Better4Baby: Nursing in public: Why I don't cover up.

Better4Baby: Nursing in public: Why I don't cover up.: "I've been asked many times by non breastfeeding friends what they should do when they see me nursing my little one. 'Where should I look? ..."

Nursing in public: Why I don't cover up.

I've been asked many times by non breastfeeding friends what they should do when they see me nursing my little one.  "Where should I look?  Why don't you put a cover on? Why not go into another room?"

My reasons are personal ones and it may be different for other people but for me at least, my answers to the previous questions are this:

Where should I look? 

At me, the baby, or where ever you are comfortable looking.  As long as you are not trying to stare down at my breasts, we'll be fine. 

Why don't you put a cover on?

Because my baby never liked it when I tried to use one, when he was a newborn he would cry and scream when he was covered or in the dark.  We literally had to sleep with the lights on for the first few weeks of his life or there would be no sleeping.  So a cover was abandoned quite quickly as he would not nurse as soon as I put it on he would let go and cry.  When he got older he just threw it off anyway so what's the point then?

If you use a cover that's great for you but not everyone can or wants to.  After all it is another thing we have to keep in that already overflowing diaper bag.  LOL

Why not go into another room?  (Notice I didn't say bathroom, my friends know that would be gross to ask anyone to eat in there, including babies.)

I am not trying to make you uncomfortable.  I just need to feed my baby and I don't want to have to leave what we're doing or our conversation to go be board for 15 to 20 min.  By the time I get back I will have likely forgot what I was doing or saying.  So why not do it now and get it done. 

What I use to Cloth Diaper

I did not spend a lot of money on my cloth diaper stash.  I wish I could, mind you, but I did not.  When I was pregnant my mom bought me a name brand set of prefolds at a nationwide chain store.  Research about these told me they were nearly useless when it came to absorbing anything (especially pee).  Plus at that time I knew nothing about prepping diapers.

When I begin to research cloth diapers more I read on one of the forums I was in, that you could use old receiving blankets as flats.  Well I had a ton of these and being as broke as I was I researched this option more.  It turned out that any mostly cotton blanket could be folded and made into a flat diaper.  But these need covers.  And I was not about to buy any rubber pants. 

A friend of mine told me she used to cloth diaper her son and still had everything but there was mostly only newborn sizes.  She looked through her stuff and found she had a medium cover and lent it to me to use along with 2 one size pockets.  So I started looking at folding styles.  Found one that worked for me and went full speed ahead. 

Along the way I have picked up 4 all in ones (great for daddy or baby sitters), 2 fitteds, 2 of my own covers (friend has hers back now), a few hemp doublers and am always searching thrift stores for cheap receiving blankets (50 cents or less). 

Why did I stick with the blankets?  Because used ones are cheap and they have cutes prints unlike the birds eye cotton flats I’ve seen.