My most embarrassing breastfeeding-in-public moments

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Having breastfed all three of my children, there have been countless times when I’ve fed them in public. For the most part, these occasions have been pretty uneventful. I’ve never had any negative comments or been made to feel uncomfortable. However, there have been three rather embarrassing occasions which always make people laugh when I recount them, so I thought I’d share them here.

  1. The time I accidentally flashed my brother-in-law
    Little Miss E was just a few weeks old and, during a family gathering, I’d gone into an empty room where I could sit down comfortably and feed her in peace. Thinking I was on my own, the discretion I usually practice in public wasn’t really on my mind, so I happily whipped out my whole boob. It was at this moment that my brother-in-law walked into the room, completely unaware I was there. He is a few years younger than me and at that point in his life was years away from having his own children. Poor guy looked mortified, didn’t know what to say and ran out the room in shock. I thought it was hilarious.
  2. The time I squirted milk in public
    When babies are tiny, they stay stuck to your nipple with their eyes closed, engrossed in their milk. When they get to about four or five months old, they start to get distracted by whatever is going on around them, popping off for fear of missing out on something more exciting. Now, this is never the best thing to happen in a public place, and there has been more than one occasion where my babies have accidentally flashed me, but as it’s usually been in a soft play or toddler group full of mums, it’s never really bothered me. However, there was one time when I was in a café in town and my baby popped off pretty soon into his feed. This is when breast milk seems to flow at its quickest and yep, it gave the phrase milky coffee a new meaning.
  3. The time my toddler explained the intricacies of breastfeeding to two men in suits
    We were the only people sat in the garden of a local coffee shop, where I was feeding Baby I. Two men in suits came and sat on the table next to us, having some kind of business meeting. Little Man O, who was just over two and a half and has always been a friendly little chap, started talking to these two men. “My baby brother is having his booby milk,” he said. “First he is having the right side and then he will have the left side. He sucks the milk out of mummy’s nipple like a straw.” Oh, how I blushed! I could feel the red taking over my cheeks. Thankfully, the men saw the funny side of it. One of them told me he had three children, all grown up now, but his wife had breastfed them. We ended up having a really lovely conversation after that rather embarrassing ice-breaker.

Please tell me I am not the only one to have an embarrassing breastfeeding moment. I’d love to hear your stories. You can comment below, tweet me on @cardiffmummy or come say hello on my Cardiff Mummy Says Facebook page.

I was inspired in part to write this post by Ben Wakeling who asked on his brilliantly entertaining blog Goodbye Pert Breasts whether it is acceptable, when in the company of a breastfeeding friend, for him to look at the baby and risk getting a glimpse of boob without her thinking he’s trying to sneak a cheeky peek. The comments on his blog are well worth a read.

Brilliant blog posts on HonestMum.com

13 Comments to My most embarrassing breastfeeding-in-public moments

  1. Ben Wakeling

    Brilliant! The brother-in-law story is my favourite, although the other two come a close joint second!

  2. It’s not just blokes who can end up getting a unwitting eyeful! There was the time my mate Andy came round the house as we were going out running. You might remember that you were politely chatting away while he was sat on the floor stretching out his groin – and woops out popped little Andy!! We all learnt a lesson that day… never go commando with while wearing running shorts.

  3. This is wonderful! The story about getting the milk in your coffee made me giggle! I have yet to have any embarrassing experiences myself as my little one is not born yet but I am sure I will have my share!

    Emma | frillsanddoodads.com

  4. I was breastfeeding my son who is sick in the ER. There are lots of kids there and there was this guy in front of me. My son is really sick with high fever and he only accepts my milk. He was crying non stop so I have to lift the shirt feed him and well that guy saw my boobs. Oh well =P

    #brilliantblogposts

    • Cardiff Mummy Says

      Awwww your poor little boy. Sounds like a traumatic experience having to take him to hospital. Hope he recovered quickly. xxxx

  5. Thanks for sharing this, sure your brother in law recovered, how funny he felt the need to run out of the room. It just shows how far society needs to come for breastfeeding to be naturalised. Thanks for linking up to #brilliantblogposts x

    • Cardiff Mummy Says

      Poor guy was so embarrassed. A few years later and he has his own baby now, so I think he would be less mortified but at the time, he was so far out of that baby zone, I think he just didn’t know what to do, bless. x

  6. Ha ha that did make me laugh. I’ve flashed plenty of people in my time – the school bus stop was right on a main road so I’d sit there feeding my little one while waiting for my daughter and give the people driving past something to stare at on a daily basis! I also found it amusing to feed infront of men who did everything they could not to stare at my boobs. Infact I remember feeding my daughter when she was a baby infront of a male friend (I was 20 at the time and he was just a bit older), he didn’t know what to look at and then she did one of those ‘adorable’ exploding poos that newborns are so good at, filling her nappy and her sleepsuit as she did – he looked absolutely horrified!

    • Cardiff Mummy Says

      Haha, I wonder what all the people driving to work made of you feeding your baby in the bus stop! That’s the thing with babies though, if they are hungry, then they are hungry! Those exploding poos are really something, aren’t they?! Poor guy must have had a shock! x

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