Here are my favorite entries to Motherwear's last nursing story/tip contest. You can see more here, including the winner Genet, pictured to the left.
Ever think that breastfeeding might help you at a dicey border crossing? Read on and enjoy.
While nursing my newborn, my 4yr old sat down next to me. She said “Mommy, babies like mommy boobies and not daddy boobies...right?” I said “Right.” She said “Babies like drinking milk from mommy boobies and not hair from daddy boobies.” Then just for more clarification she said, “Babies only drink from boobies and not bottoms...right?” Right. Glad we were able to clear all that up. - Erin
It was 2:00am and I had been cramped in a car with four other people for well over 12 hours, therefore I was in no mood to deal with the argumentative border guards of Romania. My 13month old son (at the time) and I had been in Romania for well over 6months caring for my ill husband, but due to the fact that I had no Romanian I.D., my stay there was considered illegal. I attempted to explain the situation to the young man who despite his rough speech was quite pleasant compared to others I had dealt with. He took the legal documents I had (marriage license, birth certificate, death certificate - all Romanian) and walked off with them making us wait for a significant amount of time. My cousin who had been driving and was more familiar with their ways said ¨I think they’re waiting for a bribe of some sort... They can wait all they want! They’re not getting anything!¨, was my curt reply. The guard returned and asked my cousin to step out of the car in order to talk to him...They spoke (or rather argued) and we continued to wait. My son, who had been sleeping until then, woke up to all this commotion and started whimpering. That was my cue. Although breastfeeding is quite common in this country (more so than in the US), you will not see most decent women in public doing so. It is considered rather inappropriate and makes most decent men uncomfortable. As I saw the young awkward guard approaching the car again I took my son from his car seat and latched him on. He came to my door and asked me to exit the vehicle. At least he attempted to do so, but stopped mid-sentence when he saw what was happening. He retracted his words and said I could remain in the car. I was already grinning inwardly. I then proceeded to open the window and engage in the discussion I knew was coming. To my delight, it did not last long. He seemed very concerned that the window not remain open for too long lest the child catch a cold and he was having a hard time making eye contact. His tone of voice was more polite than I expected and after briefly explaining a few legal things he said I must quickly close the window and let the ¨Prince¨ rest easy. =) I thanked him politely, closed the window, waited for my cousin to climb back into the car and then I burst into laughter. *Note* I was indeed wearing a Motherwear top and so I wasn’t ¨showing¨ anything. I’m a decent woman :) - Ella
My favorite nursing story goes all the way back to my first child. She was born in Italy while my husband and I were stationed there with the US Air Force. Upon my return to the US while my husband deployed to Iraq in 2003, I had to go through customs. I had my 5 month old daughter strapped to me in the infant front (Bjorn) carrier, a backpack, and diaper bag on me, while waiting for the luggage at the carousel. A customs officer and his dog came sniffing around me and the dog seemed to be quite interested in me, more than I was comfortable with. The officer asked if I had any organic material with me, like fruits or vegetables. I said, "No." He did not believe me because of the dog's keen interest. It was at this point that I figured it out. I turned to him with as straight a face as I could muster and said, "Well, I do have some breast milk in this backpack, would you care to see it?" He turned many shades of red, couldn't find any words to come out of his mouth, gave me a sheepish, "No, and sorry to bother you ma'am.", while trying to get away as quickly as possible! I was laughing so hard to myself at his uncomfortableness that I nearly missed my luggage coming around on the carousel! - Robbyn
I am the first one to breastfeed in my family and so my family was a little hesitant at the thought of me nursing my son in the same room as them. I came across your site and quickly ordered several tops. The story that sticks out in my mind was when my husband's cousin came over to visit us. I was feeding my son when he came in, gave a kiss hello to all of us and then sat right next to me on the couch. Time and conversation had passed and I went to burp my son and the discussion of feeding came in to topic... he put two and two together and immediately said "WAIT, you were just feeding him this whole time!!!???" He had NO clue I was feeding the baby because your tops are awesome! No one ever notices or stares because they can't tell. It simply looks as if I am holding a sleeping baby. :) From then on it doesn't matter who is around me when I nurse my 2nd child now, because they all know that I wear a Motherwear top and feel completely comfortable... and most importantly... SO DO I!!! THANK YOU MOTHERWEAR!!! - Marisa