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Breastfeeding Encouragement Parenthood

Nursing in Public: Why I Freed My Nipple

By Jessi

I loved breastfeeding my children. It's something I enjoyed doing, and my kids were nourished and comforted by it. I wasn't looking for attention or making any statements, I was just feeding my kid.

I tried to use a nursing cover with my second child – it made me more comfortable until we got better at nursing.

One night, it was about 80 degrees we set off on a journey to see the glowing balloons. We had to walk about 1.5 miles, and the baby was fussy and having none of that stroller crap. He wanted to be held by me, like right NOW!

I was sweating like a pig and trying to keep up when the baby decided he was hungry. I had my cute nursing cover in place with a baby latched on as I walked with my family to the event.

Now, I hate being hot. I keep my house at a balmy 68 degrees in the summer to make sure I don’t kill my family out of crazy heat-induced rage.

On this night, not only was I wearing pants and a t-shirt, but I also had basically a jacket over me to cover the baby and my boob so as not to make those around me uncomfortable.

But the hotter I got, the less of a fuck I gave.

I was becoming a crazy heat induced ball of rage and I was losing my shit.

The boob came out

There I was in a crowd of thousands with my boob, complete with baby nipple cover, exposed for the world to see, and I didn’t care one bit.

I was free.

I was not trying to stage a nurse-in and make other people uncomfortable; I was just trying not to die of heat stroke.

By this time, the glowing balloons were out for the evening, and we were headed home. I walked down a main street in town with a baby latched on to my nipple for dear life and no one said a word. For all I know, some people were uncomfortable, but I didn’t care.

Screw the cover

After that day, I decided I wasn’t going to subject myself to that experience again. I hung up my covers and never used them again because that was what worked for me.

Some women are fine without a cover from day one, and others prefer the cover at all times. Why not come together as humans and try to support mothers and their choices without passing judgment? We are all just trying to raise small humans to be good big humans someday.

Related: Pediatrician of 30 Years Shows How He Calms a Crying Baby



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