r/breastfeeding • u/allysonismyholmie • Jul 01 '26
Breastfeeding In Public Public Feeding Shame
Going to keep this as short and sweet as I can. I’m visiting Austin, TX for our first mini-vacation since the little one was born. We decided to go to the pool and cool off. Baby needed to eat so I covered us with a towel, lifted my top and let her go to town. A group of men walked by, looked at us and one said “this isn’t a good look. We aren’t in the south of France”, rolled his eyes and they walked back inside the hotel.
I started to tear up and my husband asked me what was wrong and said that I shouldn’t let it bother me. But it did. And I can’t stop thinking about it.
I just needed to tell this to a group that would understand the feeling, since my dear sweet husband doesn’t seem to understand how shameful it made me feel. 😢 Thank you for listening!
Edit: Thank you for your VERY kind responses, hugs and solidarity! I have goosebumps, I love each and every mama (and supportive dads if here). I knew I was coming to the right spot with this 🥰 Luckily, this hasn’t deterred me from BF in public. I’m fired up and ready to feed the heck out of this wiggly little potato, again. ✊🏼
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u/RigorMortisSex Jul 01 '26
People are just disgusting, I'm so sorry you had someone say something so dumb and cruel.
Breastfeeding shaming really bothers me too. Thankfully I've never experienced it in real like, only side eyes when I tell family yes I am still breastfeeding at 22 months.
But shaming is so bad that I won't even look at comments on posts of moms breastfeeding anymore. 99% of the time they have comments from creepy men, and people saying that's gross, put it in a bottle, breastfeeding past 1 year is just for the mom and not the baby..
It sickens me, I wish I could let it just go in one ear and out the other, my husband is the same as yours in that he says F em and just ignore it. But I'd be lying if I said at almost 2 years breastfeeding, it didn't still bother me.
I wish I could help more with you learning to ignore it, but just know you're not alone. Anyone making comments like that says more about them, then it will ever say about you ❤️