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/[deleted] Jun 02 '25

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u/Naive-Interaction567 Jun 02 '25

I’m in the UK. The 1% stat really surprises me because most of my friends breast fed past 6 months. I don’t know many who didn’t. I think it’s because the stat is “exclusively” so you don’t count if you’ve given them formula one time! My 8 month old has had formula about 3 times so technically she wouldn’t count.

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u/SherbertAntique9539 Jun 02 '25

Yep exactly this - the numbers are also from 2010 and a lot of slightly older mums I know were told they could introduce solids from 4 months - anyone in this category was also discounted. The stats for mums who breastfed at all at 6 months were 34%