Breastfeeing in the parks

[Jackie0824]

Have to add my 2 cents here.. I just posted a similiar question on the family board yesterday. Im still breastfeeding my 9 month old, and going to Disney for 2 days in a couple of weeks. I also inquired about the childcare centers where they were located. Ive been to disney 10 times, never with a nursing baby, so I never needed to find them.
Im one of those who DOES NOT nurse in public. For me, its not that I care what others think, Its how I feel. Im VERY self conscious, I have a big chest, and need both hands for feeding, there is NOTHING discreet about it. I only nurse in front of my husband and other kids. I do not nurse in front of friends, or family memebers, Iam that modest about it. Its my insecurity about my own body. Not everybody wants to nurse anywhere they want. I have no problem if this is how you are. But for me, I choose to go to a childcare type place to nurse where I can have privacy and no distractions.We are all not the same when it comes to this.Nobody should be put down for their opinions on this subject.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

I will be traveling in August to WDW with an infant and was wondering if there are indoor baby care areas where I will be able to breastfeed my 3 month old?

Any mention of breastfeeding always, without fail, ends up in debate. To answer your question, I do know that in the Magic Kingdom, the baby care center is just to the left of the Crystal Palace, right between Crystal Palace and Casey's Corner. From what my friend's wife told me, it's quite "the place to be" for nursing moms. Very clean and cool, lots of rocking chairs and plenty of friendly chat. Hope this helps!

 

[flminivanmama]

Okay, I have to vent here. Ya know what I don't need to see? Minor teen girls, walking around in public with nearly every inch of flesh exposed. I live in a beach town, and I know it's part of summer, but we have people getting bent out of shape over a totally natural act, as breast feeding, but no one seems to mind that their young daughters are walking around almost completely naked, and I'm not talking about girls in bikini's either. I am by no means a prude, but I don't need or want to see that much of a young girls anatomy. Go ahead and breast feed, be discreet if you like, but find a comfortable spot, and do what you need to do. Man are we a screwed up society.

reminds me of an old Baby Blues' comic strip - this is one of my all time faves!

 

[Sherrilatte]

Okay, I have to vent here. Ya know what I don't need to see? Minor teen girls, walking around in public with nearly every inch of flesh exposed. I live in a beach town, and I know it's part of summer, but we have people getting bent out of shape over a totally natural act, as breast feeding, but no one seems to mind that their young daughters are walking around almost completely naked, and I'm not talking about girls in bikini's either. I am by no means a prude, but I don't need or want to see that much of a young girls anatomy. Go ahead and breast feed, be discreet if you like, but find a comfortable spot, and do what you need to do. Man are we a screwed up society.

I agree. I've seen many young girls in the parks dressing like hookers in training. I've seen parents drag their kids to R-rated ( and some PG-13 too) films with gratutitious violence and racey themes, give them popcorn and call it entertainment. But have a cow, if they have to answer a question about a mom breastfeeding a child. That would be a lot easier than trying to explain some of the scenes I saw in the latest Star Wars flick.

Anybody want to take a guess at how many kids saw that? (child-slaying, body mutilations, etc.)

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Have to add my 2 cents here.. I just posted a similiar question on the family board yesterday. Im still breastfeeding my 9 month old, and going to Disney for 2 days in a couple of weeks. I also inquired about the childcare centers where they were located. Ive been to disney 10 times, never with a nursing baby, so I never needed to find them.
Im one of those who DOES NOT nurse in public. For me, its not that I care what others think, Its how I feel. Im VERY self conscious, I have a big chest, and need both hands for feeding, there is NOTHING discreet about it. I only nurse in front of my husband and other kids. I do not nurse in front of friends, or family memebers, Iam that modest about it. Its my insecurity about my own body. Not everybody wants to nurse anywhere they want. I have no problem if this is how you are. But for me, I choose to go to a childcare type place to nurse where I can have privacy and no distractions.We are all not the same when it comes to this.Nobody should be put down for their opinions on this subject.

I wanted to say that I admire you for continuing to breastfeed even though you are uncomfortable doing it in public! As a nursing mom I know it can be tricky to work around your daily schedule while finding discreet places to nurse!! You have to do whatever works for you. I don't think anyone is saying it's bad NOT to nurse in public, just that it's a shame people get so upset when they do happen to see a mom nursing her baby. Maybe if our society wasn't so freaked out by it, ladies like yourself would not have to worry as much about nursing in public? I have a large chest myself and I know it is NOT easy to keep everything covered while feeding an "older" baby, but now that I have the hang of it I think I do okay. Just keep doing whatever makes you feel comfortable and I applaud you for continuing to breastfeed!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I wanted to say that I admire you for continuing to breastfeed even though you are uncomfortable doing it in public! As a nursing mom I know it can be tricky to work around your daily schedule while finding discreet places to nurse!! You have to do whatever works for you. I don't think anyone is saying it's bad NOT to nurse in public, just that it's a shame people get so upset when they do happen to see a mom nursing her baby. Maybe if our society wasn't so freaked out by it, ladies like yourself would not have to worry as much about nursing in public? I have a large chest myself and I know it is NOT easy to keep everything covered while feeding an "older" baby, but now that I have the hang of it I think I do okay. Just keep doing whatever makes you feel comfortable and I applaud you for continuing to breastfeed!

Amen! That was my point and why I got upset that people were making comments about not wanting to see someone nursing. I know it was meant to be funny but I still regret giving in to people's opinions about why nursing was unappealing. If I had just stuck with it I could haved paid for a couple of trips to WDW with all that dumb formula I ended up buying (two times around)! Since this is a planning board I would just stress again that there are many nice quiet places to feed your baby however you choose to do it! WDW is truly a family oriented place. One thing about it, if you choose to nurse wherever you are comfortable and somebody gets offended you will likely never even see that person again so let them be offended! And I have to laugh about comments of young girls exosing their body parts with skimpy outfits! I am sooo sick of seeing the backsides of women who wear low cut pants/shorts so low even their thongs are showing! Give me lactating gals any day over that one!

 

[InnerStrength]

Hello to the OP.

While I did not BF at WDW as we were not on a vacation during the times when my children were babies, I BF both of them, and at times in public. I am also a very private person, and was always VERY discreet when it came to nursing my children in public with no issues or comments from others (none that I overheard anyhow). I bought a few nice nursing tops from Motherwear that were not only stylish, but also very convienent and comfortable. At no time ever did I have to expose myself to anyone, and also kept a lightweight cotton blanket on hand to cover the "situation". In all honesty, after a rough start with BF for my first child, I was so proud to hang in there that I continued for as long as I could ~ which (sadly) was only 4 months for my first child, but 2 1/2 years for my second! BTW, I DID NOT nurse #2 in public after the infant stages and could only imagine the comments that I would have received if I had. Still, I do not regret those times and enjoyed the closeness and ease 100%. Best of luck to you...enjoy your vacation and your baby.

LM from MA(USA)

 

[imatoad]

flminivanmama, that's too funny, great cartoon, and very much to the point.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I think nursing mothers should nurse whenever they need too and everybody should mind their own business and leave them alone. It is the way that nature intended them to be fed and they are within their rights to feed their children. I mean, why would anyone be looking? If you look and see something that you didn't want to see, stop looking.

I have trouble figuring out why this issue keeps getting discussed and debated. There are lots of things that people do in public that i don't want to see, spitting on the ground grosses me out, scratching in certain spots and so forth. I just look the other way.

 

[nemomama]

I think nursing mothers should nurse whenever they need too and everybody should mind their own business and leave them alone. It is the way that nature intended them to be fed and they are within their rights to feed their children. I mean, why would anyone be looking? If you look and see something that you didn't want to see, stop looking.

I have trouble figuring out why this issue keeps getting discussed and debated. There are lots of things that people do in public that i don't want to see, spitting on the ground grosses me out, scratching in certain spots and so forth. I just look the other way.

I totally agree - well said! Hello people, nursing is just FEEDING your child!
But if you don't like it, don't look!

 

[MommyPoppins]

My little guy has just turned two. He's made two trips to Disney World so far, once at 12 months and once at 18 months - and we "nursed around the world" both times.

I've nursed him in many places around Disney World - benches, restaurants, curbs, rides, shows, etc. I never used the baby centers because we were never near one when he wanted to nurse. I did not cover up with a blanket (never do) but I can promise you that you couldn't see anything at all except the back of Paul's head. In fact I had several people comment on the cute sleeping baby, when he was really nursing. So, I certainly wasn't flashing the world or anything. I never had any negative looks or comments and I would encourage any mother who is breastfeeding her baby or toddler to do so when and where she needs to. I did notice lots of other nursing moms (only because I was looking for them) and I never felt the least bit odd or anything.

And, as someone said, slings are great! When Paul was little, I could nurse him in the sling while walking around, etc. It was a lifesaver! I didn't even have to sit down.

I have a sling and I LOVE it. I wear my 4 month old EVERYWHERE and sometimes clean the house while holding my 2 year old in it. But I have NEVER been able to get the hang of nursing inthe sling...what is the secret? I can't get them posistioned right their face is always squished against me.

 

[flminivanmama]

mamapoppins go here http://mamatoto.org/default.aspx?tabid=180 an on the left hand nav menu are instructions by type of carrier and situation

 

[MommyPoppins]

A recent breastfeeding thread got up to about 10 pages or more ver there as people put their two cents in. It ended up turning into a debate about whose kids would have the higher IQ's based on their early diets!

I have a story about that issue. After I had my 3rd baby I went to my first WIC appointment with him and instead of having a private meeting with the nutritionist they had 4 of us meeting together. Well, they were all their as first time mom's and they were all younger than me and they were all bottle feeding and I was breast feeding. The nutrionist starts in on that "beast fed babies are smart" stuff and all this other info. putting me on a pedistal and making those other poor moms out to be child abusers. I was horrified. I couldn't wait to get out of there. I nursed my first 3 until they were over a year, my 4th I nursed for 2 months before I had to start supplimenting because he wasn't gaining weight. Now he nurses a couple times a day, but is mostly getting formula. When I had to go back to WIC to get switched to formula, I was the one made out to be a child abuser. I gave the woman a piece of my mind though. Because I LOVE nursing my babies, I actually feel more embarassed giving them a bottle in public than I do nursing them.

 

[Tink0513]

Ok,

I didn't mean to "get all bent out of shape" as some of you might say about this natural act. No I have never nursed a baby before, but I just found it kinda apalling that this lady I had the experience with had her whole breast out even when the baby wasn't feeding, that's it. I just thought it would of been a little more appropriate to have a blanket or cloth covering her........and when the baby wasn't feeding, she would of least covered it up!

 

[ncgolfer]

I totally agree - well said! Hello people, nursing is just FEEDING your child!
But if you don't like it, don't look!

If you don't stick you mommy bags out for the entire world to see I won't look, discretly nursing is one thing but flaunting it like some moms do is another.

 

[flminivanmama]

thanks Tink0513 actually she may not have realized. I have - and I have heard - quite a few funny/embarassing stories about... urm... letting it all hang out, without realizing it. I think the best was the mom on the airplane who was nursing her baby and fell asleep. poor mom. you can imagine what happened.

ncgolfer - "mommybags"?? I know the dis censors the word bo-ob but urm... uh.... hmmm.

 

[vegasnw]

When I was sitting in Fantasmic (packed by the way) the young couple in front of us nursed there 2 month old and I had no problem with it at all. Her husband help to cover her and the baby with a baby blanket and when the baby was finished she stayed covered til she was finished putting everything back where it belongs..LOL

I do have a problem with women that when in public "don't" cover up like I'm a member of her family. That is not something I need to see and don't want to see. It's rude to those around them.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I actually feel more embarassed giving them a bottle in public than I do nursing them.

LOL! I am so with you on that! I had a great experience nursing my older daughter. Then, when we adopted our younger daughter, I tried to relactate, but was unable. I live in an area where nearly everyone breastfeeds. I got a lot more rude comments and nasty glares from strangers when giving my baby formula than I ever did breastfeeding in public.

Funny, though. I see women breastfeeding everywhere: playgrounds, pools, malls, amusement parks, restaurants, ball games, etc, and I have never seen anything more than I'd see if the woman were wearing a swimsuit at the beach. I'm always confused by comments about women who "flaunt it", because I've never seen it done. Not calling anyone a liar or anything, I'm sure there are some breastfeeding moms who do it. But since I haven't yet encountered one, I always wonder why people are so quick to bring up the tiny percentage of "flaunters" every time the subject of breastfeeding comes up.

 

[PatsGirl]

Anaheim Girl: You are very lucky that you live somewhere that nursing is the norm. As someone earlier said, New England is not a nursing mecca, quite the opposite it seems. I was one that nursed on demand, when and wherever, but as discreetly as possible. Of course, with my first child and being a beginner....well, let's just say a few people at the mall got an eyeful but just for a second, lol!

I also allow my children to pee behind buildings and trees and cars if there is no other solution. God forbid!

Some of the most enlightening conversations I've had with my children (for both them and me ) has been when I nursed my daughter and son was 7, and anytime either had seen someone else nursing, it just opens up the doors for questions. Funny how nature does that, isn't it?

Good luck to the OP with nursing. I loved it! I have to say the only really truly time I wept like a child knowing that my baby was growing up was the last time I nursed each child. I set a date for both babies and it was heart-wrenching to nurse for a last time. Just FYI I stopped when I realized they no longer needed/wanted to sit/lay still and were actually using me as a pacificier if you will

Great memories.

 

[babybunrab]

I generally try and stay out of the controversial stuff, but breastfeeding is near and dear to my heart so...

"Mommybags?" Are you serious?

Interesting that breast feeding mothers have, by some, been likened by some on this thread both to cattle (at least that's the imagery I get from 'mommybags') and exhibitionists! Those comparisons certainly do run the gamut!

Oddly, I've never seen cattle roaming WDW, except for the ones with the big horns at AK, and while I've seen a fair bit of 'flaunting' of body parts, it's never been by a breastfeeding mother.

OK, I'm returning to my corner, and resuming my usual demeanor.