How To Deal With Family Members Or Friends Who Are Uncomfortable With Breastfeeding

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How To Deal With Family Members Or Friends Who Are Uncomfortable With Breastfeeding

Corky Harvey & Wendy Haldeman (Board Certified Lactation Consultants/Co-Owners of The Pump Station) gives expert video advice on: How do I deal with family members or friends who are uncomfortable with breastfeeding?

How do I deal with family members or friends who are uncomfortable with breastfeeding?

We've had many experiences where dads were a little uneasy at first but the moms worked with them, maybe practiced at home and did it in a discreet enough way that the father became easy with it. If he's really uncomfortable then they'll go to another alternative, but most of them work through that, at least in our area where he gets easier and easier because she's not necessarily displaying any part of her breast that's uncomfortable for him. There is so many nifty ways now that you can discreetly breastfeed. It doesn't always work, I know there are some babies that kick it off, they get hot and don't want to be covered. The older baby is tougher to be discreet, but there are lots of clever ways of doing it and a lot of our moms have been able to find those ways that work for them, or not. Some moms do have to get up and go to the car or someplace else because it just isn't appropriate at that particular time. Or the one I mentioned, her father in law, if they were ever to go out to dinner with him, they would have made an alternate choice and fed the baby expressed breastmilk by bottle or she would have gone to the car to do something like that if it were really that severe for that family member out of respect for him, that's what she would choose to do.