea is amazing, Mothercare again is amazing,
they have specific breastfeeding areas in places like that,
but wherever you live, it's great to get to know
places, just by asking other breastfeeding
mothers where they would recommend.
The library where I live as well is another
fantastic place where you can go
and you can sit in a corner and you can
breastfeed your baby quite happily.
It's also good to start out in very
breastfeeding friendly places, I think.
When you first go out, you know,
plan to go to a play group where there'll be
lots of other breastfeeding mothers as well,
so you won't feel out of place.
And another tip is to never feed your baby in a toilet.
And I am actually guilty of doing this
with my first son when I was very nervous
and unsure about what I was doing.
But it's not hygienic.
You wouldn't eat your lunch in a toilet,
so you shouldn't do it with your baby.
But one hack that I have done,
if I do want some privacy, and if I am
a bit nervous, is to go into any clothing store,
pick up something off the rack, say you'd like
to try it on, you don't even have to say that
your actually gonna feed your baby, and just go
into a changing room, and feed your baby in peace.
Next up, let's talk about clothing.
And you can get some great clothes for nursing
from places like ASOS, H&M, Mothercare.
You can get some really, really clever clothes,
but sometimes they can be quite expensive.
And sometimes normal clothes work just as well.
One trick that I do all the time is to wear two tops.
You can wear a vest under a baggy top,
and it is a great cover up, cause then you just
have to pull the vest down, pull the baggy top up,
and your baby is completely covered.
I also get asked a lot on this channel
how I manage to wear dresses all the time.
But all I do is wear leggings and a vest
under a dress, and then I just literally
pull the whole dress up, or pull it down.
You can get some really cool and clever baby coverups,
which are great in the early days, but then
I find bring more attention to you than not
when your baby starts moving around under them.
What I like to do is just stick a muslin
over my shoulder, tuck it into my bra strap,
and that gives me enough grace to feed my baby.
Another tip is to wear a scarf, because you can
kind of maneuver it and cover up any skin that's showing.
But really, your baby's head covers up most
of your boob anyway, and sometimes the more you fap,
the more attention you bring to yourself.
My next tip is to smile and be confident
and this is easier said than done
when you are a brand new mother.
I know it took me a while to get the hang of it.
Because sometimes, people will stare
and sometimes you'll catch them staring.
But I find it's much better for you to just
flash them a genuine smile of,
you know, I'm feeding my baby.
You don't have to look away, you don't have
to be ashamed, you should be proud.
And once I actually smiled at a woman that was
staring at me, and she actually went like this.
Another tip is to feed with friends.
I feel more comfortable when I'm like
in a pack of people or I'm with someone.
Sometimes I feel a little bit isolated on my own,
but that is not to say that I don't feed
in public on my own, I absolutely do.
But sometimes I feel a bit better
if I'm looking at my phone or I'm reading a book.
But if I'm ever really stuck, and I'm feeling
a little bit uncomfortable, I just look
at my baby, because as soon as I look
at him feeding, I just remember what
I'm doing it for and I instantly feel calm.
My last tip is to be respectful.
I really don't think people mind if you're
making a small attempt to cover up a tiny bit.
Just slinging a blanket over your shoulder,
or anything like that, just shows people
that all you really wanna do is get on and feed your baby.
I'm not the type of person who would sit
half-naked in Costa and feed my baby.
So I'm kind of somewhere in between.
So as long as you're being respectful,
people really don't seem to mind.
Yeah so breastfeeding can be quite nerve-wracking
in the early days, but once you get the hang of it,
it's so freeing being able to go out
anywhere with your baby in tow.
And yes there are still a minority of people that
may look at you, or frown at you, but that
is exactly what they are, they are the minority.
Most people out there are parents, and they understand
that you just wanna get on and feed your baby.
So just own it, be confident.
The other day, I got stuck on a very busy train
and I had to feed my baby, and it was quite difficult,
there were people quite close to me,
but I managed to do it, and no one gave me evils.
Everyone just understood that it was probably
better for me to just feed my baby, than have
a screaming baby on the train the whole way home.
So, just get on, do what's best for you.
You're doing an amazing job.
And I could basically talk about this subject
all day long, and how passionate I am
about normalizing breastfeeding,
but I won't go into all of that.
I will leave it there for today.
And, yeah, thank you so much for watching.
I hope you got something from it.
Leave any more tips in the comments below.
And I'll see you in my next one.