[..Penelope..]

My sister has a tanning appointment, and asked me to come along to watch her daughter while she is in the booth. It is going to be TOO hot to nurse Logan with a cover, but I know he is going to want to eat, so today is THE day I have NIP on numerous occasions with my cover, and even though I sometimes still feel nervous about it, I've gotten more comfortable with time. I am SO nervous to do it without a cover! I am going to use the two shirt method in order to be as discreet as possible, but there is just this anxiety in the pit of my stomach.

I will just keep reminding myself endlessly that it is for my baby's comfort, and he deserves to eat comfortably more then a stranger deserves to have their opinion considered. Wish me luck! I will let you know how it goes

[mgm78]

You go girl!

[L-SBB]

good luck P!!! power to the hungry baby peeps!! let us know how it goes!

[QueenCrafty]

Good luck!

[Shantastic27]

Oooh, can't wait to hear how it went!!

[andi2284]

You go girl! How did it go?

[**Jenn**]

I hope it went well!!!

Am I an oddball for never ever using a cover when NIP?

[MommaDucks]

You can do it! If I, a person who was PETRIFIED of NIP w.o a cover, I am talking complete anxiety attack when I had to do it the 1st time can do it, you can. If you are feeling uncomfortable getting your little one latched on, turn facing the wall while latching on. Turning away from people while getting the latch right is the only way I can nurse in front of strangers. I ALWAYS use the two shirt method whenever I leave the house.

[RUNNER25]

How did it go??

[..Penelope..]

That particular day...COMPLETE disaster. My sister's daughter is 18 months, and very high spirited. The entire hour and a half we were out, I was able to feed Logan for about 5 minutes while on a bus (with my cover, because people were piled on top of each other, and I just felt SO uncomfortable). When we got to the tanning place, it was TINY...our two strollers pretty much took up the entire reception...and HOT. I had to keep my sister's daughter trapped in a chair by putting a stroller in front of it so that she wouldn't run out the door into traffic. I couldn't stop watching her for even a second, so no chance to nurse Logan. She was SO bored...thank goodness Logan fell asleep. But I felt so bad, because it was hot out, and I drank a ton of water, and Logan got nothing that entire time. I was going to feed him after my sister was done, but J came to pick us up and Logan was still sleeping, so I just let him nurse as much as he wanted when we got home. He didn't seem bothered by it at all, so maybe it was just me all worried because normally, he very rarely goes more then an hour before nursing.

Today........Logan and I went to the mall so I could get an eyebrow wax and we could do some shopping for daddy and Grandpa for Father's Day. I think it's official that I have THE most distracted nurser in the entire world. I used my cover to latch him on and I was going to take it off when he was settled down, but that only happened once. He kept popping off to listen to voices, or to stare at the design on the cover, or to talk to and smile at me. The one time I got him settled, he was uncovered for about 2 minutes before he popped off again But I am very proud of that 2 minutes! I ended up sitting beside an old man on one side and two teenage boys on the other, because those were the closest comfy chairs. I'm not sure what to think of the fact that the teenage boys didn't move Either they were very comfortable with breastfeeding, or they were pervs (Even though they really couldn't have seen anything.)

Before I left the mall, I decided to make use of the mother's room so that I could get a little more food into Logan before the walk home. It's really nice...roomy, quiet, comfy chairs, flat screen tv. It is inside of the womens' washroom, but is separated by a glass door, so you don't have to worry about germs. Anyway, there was another mom in there. I didn't even cover up...just latched Logan on as discreetly as I could and nursed away. I've never done that before...until this week, I was even covering in front of my sister when she came to my house. Then I asked her if she minded being my practice

So I did it!!

Tomorrow is going to be another challenge...it is supposed to be warm, and we have a VERY long bus ride to go visit daddy at work. It is just so hard to even think of being at the FRONT of the bus, with how crowded it is going to be, and there are always drunks, construction workers, and creepy old men on the particular bus that I have to take (we are moving out of this area of the city next month, thank goodness).

Thanks for cheering me on!

[MommaDucks]

Sry that day was a no go, but you are doing great! A little at a time!

[andi2284]

It sounds like you still had a few successful NIP experiences without the cover, even if they were for a few minutes. Way to go! It does get easier the more that you do it. NIP with a distracted baby can be a challenge, I always keep my hand on my shirt or use the thumb of the hand that is supporting my breast to quickly pull down my shirt when she pops off. You can practice at home too and soon you'll feel like a pro!

[KiwiMommy]

Way to go!! I may have to use you as inspiration some time! I'm always putting a blanket around me and I Have, in fact, nursed in bathroom stalls multiple times..that or in a car. I always feel so bad,too..More so seeing all the NIP blinkies.
LOL even at home, I use a blanket! But that's more because I have awkwardly curious little sisters (5+7) who like to try to 'peek' at me.

[mgm78]

good job! it will only get easier

[Cruiser]

Way to go! It gets better each time.

[..Penelope..]

Thank you, ladies

KiwiMommy -

I understand feeling SO nervous and anxious! I think what has helped me is that instead of focusing on how I'm feeling or what someone else might think, I focus on the fact that my baby needs and deserves to eat, and deserves to be as comfortable as possible while he's doing it. He's little, and I'm his only advocate. If I don't stick up for his right to eat comfortably, no one will.

If you can be ok with it, maybe once your little sisters saw what was going on once, it would stop being such a novelty and they would stop being so intrigued. My sister's daughter was pretty curious and my sister warned me that she would probably poke my breast I said that was fine if that's what it took to satisfy her curiosity, as long as it was ok with mom. (But of course wouldn't do that with a stranger's child!)

Please keep me updated on how you are doing, too! Us first time NIP uncovered mommies need to stick together

[krissy1989]

Hi, Penelope! I'm glad to see so many April PR'ers here!

I just wanted to say CONGRATS on your NIP experiences without a cover! That's awesome! I'm still gearing up to it. I can NIP with a cover just fine. But going without one is still such a challenge to me...

I've started using the two-shirt method and practicing at home in front of my family. I honestly didn't even hear of the two-shirt method until I read Shelley's post in one of my BF'ing threads back in the PR, where she talked about how she could be discreet even with large breasts (and that's my problem). So far, I think I'm getting pretty good at it! I actually think that BF'ing like that is more discreet than putting on a huge tent of a cover---which just alerts everybody around me to what I'm doing!

Anyway, I think I'm VERY close to getting the courage to do what you've done! Thanks for being inspiring!

[..Penelope..]

Yay, Krissy!!!!! I have even done it on the bus a couple times, and at my house in front of a male friend!!!

I am still using my cover to latch him, though, and when he pops off. Does anyone have any advice on how to get him latched discreetly? I'm really lost...I know that you can turn away from people, but a lot of my NIP is done in the middle of a mall, where you CAN'T turn away from everyone.

[mnj1983]

I use Paige to cover me. I put her head in front while I'm taking it down, while the hand that is unclasping my bra covers the top, and then I put her on really fast.

[mgm78]

in time it will get much easier to latch the baby on. I know i had to manually put her on the boob (like guide her head) but as she got a bit older, she did it herself, now she walks over and lifts my shirt up, HAHA (not in public though!)