Generally we think of “nursing in public” as nursing anywhere besides the privacy of our own homes. However, the laws that protect nursing in public do not apply in the privacy of someone else’s home. Sometimes, the people who should support a nursing mother the most — her extended family and friends — are the ones who are uncomfortable seeing her nursing. In the comments for the last Carnival of Breastfeeding on Nursing in Public, Jenny raised this very issue:
Unfortunately, I have been faced with the choice of covering up/leaving the room to nurse or starting a big fight–especially …read more

The debate rages on about breastfeeding in public and whether or not nursing mothers need to be “discreet.” Jennifer B. wrote in to share her concern:
“In the latest issue of Parents Magazine (May 2009), on page 106, there is a blurb about nursing in public. It really made my hair curl! The paragraph, part of the Manners section, asks the question, “It is okay to nurse my baby in a restaurant?” Jana Banin, the etiquette columnist, says, ”Yes, as long as you’re discreet: Think scarves, shawls, dark booths, or quiet corner tables. No doubt you crave brunch as much as …read more

There’s an interesting article entitled “Not Your Mother’s Milk” by Viv Groskop in yesterday’s Guardian on current trends in wet-nursing (hiring someone else to nurse your baby) or the more informal “cross-nursing” or “shared feeding” among close family members and friends. Groskop touches on the morality and legality of the practice around the world, and she mentions the fact that having a wet-nurse has become a status symbol in some countries and is becoming more popular in Hollywood.
For more on the subject, see what La Leche League has to say about wet-nursing and cross-nursing, and read about the history …read more