Ah, that old chestnut. “I don’t mind breastfeeding in public, as long as it’s discreet”. Or as quite a few breastfeeding books put it, “if you’re wearing a shirt or blouse, always unbutton from the bottom, so as to be discreet. Your shirt will cover baby’s head and your breast”.
Why should I be discreet? So I don’t upset someone else? If someone is upset by the sight of my breast then that’s their problem (to be simplistic) or rather (to be less simplistic) that’s the problem of a society that has perpetuated this idea that breasts are purely for sex and have no other function, and that anything associated with sex should be private.
It’s not my problem.
And even if I did feel the need to be discreet, I’m a 32J (a K in some cups) and my baby is at that age where he’s easily distracted and comes on and off the breast to look around at what’s going on, to play with my nose, to laugh… he wants me to sit there with my breast and nipple hanging out so he can come off and on as he feels.
You know, like adults are encouraged to do with food. Eat bits of it, pause and then have some more. Take breaths between eating, chew properly and not gulp it down. Aren’t we supposed to do this in order to be healthy and not put on too much weight?
But if my baby wants to do this, it’s frowned upon? What’s that about?
So if and when I feel like it, I’m unbuttoning from the top.
