Thursday, August 23, 2007

Dear Diary: Nursing a newborn in public with a todder sorta sucks

Pun not intended.

I am totally comfortable breastfeeding in public. Do I relish it? For the most part, no. Oh sure, I have many pleasant memories of nursing my son in various parks and beaches. My favorite memories of public nursing are in San Francisco and Boston, for sure. However, nursing a newborn while keeping an eye on a 21 month toddler is vexing, to say the least. While Anjali is latched on for dear life, Arun is running around like a mad man. It becomes a very tenuous game of keeping him near me and keeping her latched on. It's not too bad for situations and places where I am familiar with the surroundings and can have a game plan. A particular childen's discovery center we go to, Wonderscope, has a toddler area that is contained. Arun can run free, but can't actually escape too far. I just plan to breastfeed while we are in that area. The malls are a bit trickier. We have one mall that has a nice nursing area in the Nordstrom's store. The problem is this - while I don't mind, I know gals who are not comfortable going into fancy-schmancy department stores and therefore, may be intimidated by using the Nordstrom's mother's room. The other mall nearby has a play area in the food court that is somewhat contained. However, it is crowded, noisy and often full of obnoxious kids not being supervised by their parents. Every single time I am there, I have to jump up at least a few times to save Arun from getting pummeled. And I do NOT feel comfortable nursing in my car in most places - even my local Target. I feel like a sitting duck for purse snatchers and carjackers. It doesn't help that 2 years ago, a guy died in our Target parking lot because a purse snatcher ran him over with a car.

Today was stressful - we went to the Children's Museum of Kansas City. Not only was there NO contained place to nurse Anjali, the museum is located in a mall as well. I was able to keep Arun contained in the stroller by chucking chunks of Larabar at him, but it was stressful once the Larabar was finished since I had forgotten to throw some Hot Wheels into the daypack.

Still, breastfeeding overall is easier to do while on the go. I can't imagine having to pack formula, bottles, etc. When we head out the door, I just pack water and a few Larabars in the daypack - then, we shoot out the door.

2 comments:

Mamma Sarah said...

I had no clue that you were doing another booblog... :-)

Glad to hear that bf in public is good except for keeping Arun entertained.

Jenn said...

another thing to have to over come. Glad to have this to read so that I know what I will potentially be up against.