Nursing in Public

I know that for many this is a hot topic. Today was a milestone for me. For the first time I nursed Lily in public. It got me thinking about the whole public nursing thing. I honestly think I did it today because of peer pressure. We were sitting out at Weaver Street and the woman at the table next to ours had just nursed her seven month old. I was afraid she would judge me for mixing up formula.

Not that I really feel bad about giving her formula. Since I gave Lily some formula early on, I got over the fear of formula and usually thought it would be easier to mix that up and feed her it in public than try to nurse her. I know that she gets very little formula in the grand scheme of things, but when I really think about it though, I'd rather nurse her. If for no other reason than it makes me more comfortable and then I don't have to worry about running home to pump.

It's funny because I'm not really a modest person. I don't think I resist nursing her because I don't want to bring out my boob in public. In fact, I don't really worry at all about strangers, and I've nursed and even pumped in front of most of my girl friends. I think I typically hesitate to do it because I don't want to make my male friends uncomfortable. Today, in fact, I waited until the boys were gone to get food to nurse her. I used to nurse her in front of them using my cover, but the nursing cover is no longer an option for my wiggly baby. She can't stand it and thrashes it away.

Josh says it wouldn't make him uncomfortable if one of our friends nursed in front of him, but I tell him that is just because he is so used to it now. Most of the guys that are around us frequently don't have kids yet. I'm not sure they would feel the same way. Any thoughts?