How did your holiday nursing go?

[soccerchic21]

I think I made my cousin uncomfortable. When we were at my mother's house it was husband me and then cousin on the couch with me in the middle. DD wanted milk, she is almost 18 months. So I picked her up and started nursing her and it seemed like cousin stiffened up. Then about a minute later she got up and then sat in another seat.

Oh well. If she was uncomfortable at least she didn't say anything rude like some family members do.

[Red Sonja]

Ours went pretty well, I was pleased since this was one of our first real trips away from home (DS is 3.5 months). We nursed everywhere from the airport, airplane, mom's house, dad's house, step-sister's house, coffee shop and post-holiday sales shopping without a negative comment. I got a positive comment from an older lady in the airport who was really happy to see a mother nursing her babe which really made my day. I think my family is used to it now, nobody raised an eyebrow. In fact when I was chasing my little brother (18) out of the comfy chair by the fire so I could nurse DS I told him to either move or lift up his shirt and he just lifted his shirt. Of course he stood up really quickly when DS saw the nipple and leaned towards it! I think my nana, DS' great-grandma, really enjoyed watching him nurse.

[LoveMyLil'B]

We did fine, but with so much going on, my ds was so distracted! He will be 9 months old tomorrow, and he's so afraid he's going to miss something.

[Ravin]

Oh, good a chance to vent!

My father is so living in the middle of the last century! Big get-together at his place Xmas eve, and I got there kind of early. He asked me oh-so-politely to nurse DD in private during the get together. I protested, pointing out that when the place got crowded with my stepmom's relatives there would be no empty rooms, and we got into an argument which ended with him growling "my house, my rules". I almost got up and left then and there. I challenged him to name one person besides himself who was uncomfortable enough that they'd said something about it, and he just told me not to ask him any questions and do as I was told.

I didn't nurse DD all evening. I kept diverting her with food or sips of water. The only exception was in the front bedroom before everyone arrived, she fell off the (high) bed and hurt herself and I nursed her right there in the bedroom, which is what I would have done anyway.

And yet there was a cousin there with a 4 month old who bottle-fed, and the baby was already on CEREAL! And his father made a comment about how much he liked STRAWBERRY CRUSH from Sonic. These people's parenting is acceptable, but mine isn't. It makes me want to scream!!!

But I was a good girl and didn't say a word. I am such a wuss.

[shishkeberry]

I would have left, Ravin. But then, I can't stand my dad so I can't imagine being at his place for Xmas in the first place :LOL

[girlndocs]

Dd's nursing like a toddler now -- switching boobs every 10 seconds, performing acrobatics and, of course, getting distracted So I pretty much had to find a dark quiet spot anytime she needed to nurse.

There was one incident that pleasantly surprised me. MIL had just gotten out the camera to take pictures of the kids and dd wanted to nurse, so I hooked her up. Instead of pretending she didn't notice (like she usualy would have ) MIL asked if it was OK if she still took the picture! Of course I said sure

[belleandbabe]

well.........let's see at my MIl i have to excuse myself and DS to BF in a nother room or all hell would break out - it makes me feel so isolated i feel like calling people in to keep me company then i remeber they banned me to the dungeon in the 1st place! GREAT! My DS was so distracted by all the things there though that it is probaly a blessing in disguise the only BF friendly memeber of DH family my SIL asked if I was "going to stop at six moths, right?" AH.......NO "I am going to try for at least a year" : silence fell in the room ---- so to sum it all up i was so happy to get DS home we we could both nurse with smiles and confidence

[CryPixie83]

Pretty much everyone I am around knows better than to tell me to nurse elsewhere, not that I would listen. My SIL tried that with me a couple months ago at her daughter's birthday party and I simply ignored her and nursed as usual. I know that sounds like bad ettiquette but I can't say that I care

The only comment I have gotten so far was at a dinner gathering at the coven house. It was from a friend of ours who is a drag queen (and flamboyantly gay) and he walked into a room unaware that I was nursing (I usually show the whole boob since dd likes to lift and kick my shirt up) and the poor guy got an eyefull. He wasn't rude about it, it was actually pretty funny... he covered his eyes and turned around and made an "good lord, girlfriend" like I had surprised him. It made me giggle.

Of course there's still new year's...

[loving-my-babies]

it went really well I was worried about a strike because of all that was going on, but thankfully I managed to stay close to my son the whole time, and be able to run out of the livingroom and into his room when I felt he wanted to nurse and have alone time. My family have all breastfed and are very supportive, but it was nice to have that reason to leave the party and go have alone time with ds, I miss him when there's so many people around

[jane-t-mommy]

After BF my dd for 3 years within full view of all present, I thought that my family was fairly well adjusted to my mothering style. But now I am mom to a 3 week old ds, delivered by c-section and I'm still in recovery (physical and emotional). Everyone came to my house for the holidays. So, I actually took every excuse I could to break away from the group and lie down with ds in our room at each nursing. Besides, it gave me a chance to spend time with my son, instead of having the MIL, SIL, and my mom grab him up at every opportunity. Once I feel like rejoining the human race I'm sure I'll return to my previous ways....

[DaryLLL]

Originally Posted by CryPixie83

The only comment I have gotten so far was at a dinner gathering at the coven house. It was from a friend of ours who is a drag queen (and flamboyantly gay) and he walked into a room unaware that I was nursing (I usually show the whole boob since dd likes to lift and kick my shirt up) and the poor guy got an eyefull. He wasn't rude about it, it was actually pretty funny... he covered his eyes and turned around and made an "good lord, girlfriend" like I had surprised him. It made me giggle.
.

I find that richly ironic. He's a gay, cross-dressing Wiccan and is shocked by someone breastfeeding???

Oh Good Mother, mama friend.

[BlueStateMama]

I've really lucked out. DS barely nurses anymore (milk is gone, late second trimester pg - I offer, he refuses ) BUT my SIL had her baby (4 months) with her at my parents who I'm proud to say I've taught well. She was in the living room nursing and my dad told her not to be silly, to bring him to the table with the rest of the family (we were eating Christmas dinner.) After watching me nurse DS for the past 17 months (and everyone was present at his birth, including my dad!! ) - nothing phases them anymore.

[Anguschick1]

I actually got to do some great advocacy! Christmas Eve we go to dh's family and their usual m.o. is to talk loudly about you to someone else in another room. You can't ask them about what they said because then they will accuse you of eavesdropping. Very healthy. Of course if something truly offends them they ignore ('cause that'll make it go away). So I almost never get any questions asked about nursing.

That being said, there is a little girl there, 8.5 yo, who loves ds. She was asking me questions about having a baby (what's it feel like to feel the baby moving inside you? (like when your tummy rumbles but on a larger scale or like when you move your tougne inside your mouth and you can feel it both inside and outside.) Is the baby all bloody and gross when they're born? (Sometimes, but the mama is so happy to finally see the baby after waiting for 9 months that she doesn't really care anymore) Do the contractions really hurt so bad you want to die? (Your uterus (where the baby lives inside you) has to work very hard to get the baby out and it's like the waves of the ocean washing over you and then they move out and then here comes another.)

Anyway, so she asked, "You know, everyone in this family wonders why you still nurse him if he has teeth?" So I explained about antibodies and how they work (very simplified) how breastmilk has everything in it that ds needs for his growing body, how all mammals make milk for their babies, so ds is just doing what his body needs. She was asking such good questions and I tried to answer them all honestly and directly. I also told her that anytime she wants to ask questions to just go ahead and I'd answer them to the best of my availability.

It's nice to think I may have had a positive impact on how this little girl grows up to view birth and breastfeeding.

[QueenSheba'sMom]

Well, the dog chewed the sippy cup, the pacifier was missing, and dd discovered the world of acrobatics, so I'm pretty sore :LOL

But she helped me to not stay up all night watching movies with dh, and I had a 'christmas moment' when I realized this would be the only christmas with her little like that, cuddled up and nursing with her foot in the air.

[crunchy_mama]

Well, all went good for us. I nurse my lil' man pretty much wherever and no one says much, although often I did try to get away from the big crowds as he gets terribly distracted. My cousins wife even took a picture of him sleeping at the boob.

[velcromom]

My mom was over, and I was pleasantly surprised that she did not make any negative comments when we nursed. She did ask how often he nursed and was surprised to realize I still have plenty of milk for ds, I guess she thought I'd have dried up by now!!LOL. I think it's a good sign since she is the one who told me if he still nursed after he turned two we better do it in private since society thinks it's disgusting. I don't think she felt disgusted seeing ds nurse so maybe she is coming around...

At the inlaws ds was so distracted he only nursed a few times and no one was around anyway, they were all congregated at FIL's bedside as he is not doing well.

[cyrusmama]

I had to hide in the bedroom at my moms ofcourse I always do, so not a big shock. At MIL/FIL 's house, I nurse anywhere . My brothers live with mom and she uses them as an excuse. They are 17 and 15. But, she is not at all supportive anyway, and always asks when ds gets to eat real food. He's only 4 and a half months old. Bmilk is his real food. Anyway, while at my grandmas, feeding ds in the bedroom, my brother 17 walks in. I hear lots of "Andi's feeding the baby in there" screams from the living room (my mom). He comes in tells me how cute and peaceful the baby looks, says "You don't mind me in here do ya", and grabs a book he'd left in there. I was dying laughing. Sorry mom, can't use brother's embarrased as an excuse anymore.

[CryPixie83]

Originally Posted by DaryLLL

I find that richly ironic. He's a gay, cross-dressing Wiccan and is shocked by someone breastfeeding???

Oh Good Mother, mama friend.

Hehehe Ya know I'm not sure that he's Wiccan, he's a coven-friend (makes sense since only 2 people out of our 8 are straight lol). But it is pretty funnny He wasn't being rude at all about it, it was like "I'm trying to be polite, and don't wanna watch and holy crap I wasn't expecting someone to have their boob out in the middle of the living room floor!"

[sincitymama]

Everything went fine for me. At my IL's, they just don't say anything about it. I don't think they're comfortable now that ds is 'older' ( a whole year old) but they know better than to comment. My family is cool about it. At one point he was getting fussy and I asked him 'do you want to nurse?'. So my aunt, who was behind me, says 'oh did someone call a nurse?' She is a nurse, ha ha. So I asked her if she wanted the job and she just said uh no, my youngest is 8 and my body is mine again. The only person who seemed the slightest bit uncomfortable was one uncle. He had to leave early to go to work at the hospital and was making hte rounds giving hugs saying goodbyes...when he got to me, I was sitting on the couch nursing ds and he was like, um, I'm just not going there.

So my family rocks and the only thing even close to an issue was one man who didn't feel comfortable hugging me while my boob was hanging out. Boo to anyone who made you mamas uncomfortable!

[Kari_mom]

[QUOTE=CryPixie83]The only comment I have gotten so far was at a dinner gathering at the coven house. It was from a friend of ours who is a drag queen (and flamboyantly gay) and he walked into a room unaware that I was nursing (I usually show the whole boob since dd likes to lift and kick my shirt up) and the poor guy got an eyefull. He wasn't rude about it, it was actually pretty funny... he covered his eyes and turned around and made an "good lord, girlfriend" like I had surprised him. It made me giggle.[QUOTE]

That's the pretty much the same reaction I got from my deer-hunting, snuff-rubbing, plaid flannel wearing redneck hetero brother-in-law!

Sadly, he died of colon cancer when he was 30. I was always proud of the way he accepted my breastfeeding, my sister didn't bf nor did anyone in his family. You were right, Daryl, that is what they are for.