Welcome to the July 2010 Carnival of Nursing in Public
This post was written for inclusion in the Carnival of Nursing in Public hosted by Dionna and Paige at NursingFreedom.org. All week, July 5-9, we will be featuring articles and posts about nursing in public (“NIP”). See the bottom of this post for more information.
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NIP @ Baltimore Aquarium
I’ve scattered photos throughout the text of this post. There are a couple of things you need to know about these photos. The first is that I rarely allow pictures of my family to find their way onto the internet. It’s a testament to how important I believe normalizing nursing in public is that I have placed these pictures on this site. Secondly, You are looking at the sum total of the pictures I have been able to lay my hands on documenting the 7 1/2 years I spent breastfeeding my daughters. There are 3 from the time I breastfed Echo and 2 from Harper. That means you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I allowed someone to take pictures of me nursing my babies.
If I had it to do over again I’d allow more pictures. I wouldn’t rewind my life for a picture festival do-over because I could use them now to help normalize the act of breastfeeding for people who haven’t been exposed, though I could. It wouldn’t be because I was ashamed of nursing back then and have grown up since then – I wasn’t ashamed then and I’m not ashamed now. I simply wasn’t interested in having more taken at the time because I generally avoid getting my picture taken when possible. As a result I’ve got almost no record of nursing my girls.
So why would I do it differently if I had the chance to do it all over again?
Nursing Echo
I regret having only 5 pictures of something that was such a large part of parenting my children when they were small. I spent HOURS of my day nursing babies for years. You would never know how much time given the lack of photos. You also don’t know how much time I spent nursing in public, be it with guests in my home or out in the wider world. The evidence was lost through my disinterest in being photographed generally. I regret now that I didn’t think I’d want those pictures in the future. The future is here and I look at the photos I do have and the magnitude of what I let slip through my fingers is Oh So evident. Now, when it is years too late, I do wish I had more photos with all my heart.
NIPing with Harper at age 3 at Disney - Before/During/After
Want to know something sad? I only remembered 3 of these shots. What about the shot of me nursing Harper in the rain poncho you ask?
Totally. Forgot. That.
It’s probably the best photo in the group for normalizing NIP for “extended” nurslings and I forgot I even had it. I forgot I DID that. She was 3 years old at the time and I was gutsy enough to nurse her in a Disney park. I would take bets that it’s the last time I nursed her in public given the stigma mothers face when nursing babies and children over the age of 6 months or a year.
Nursing Echo in the kitchen
I can’t go back and whisper in my younger self’s ear “Take more pictures of yourself nursing. You’ll be glad you did!”. Instead I’m going to tap you on the shoulder and say –
Take more pictures of yourself breastfeeding your babies, your toddlers and your children. You’ll be glad you did.
Barb NIPing K-Man & Me NIPing Echo
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Welcome to the Carnival of Nursing in Public
Please join us all week, July 5-9, as we celebrate and support breastfeeding mothers. And visit NursingFreedom.org any time to connect with other breastfeeding supporters, learn more about
your legal right to nurse in public, and read (and contribute!) articles about breastfeeding and N.I.P.
Do you support breastfeeding in public? Grab this badge for your blog or website to show your support and encourage others to educate themselves about the benefits of breastfeeding and the rights of breastfeeding mothers and children.
This post is just one of many being featured as part of the Carnival of Nursing in Public. Please visit our other writers each day of the Carnival. Click on the links below to see each day’s posts – new articles will be posted on the following days:
July 5 – Making Breastfeeding the Norm: Creating a Culture of Breastfeeding in a Hyper-Sexualized World
July 7 – Creating a Supportive Network: Your Stories and Celebrations of N.I.P.
July 8 – Breastfeeding: International and Religious Perspectives
July 9 – Your Legal Right to Nurse in Public, and How to Respond to Anyone Who Questions It
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I have *lots* of photos of nursing my kids. I read a post like yours, either while I was still pregnant with my first or else when she was new, and I knew that I would want those photos. I’ve even had professional shots done, even of tandem nursing with my 4 year old! (The photographer was a former LLL and didn’t find it odd at all!) A lot of people think it’s weird that I have these photos, but I really do treasure them!
I wish we would have taken more pictures too. I cherish the ones we do have so much!
Oh, how I agree with you! As I wrote my post for the Carnival, I realized I had a grand total of 3 pictures of me nursing my first baby and not a ton more from my second time around.
They are really such beautiful images, but it’s hard to know what will be considered inappropriate by Facebook, LiveJournal, Flickr, etc. I’ve always shared our images on-line for family out-of-state, and in the back of my mind I’ve always thought, “Wait, I can’t post THAT on the Internet!” Often that thought led to putting away the camera all together, and I regret it now that my girls are older.
I am with you! I actually asked for pictures to be taken but *ehem* I only had a few that I took myself. Then are lost on a hard drive that no one can get too right now, included birthing pictures. So not only would I say take pictures, but print/develop them too.
I heard this advice about pregnancy photos, too, but I’ve noticed how people hesitate to take my photo if I’m breastfeeding my son. I agree, it’s something I spend A LOT of time doing (8ish hours/day…it’s my full-time job!), so I’m going to take your advice and take more photos!
I have been taking a crazy amount of photos of my 2nd nursling because I started my blog and wanted more nursing photos. I have some b eauties of my first but she was already 23 months old then (a photographer friend took them). I don’t have any good ones of her when she was a baby because we had a crappy digital camera back then and I’m not much of a photographer mysef. Anyhow, I cherish the ones I have though. I give the same advice. These times are precious.
Anybody else have this problem? I have hundreds of photos of my children and lots with Daddy as well, but I am the photographer and nobody seems to dash after the camera to capture a shot of me when I’m doing something particularly cute.
Nice photos – I also don’t have many, and wish I did. Maybe if there is another baby….
What a good reminder. I am going to be nursing a new baby in October, and because he’s baby #3, I’m hoping to do better with all types of pictures. Hopefully I’ll be more aware of making sure there are pictures of him nursing.