Nursing mother just back from WDW: a review

[krystalleigh1]

Just returned from WDW Nov 12-19th. I had my 2 1/2 mos old dd in tow and it was wonderful! DD did great-much better than I had anticipated.

I used the baby care centers in each of the parks (some parks several times) and they were very nice. My favorite was the AK baby care center. The MK and Epcot have nursing rooms that have 4-5 rocking chairs all in one room but in AK and MGM nursing moms can have their own, private rooms. I have to say though, I was a little disappointed not to see more people taking advantage of the nursing rooms. Whenever we were close to the bcc I took advantage of the nuring rooms and only once did I see another mother in there. They were always empty the rest of the time. But maybe other nursing moms were just other places nusing. I thought for sure I would have at least seen someone else in there at some point though.

I also didn't see ANY other nursing mommies while at WDW. I was really suprised.

It was really easy, when not close to the bcc to find a nice place to sit an nurse though. I nursed dd just about everywhere from a bench to various rides. Never got any weird looks from anyone. I even requested to sit in the back row of some rides and was easily accomidated.

One tip: make sure to stay well hydrated if you're nursing. I didn't do so well with that and can tell my milk supply has dipped a little (don't feel as "full" in the mornings) but still fine. I'd also suggest taking some mother's milk tea or something else just in case your supply dosen't do well while at WDW.

Oh-also-before I left I was concerned about how Dramamine would affect dd (and my milk supply). So I took ginger instead. 2 ginger pills before a motion inducing ride and I was good to go ! And I have bad motion sickness. Worked great for me!

 

[TxTink :)]

Wow, that's great info- thanks. Very neat about the Ginger pills too.

 

[Cibahwewah]

I'm glad you had no problems. I think the baby care centers are a great idea. I would just find a quiet bench somewhere too. Thankfully though, those days are over, now I just need to find super-leak-proof sippy cups.

 

[shelby101301]

Thanks for the update! I'll be taking my then 3 month old and am very anxious about this aspect of it... Was good to see a positive experience

 

[SarahAndMike]

That is so great to hear! Thank you! My husband and I are going Dec. 7th with our newest addition, DS Jack. I'd love to hear experiences/advice from other breastfeeding moms too.

 

[summerrluvv]

While I'm not a nursing mother, I do have to say that I'm dissapointed they don't allow strollers into the baby care centers. Such a pain to take all of the stuff you need out of the stroller! I met several other moms with the same complaint, especially moms that had more than one with them.

 

[NJR]

I was there Nov 9th to 19th, also nursing a 2 month old - I knew about the bcc's but was never near one when I needed to nurse, so I nursed just about everywhere else but the bcc. A lot of the time nursed while my little one was in my Sleepy Wrap, so I was able to nurse on the go. If you saw a woman wearing a light blue wrap all around the parks, that was me!

 

[tr-ray]

Thanks for the good reviews about the baby care centers.

My DD will be just over 4 months when we go in February. While I'm not nursing, I'm hoping to visit each center at least once if I can.

And hoping my DD will like the rides, lol. I'm trying to get her used to my Mei Tai wrap, but she doesn't like froggy legs, and she's still too short to have her legs out... Here's to a growth spurt.

 

[aimee_v]

I am going to be nursing my newly 1 yr old at Disney and will be on the look out for these places.

 

[Meeska Mooska Mom]

I nursed both my boys while at WDW and DL but I don't think I ever used the nursing station lol! It was never nearby when they wanted to eat.

Thankfully I never had any issues with other people. I've actually only ever had a comment twice - once someone at church complained and once on vacation in England. At church I asked the priest who mentioned it if I wasn't covered enough (I wasn't using a blanket anymore because my son was well into the yanking it off stage anyway) but he said no, they only told him they didn't think it was appropriate . Anyway he told me to "carry on" so I did!

 

[shelby101301]

I have to say, it's still shocks me that people need to comment that nursing in public is "inappropriate". If you are uncomfortable with it, then DON'T LOOK! I've never once seen a nursing mom go out of her way to flash someone, and until nursing rooms become a regular feature in restaurants and stores, I wish people would just deal with it.

I have a hard time nursing in public just because of attitudes like these.

 

[alyssa810]

Glad you enjoyed the BCC as much as I did! While I don't nurse my DS during the day anymore, I had 4 trips with him where I did, and I loved the centers!! Now I love to change him there- the tables are so nice and big!

 

[tanyaandallie]

The bcc really are awesome. Not all that convenient so I never used them a ton. But, a great place to go to and sort of relax! My ds was way overtired and overstimulated one afternoon. I took him to the AK bcc, sat in the rocking chair and nursed him. It was so nice and peaceful. He fell asleep and we were able to make it to the parade before leaving.

 

[cheerforchelsea]

I can certainly appreciate the benefits of nursing but as a mom with grown (in their 20s) children I can more appreciate your consideration of others by using the baby care centers in the parks or by just by nursing your little one discretely. I have seen mothers who make NO attempt to cover themselves at all - thankfully not at WDW.

 

[tanyaandallie]

I can certainly appreciate the benefits of nursing but as a mom with grown (in their 20s) children I can more appreciate your consideration of others by using the baby care centers in the parks or by just by nursing your little one discretely. I have seen mothers who make NO attempt to cover themselves at all - thankfully not at WDW.

I have nursed both of my babies. Since my daughter's birth 5.5 years ago I have never seen any mother breastfeed her baby in a non-discreet way. My guess is that your idea of discreet and my idea of discreet are 2 different things. I don't know why the back of a nursing baby's head makes so many people uncomforable. They are just eating. Really not that big of a deal. If it makes you uncomforable, don't look.

 

[Juliet25]

I have nursed both of my babies. Since my daughter's birth 5.5 years ago I have never seen any mother breastfeed her baby in a non-discreet way. My guess is that your idea of discreet and my idea of discreet are 2 different things. I don't know why the back of a nursing baby's head makes so many people uncomforable. They are just eating. Really not that big of a deal. If it makes you uncomforable, don't look.

I, too, have never seen a non-discreet nurser. I suppose it's within the realm of possibility that someone might just let her breast hang out for longer than necessary, but she would be the exception to the rule. Most nursing moms I know just want to feed their babies in peace.

Thanks to the OP for posting. I went to WDW when DD was a little over 1 and I had no problems nursing her. I used the bcc when it was conveinent; otherwise, I just nursed her where we were at.

There's nothing wrong with feeding your baby the way nature intended. My thought has always been, if a bottle feeding mom has the right to feed her child in a certain spot, then I have that right as well.

 

[cheerforchelsea]

Sorry but there are breastfeeding moms that are not discreet. I have no problem with anyone feeding a baby when it is hungry but if the amount of exposure would by law be considered "indecent exposure" then it should also be "indecent exposure" if an infant is feeding and the mother makes no effort to cover her exposed breast.

 

[BamaFan121s]

I have nursed both of my babies. Since my daughter's birth 5.5 years ago I have never seen any mother breastfeed her baby in a non-discreet way. My guess is that your idea of discreet and my idea of discreet are 2 different things. I don't know why the back of a nursing baby's head makes so many people uncomforable. They are just eating. Really not that big of a deal. If it makes you uncomforable, don't look.

I'm assuming that if all that was visible was the back of the child's head, then I wouldn't see what the problem is...so I'm sure that's not what the previous poster was referring to. Just a guess. A sincere compliment was offered to someone for being considerate of others, for whatever reason...I can't imagine why that would warrant such a response.
Important to remember though that what is 'not that big of a deal' to one person my be a 'big deal' or offensive to the next. It doesn't make any one person more right than the other--just that they view things differently. I've never seen any mother breastfeed in a non-discreet manner in WDW either, but I have seen it done in other places. So I can understand why some would be appreciative that another would be considerate of others.