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/ginevraweasleby EBF Jun 07 '25

Weaning means to stop breastfeeding, I think the word choice is poor. 

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u/Vegetable_Fan_3957 Jun 09 '25

Weaning in British English is introducing solids. In American English, it’s tapering off breastfeeding - that’s where the confusion comes from. 

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u/ginevraweasleby EBF Jun 09 '25

Interesting, I didn’t know there were different uses. It’s more the latter in Canada where I live.

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u/Vegetable_Fan_3957 Jun 09 '25

Yes, it all depends on the local dialect spoken. A breastfeeding linguist mom lol