This Week's Advice

There are a lot of breast-feeding coverups out there, but this one -- the bebe au lait -- is really good. (And don't even get me started on the Baby Bjorn which claims to be something you can breast-feed in, but they simply show you a photo and skip over the part where actually, well, you really just can't.) The men in my life claim that if the point is to be subtle, then the great big, 70s print isn't the way to go. The women in my life know that fasion is all, and we're not really trying to be subtle about anything -- it's just that in certain situations the full naked breast isn't quite polite.

In the pic you can see the bug's little foot while he eats. What you can't see so well, is that right at the top, just beneath my neck, the bebe au lait is affixed with a piece of circular wire that holds it away from my body. That rigid neckline means I can see everything going on, the baby can see me, and the coverup doesn't drape across his face convincing the average mom that her child is suffocating no matter how many times the rest of the family says you're being paranoid.

I think most mothers get over the fear of breast feeding in public fairly quickly, but at the beginning it's a bit tough because part of the problem is that neither you nor the baby is all that coordinated. The bebe au lait is pretty (it comes in many different fabrics), big enough to cover everything, and open enough to give you a great view. A highly-recommended item!

Week 2: This Week's Advice

This is advice I got from a friend of mine when I was only four or five months pregnant. She said to start pumping from the very beginning so that other people could get involved feeding him a bottle ASAP. It means that a) Steve can handle a feeding during the nighttime, or for that matter any time I'm just not up for it and b) it trains the child early to feel comfortable with a bottle.

(I am aware that there is a whole theory about the baby not wanting to take the breast if he sees how much "easier" the bottle is -- but since there are so many more kids who reject the bottle in favor of the real thing, I strongly suspect that the real issue is the mother. I mean that bottle is so much easier for ME. I'm still struggling to get him to feed properly, and I can see how there's some nice peace of mind with knowing, "Phew, I just watched him eat, it wasn't frustrating for either of us, let's do that more often.")

I got a rental pump from the hospital for $75 a month. It's not peanuts, but it's not exorbitant either, considering it's stronger than a commercial grade pump, and the best of those (which aren't as good as the one I have) cost some $250.

So: rent a hospital-grade pump, teach the kid to use a bottle (but don't give up on learning how to feed him the normal way), and let all the other people in your life feed the baby once a day and/or once a night. It does wonders for your psyche.