[MamaChicken]

Last night I went with a friend to one of these "product parties" - like Pampered Chef or Mary Kay. The hostess had two small children - 4yo girl and 2 yo boy. This party was for food products so we were doing tastings of their products. It was late evening and McKenna (2mo) was hungry so I got her settled and started nursing her. The kids had been curious about the baby since we walked in, but OMG once I started nursing her they were just beside themselves!

I had convinced them not to kiss or touch her face, but once she latched on they were all over me, lifting my shirt and trying to see what she was doing. The mom and grandma tried to get them back, but they were insistent. The little girl had a million questions - what are you doing, why is she sucking on your booby!?!, how do your boobies make milk, does it hurt, how does the milk come out, are there holes in your boobies, why doesn't she have a bottle? On and on we went, while I explained in as simple language as I could. It was obvious that they had never seen a baby breastfeed.

Then the little girl ran upstairs to get the baby a crib. Of course it was a tiny doll crib and I explained that McKenna wouldn't fit in it. She asked if her crib at home was bigger, so I had to explain that she doesn't have a crib - she sleeps with mom and dad. That really threw her for a loop!

Mom and Grandma sat through all this and, although mom made different choices, never made a negative comment. Everyone there just took it in stride.

So overall it was a positive experience, but a little odd to educate someone else's child on the care and feeding of babies.

 

[sedalbj]

That happened to me a few yrs back. Those kids wanted to see EXACTLY what was going on, and continued to pull DD's forehead back and she would loose her latch then just get back on. It was a pain but OK w/ me (and their mom surprisingly enough). I guess w/ young kids, moms figure they see mommies boobies often so another mom's boobies are ok to see. But it is so hard to explain breastfeeding to young kids who have never seen it before. There should be a tip sheet or something!

 

[lesley&grace]

I was in my friend's wedding a few weeks ago and while we were getting ready I decided to feed the baby before getting into my fancy dress. Her niece, who is 4, immediately took interest in what I was doing and watched me for a bit quietly. She then asked "How do you do that? How do you make the milk?" I answered that my body does it all by itself, that it knows exactly how to make the perfect milk for my baby. I then asked her "Isn't that cool?" and she replied "Yeah, it's great!" and gave me a great big smile.

Kids rock.