Boobs

I didn't think I would end up doing a post about breastfeeding. There are loads of articles out there about it, and I didn't think I would have anything to add. But maybe I do. These are just my thoughts.

Background: I am lucky in that Archer has been breastfed from day 1, and we started him on solids before he was 5 months. So at 6 months now, he still gets most of his calories from me, but we're increasing the amount of solids he gets.

Anyway, I have 6 months experience with breastfeeding and I'm getting to the point where I really just. don't. care. anymore. Just this morning, I was at a small restaurant for brunch with some girlfriends when Archer needed to be fed. Every other time I've been in this scenario, I've dug out my cover, got everything set up and awkwardly fed Archer at the table as he gets distracted and overheats because of the cover. But something happened today - without even thinking about it, I had set up and started feeding without the cover. By the time I realized I wasn't even using the cover, he was already feeding and I tried to grab a blanket to make a bit of a visual block from the rest of the restaurant. But Archer wouldn't even deal with it. "Get this freaking blanket off my head! Do you have to eat with a blanket over your head, Mom?!" - this is what his eyes and yells were telling me.

I'm not all that militant about the right to breastfeed wherever it is needed (though I appreciate the people who do fight to make it less weird for me to feed him in the middle of a restaurant). But personally, I think I'm at the point where it's such a non-issue that I would never even consider asking permission to feed my kid wherever I am. It's food, and babies get angry about not having it very quickly. I'm pretty sure we'd all prefer to have a boob in a restaurant than a baby crying loudly.

And honestly, this far along you get pretty good at guerrilla feedings. At a mall? Find me a quiet alcove that's not too dirty and I can nurse on the floor pretty comfortably. At the zoo? Just sit on a little hill near a picnic table. At a restaurant (I think this is actually one of the most difficult places to nurse)  Find some room between yourself and the table and make it happen. On a roadtrip? Feeding in the car is pretty easy.

Anyway, Boobs. They are there. Sometimes you might see one (if you're lucky. HA!). Whatevs. How about we give some props to the moms who are managing to feed their babies in some seriously awkward situations?