Nursing Ninja- The Shadow Breastfeeder




After yesterday's post, I had a discussion about being a "Nursing Ninja" with some of my friends and decided it would be helpful if I share my personal steps to attaining the esteemed position of Nursing Ninja- The Shadow Breastfeeder.

NIP- Ninja Status

This week, it seems like I have seen more NIP news stories than ever before. For those that are not aware, NIP is an acronym for Nursing In Public. Target stores across the country were descended upon yesterday for "nurse-ins" to protest the treatment one nursing mother received in November. That nursing mother was sitting in a quiet corner, nursing her baby, using a blanket to cover up. Not one but TWO Target employees at the store in question told her that she needed to move somewhere else if she was going to be nursing her baby.

But, it's not just Target. Nursing mothers have been told that they should move to a different location in businesses, parks, and even in their own home. There is a history in our country of nursing mothers being told they should move to the restroom to nurse. Yet each flush of each toilet creates a microscopic mist of germs that takes hours to settle on the surfaces in the bathroom. I certainly don't want my BABY touching the wall of the toilet stall that some jerk is trying to tell me I should be nursing in instead of nursing discreetly at a restaurant. Unless he wants to come in and lick the walls clean first.

Meet The Family

My family is my world. This newfound crunch that has settled in a thin layer over my life recently is all due to research that I did in preparation of the completion of my family. It is only fitting that I introduce them.

First up is the hubby. We are high school sweethearts (awwww) and have been together for almost 12 years now.  We live together, we work together every day, and somehow we have managed to not kill each other yet. Even when we do not agree on a particular topic, we compromise and support each other.

Where Did This Crunch Come From?

While I live in a pretty rural area, my town is large enough that many things are "mainstream". I went with the mainstream for many things growing up, including when I started my family. The only choices I made that were not mainstream for my area was to breastfeed and co-sleep. Well, I made the decision to breastfeed. Co-sleeping was more of a happy accident, a necessity for two tired college students to get sleep with their new baby.


Beyond that, I was the poster child for mainstream. My pregnancy nutrition consisted of taking a prenatal vitamin and eating whatever I wanted, although I tried to eat relatively "healthy" for meals. My childbirth education consisted of the class at my local hospital, where I learned more about standard hospital policies than pregnancy and childbirth. I honestly learned more about pregnancy and birth in high school health and human anatomy classes than in the hospital sponsored childbirth and breastfeeding classes. My births with my oldest two children consisted of pitocin, epidurals, *fear* and doing whatever the nurses told me I should be doing.