Breastfeeding in Public

Gasp! I know, I know: I am going to talk about breastfeeding in PUBLIC! Most of my friends and family will say "You go girl!" and some others will be shocked and dismayed at this post. The reason that I am writing this is because a woman was recently asked by a store manager to cover up or go to the restroom while nursing her child at a local grocery store (Fred Meyer). This astounds me. Every day I see mothers nursing their babies and I have absolutely no reaction to it. Except maybe to want to offer her a pillow or get her some water to drink. I can not for the life of me understand how our culture can be so backwards about so basic an issue as feeding our babies in the most natural, convenient, healthiest and efficient method available. I think it is about time we started to embrace the fact that breasts can and should be used for something other than holding up Britney Spears' bikini top. As a breastfeeding mother I think it is ridiculous to feel pressure to force my child to eat on the toilet or be distracted by having a hot blanket over her face. I work very hard to treat Maddy as I would want to be treated and neither of those options would appeal to me. I will excuse myself to go somewhere private if that option is available and I know that someone I am around may be uncomfortable with breastfeeding. Respect, discretion and modesty are key of course. But, if done discreetly, very very very very little skin shows while nursing. Someday I hope that nursing in public will be as commonplace as feeding a child from a bottle filled with chemicals, oh excuse me, I meant to say formula. I believe that as a society we need to embrace and support a mother's right to feed her baby with a timely response to that child's hunger. Would you make your toddler wait until you get out to the car to give him a carrot stick? Or make him go into the bathroom stall before you feel comfortable offering him a snack when you are in a public place? I think not. You would simply feed your hungry child. And since breastfeeding is so super fantastically perfectly made for your baby and is pre-mixed at the perfect temperature straight from the source at a moment's notice, it is a NO BRAINER to me that breastfeeding in public makes for happy mamas and healthy (quiet) babies.