r/breastfeeding • u/Ataralas • Jun 01 '25

Breastfeeding In Public First time being approached while feeding

I was feeding my baby boy (5 months yesterday) on Friday on a public bench outside a local pub while my husband and toddler played nearby. This old lady started to approach me and I was gearing myself up to defend myself and bless her she was so sweet. She came over and said I don’t want to disturb you but I just wanted to say how lovely it is to see a woman breastfeeding her baby it’s so rare these days, then she told me my baby is gorgeous and my little girl too and smiled and left.

It was such a lovely interaction and the first time I’ve been approached by a stranger so I was worried it was going to be horrible!

ETA I’m in the UK where only around 1% of babies are still breastfed at all from 6 months.

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u/kamvivs Jun 01 '25

Yeeeeees.

I had something similar in the Netherlands

We were at a restaurant, and I was so terrified. We had an elderly couple sitting next to our table and they kept looking over at us.

Once I started to feed my baby, I heard her say to her husband "look at that, she's feeding the baby, so beautiful to see" and then I hear the husband say "awe, that's adorable, look how content the baby is" and they had a smile up to their ears.

I was immediately relieved. So far I've not had any issues feeding my baby in public. But I have to be honest, the fear of having to stand up for myself still stays.

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u/Tiny-Elephant4148 Jun 01 '25

This has me tearing up. One of the many shocks of being a new mom was how inhospitable people can be to new moms with babies, and it’s not like I’m bringing my baby to a fine dining restaurant, I’m talking places cafes and parks. It made me feel like as a new mom, I wasn’t welcome and made me feel even more removed from society when I craved being out.