Also, why is it that no places are nursing friendly at all? Would it hurt Walmart or Target to put a chair in the bathroom so that nursing mothers can have a place to sit and nurse a baby? It doesn't even have to be a fancy chair. Frankly, I would prefer a plastic chair that could easily be sanitized. Nathaniel nurses a lot. And I like to go places. I would like to be able to nurse him comfortably. I'm not comfortable nursing in public without a light cover, and it's extremely difficult to sit in a chair at a restaurant and nurse him while trying to be discrete. Nursing is supposed to be acceptable these days, so why not make it a little easier for nursing moms. Even though I use a cover, I still get weird looks when I nurse him in public places. It just makes no sense to me. I generally just nurse him in the car in parking lots. At least I can control the A/C and the music in there...
Anyway, rant over. Monday and Tuesday we had a site visit at the Hilton Orlando. Nathaniel came along. On the drive down he did pretty well and only cried for a little bit. This is how he started the trip off. He did this for like 10 or 15 minutes straight before he zonked out.
Silly Boy (I have no idea how to get a video from Photobucket to just display in the blog, but you should go watch it cuz it's cute)
I also brought a bottle of milk and pumped a little while we were en route. That helped keep him calm. We had a meeting with the hotel and Nathaniel was super friendly and happy. We took a tour and he just sat in his stroller with his feet propped up.
I even took him swimming. He LOVED it! Can't wait to take him swimming again. By dinner that night, he had had it though. So I took him up to the room and got him ready for bed. My room didn't have a bathtub, so I just bathed him in the sink. It was tiny, but I really just wanted to get the chlorine off his skin and help him relax a little.
The cribs in hotel rooms look like cages. He woke up at 12, 2:30, 4:20, 5:30, and 7:30. I don't know if it was the creepy crib that freaked him out or just the over-stimulation of being on a trip. I just wanted to sleep!!
Anyway, the drive home was a lot less pleasant. He's had a stuffy nose and a bit of a cold which made it harder for him to stay asleep and I didn't have any milk in a bottle because I had to use all I brought or throw it away. We had to pull over at one point so I could nurse him and then he did better.
By the time we got off the interstate in Tally he had had it.
He was really happy to see Daddy when we got home. It was adorable.
Oh and lately I've been stupid, and he's been grabbing my hair a lot. I just love the look on his face in this picture.
i personally think feeding child in the bathroom is not only disgustingly unsanitary, but very degrading. i have lots of frustration about this. we as a country don't support breastfeeding mothers at all and that's maybe why so many bottle feed (not that there's anything wrong with choosing to). i hate having to pump in the bathroom at school and avoid it at all costs. i would rather drive home from school just to feed my baby (and do often). As for nursing in public, it is an incredible hassle trying to find a comfortable spot to nurse the baby, so i just nurse him before i leave somewhere with him (he goes 3-4 hours between feedings), but if i do need to nurse him, i will. i tried using a cover once and it was horrible. i usually wear a nursing tank underneath and just lift my shirt and you can't see ANYTHING. it's so discreet that no one ever notices, but it is such a hassle to try and sit somewhere comfy (at Target, i once used some of their furniture to sit on). Anyway, i feel that if mothers were given more education and support on breastfeeding, then more would, and then there would be more nursing rooms! the ones they have at IKEA are lovely, btw. Also, I'm glad that you have stuck with breastfeeding. it has been so rough for me. i struggle almost daily...
ReplyDeleteyour little boy is such a cutie btw! i hate it when they cry with those big fat tears.
ReplyDeletenurse in the dressing rooms! love him with his little feet propped up, those chill, pleasant attitude moments definitely make it all worth it!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Jadith. I really don't want to sit in Walmart's bathroom and nurse. I think stores should have a separate mother's lounge of sorts just to feed babies in a quiet area. I just think they should make some sort of effort. And I would rather juts nurse in my car in that case. haha.
ReplyDeleteSomeone actually recommended nursing in the dressing rooms to me, but I usually don't think about it when I'm at a store. Or I'm in a restaurant. It's hard to nurse him at a table in a noisy restaurant. He gets so distracted. I really just need a quiet, somewhat private location. But for now, I suppose I'll just stick to nursing in my car in parking lots and attempting to nurse at tables in a restaurant...
Duh. I didn't think of the dressing rooms at Walmart and Target! I do think a mother has the right to feed her baby wherever and however she wants, but if she wants a nice quiet place, there should always be one available.
ReplyDeleteI meant to ask, where do you get your nursing tanks? I haven't had much luck finding good ones.
DeleteI got all mine at Target! they are great! That's pretty much all I wear. They are the tank tops that buckle down like a nursing bra. I have a white one, a black one and a grey one. I had a few nursing bras as well, but I didn't anticipate my *cough* boobs to get so big so these are all I wear. They also have the nursing bras that aren't really bras, they are just cotton and you push the fabric aside. I wear those at night.
DeleteBrinley was about 5 months when we drove cross country to come out for law school, and girl, I nursed on toilets at gas stations. Trust me--not my finest moments! I had to change her, go pee, and nurse her every time we stopped. After that trip, Brinley was so good in the car, and still is. Babies just gotta realize that we ain't stopping!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, more nursing friendly places would be so nice, but I usually just nurse in the car or in changing rooms. At restaurants, if I've had to nurse, I just ask them to put a chair in a stall for me.
Loooove that one of him in the stroller with his feet propped up. Jackie said that when Jefferson was little they would feed him at the table, and he would prop his feet up at the table. Just chillin, eating some peas like it ain't no thing. Maybe its genetic (or just a thing babies like? hah)
ReplyDeleteAnd it would be nice if they started including a little side room in women's restrooms with plastic chairs and a changing table. Maybe someday it'll be standard! Viva la revolution!
Yeah, I hate that whole nursing/diaper changing thing too. What gets me is a lot of times they don't have a changing table in the men's bathroom. Ben calls them sexist establishments. And at some places, nursing can just be a nightmare. It's pretty sad when your only option is to sit in a bathroom stall. Ah the joys of being a parent. At least your little guy is super cute
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