by Heather Kelley

Created on: January 04, 2009

At first, the idea seems ludicrous - a bit scary, even. "To breastfeed a baby in public? Unheard of! Absurd! To breastfeed a baby in public? Unthinkable!" is the determined cry of countless parents (and quite a few more un-parents) across the nation.

You sweat a little, just thinking about it. Can you really do it? Do you even WANT to?

You put the idea aside, tucking it away in that convenient back corner of your brain's filing cabinet, where you won't even have to think about it. But then the Big Day arrives. The moment of reckoning occurs. It's all or nothing.

It happens this way, usually: you're out, in public, with your sweet little one. S/he is all smiles (or serious but calm, depending on your wee bairn's personality), and then the darling starts to fuss.

"Maybe it's time for a diaper change," you think nervously (and hopefully, to your chagrin). But then you do the Sniff Test and it comes up clean. Unfortunately for you, your small bundle is STILL continuing to fuss. Squirm. And...oh, no. Root.

If you're a formula-supplementing mom, you've got no problem (sort of). Wip out the bottle, the powder, the water, mix it all together, and enjoy the blissful stares of passers-by who are touched beyond words by the completely non-threatening and unoffensive sight of a mother bottle-feeding her hungry babe.

But if you're an exclusively breastfeeding mama, you've got a problem. A big one. And s/he (or they) is starting to kick up a big old ruckus in the middle of a crowded mall (fill in the blank for "any public place," but crowded mall is simply for the sake of example).

And...dang, darn, and completely consarn that scientifically documented condition known as "momnesia"...you forgot to bring a blanket for that slim just-in-case. It's roasting outside, for Pete's sake (again, for the sake of example). Junior gets hot and sweaty enough as it is without being confined beneath a blanket (even a thin one). You just didn't think clearly enough about it to remember. It slipped your mind.

Now, The Quiz runs through your panicked mom-brain. Should you, you wonder:

a) Run all the way out to the car so you can be "in private," albeit in an even more hot and sweaty place, where strangers could possibly walk by and spot you through the windows (if said windows are without tint),

b) Run into the bathroom for the same reason, knowing that at least it's (usually) air-conditioned in there, hoping they have a sort of mother's lounge-but if they don't, you cram you, your babe, your ginormous

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