So I recently joined a lovely group of holistic mothers. For me, I don't like to label myself or be extreme. I tend to find the happy medium between Natural and Modern. There was an overall civil debate and I thought I would throw my 2 cents in, since I am a woman that believes in modesty, I breastfeed and I feel breastfeeding is not immodest. So here was my take, when the question was asked, why does a modest mother feel a need to uncover? What are the reasons?
I have 2 kids - a 3 year old and a 5 month old baby. I breastfed my first to 30 months and used a cover the entire time. I never considered not using a nursing cover until I met many attached parenting moms discreetly breastfeeding without covers, even some LDS. I kind of wore the cover, because I assumed it meant modestly breastfeeding. I was surprised that they challenged my beliefs in terms of why does one need to breastfeed modestly if breastfeeding is not an immodest thing?
So I guess I am both. I use a cover and I don't. When I am in my own home with just my husband and children, I have never used one, because I don't see the need with how little my children are. Not sure if my perspective of that will change when my children are older or not. Now I put on my cover to get baby latched on, pull my shirt down as to not expose anything and take cover back off depending on where I am. When I go to park play dates where its the entire AP group of moms at the park breastfeeding discretely or publicly, I discreetly breastfeed without my cover. When I am at my breastfeeding support group in a room full of moms breastfeeding, I tend to discreetly breastfeed as well. When I am visiting family with males present, sometimes I tend to lean towards a cover, but will discreetly breastfeed if my baby is more fussy and doesn't want to be cover. I kind of agree with the comments of applauding women for breastfeeding and not getting caught up in the little details of covered or uncovered. I personally think if you're discreetly breastfeeding or you're modestly covered with a nursing cover you're still being modest. But that's my personal opinion, since I don't think breastfeeding is something that should be considered immodest. Although, I cover with a nursing cover or discreetly breastfeed with my shirt, I don't find the women who choose to wear nothing offensive.
Some of the reasons, I do think some might like not wearing a cover and / or finding un-necessary, as a first time mom breastfeeding can sometimes be challenging, and having to learn to breastfeed a baby and using all the breastfeeding gear, nursing cover, nursing pillow, nursing bra...can sometimes just be too overwhelming. I think a reason stated already, babies don't always like to be covered. They can get fussy and annoyed by being covered. Although I didn't realize it until having a second baby, pulling out a nursing cover in a room where you are the only one breastfeeding is kind of like a "I'm going to breastfeed my baby" banner, or you can easily pick out a breastfeeding mom, because she has a cover. I usually spot one, mostly because I am admiring the beautiful pattern of their cover, that may or may not match their diaper bag and car seat cover.
Because I am one of the moms that have been able to successfully breastfeed in my group of mommy friends who are not holistic / natural/ AP, i have been asked on more then one occasion for breastfeeding help. We were all LDS women, but because there is this need for modesty and some even linking showing your breast as completely immodest, that I was not really able to help them be successful in breastfeeding, it was just information and a mother feeling awkward, because she wasn't comfortable bearing her breast to another sister she asked help from. I am not accustomed to people seeing mine, but when I struggled with breastfeeding in the beginning with my first, it was more important for me to allow the Lactation consultant and my aunt who is a nurse midwife to help me with breastfeeding then it was to try following their advice under a cover with having no clue of what I was doing. So i definitely feel there are times and places one doesn't need to feel like they are going wrong with their modesty when its associated to breastfeeding or learning how to breastfeed. It's kind of like when you're giving birth to a baby, you don't normally have people in between your legs, but you're having a baby and it comes with the territory.
I have 2 kids - a 3 year old and a 5 month old baby. I breastfed my first to 30 months and used a cover the entire time. I never considered not using a nursing cover until I met many attached parenting moms discreetly breastfeeding without covers, even some LDS. I kind of wore the cover, because I assumed it meant modestly breastfeeding. I was surprised that they challenged my beliefs in terms of why does one need to breastfeed modestly if breastfeeding is not an immodest thing?
So I guess I am both. I use a cover and I don't. When I am in my own home with just my husband and children, I have never used one, because I don't see the need with how little my children are. Not sure if my perspective of that will change when my children are older or not. Now I put on my cover to get baby latched on, pull my shirt down as to not expose anything and take cover back off depending on where I am. When I go to park play dates where its the entire AP group of moms at the park breastfeeding discretely or publicly, I discreetly breastfeed without my cover. When I am at my breastfeeding support group in a room full of moms breastfeeding, I tend to discreetly breastfeed as well. When I am visiting family with males present, sometimes I tend to lean towards a cover, but will discreetly breastfeed if my baby is more fussy and doesn't want to be cover. I kind of agree with the comments of applauding women for breastfeeding and not getting caught up in the little details of covered or uncovered. I personally think if you're discreetly breastfeeding or you're modestly covered with a nursing cover you're still being modest. But that's my personal opinion, since I don't think breastfeeding is something that should be considered immodest. Although, I cover with a nursing cover or discreetly breastfeed with my shirt, I don't find the women who choose to wear nothing offensive.
Some of the reasons, I do think some might like not wearing a cover and / or finding un-necessary, as a first time mom breastfeeding can sometimes be challenging, and having to learn to breastfeed a baby and using all the breastfeeding gear, nursing cover, nursing pillow, nursing bra...can sometimes just be too overwhelming. I think a reason stated already, babies don't always like to be covered. They can get fussy and annoyed by being covered. Although I didn't realize it until having a second baby, pulling out a nursing cover in a room where you are the only one breastfeeding is kind of like a "I'm going to breastfeed my baby" banner, or you can easily pick out a breastfeeding mom, because she has a cover. I usually spot one, mostly because I am admiring the beautiful pattern of their cover, that may or may not match their diaper bag and car seat cover.
Because I am one of the moms that have been able to successfully breastfeed in my group of mommy friends who are not holistic / natural/ AP, i have been asked on more then one occasion for breastfeeding help. We were all LDS women, but because there is this need for modesty and some even linking showing your breast as completely immodest, that I was not really able to help them be successful in breastfeeding, it was just information and a mother feeling awkward, because she wasn't comfortable bearing her breast to another sister she asked help from. I am not accustomed to people seeing mine, but when I struggled with breastfeeding in the beginning with my first, it was more important for me to allow the Lactation consultant and my aunt who is a nurse midwife to help me with breastfeeding then it was to try following their advice under a cover with having no clue of what I was doing. So i definitely feel there are times and places one doesn't need to feel like they are going wrong with their modesty when its associated to breastfeeding or learning how to breastfeed. It's kind of like when you're giving birth to a baby, you don't normally have people in between your legs, but you're having a baby and it comes with the territory.
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