Breastfeeding in public is a topic that still causes stir. While some believe women should breastfeed their babies whenever they are hungry, others are convinced that doing that in public is embarrassing. The latter probably don’t understand that breastfeeding is a natural and essential practice for both the mother and child.
The truth is that many mothers feel uneasy about nursing in public because of all the stares and comments, but not this mother.
Trinati is a mom of a 17-month-old daughter whom she breastfeeds whenever the little one feels like eating. However, this have put her in situations which she didn’t like, such as employees at stores asking from her to hide inside broom closets in order to feed her baby.
Holding onto the belief that breastfeeding is a natural and beautiful process no mom should ever be ashamed of, Trinati decided to do something about raising awareness.
One time, while breastfeeding her daughter at Costco, she asked from her son to take a picture that she later posted on the social media. “I never shy away from providing my children with what they may need from me based on our surroundings.”
The thing is that apart from facing stares and judgement from strangers, she also gets a lot of questions from her friends and family. When they ask, “How long are you going to do ‘that’ for?” her answer is always, “As long as she needs me to!” And then, the jokes follow, with some laughing that she would probably be breastfeeding her daughter until she’s in kindergarten.
This mom is fed up of people sexualizing her breastfeeding and judging her for it. She said in an interview, “Really? Have you SEEN breastfeeding breasts? My nipples are very far from looking like something someone may fantasize about! Ha!”
She went on, “These are basically udders right now. Get over yourself! I’m not trying to steal your man or lady with these bad girls! To me, they have become so far from feeling like a sexual part of my body. Right now they belong to my child for nourishment, both physically and emotionally.”
She wants people to understand that breastfeeding is a natural way to nourish a child and should not be viewed as sexual.
“I don’t expect all men or those who have never breastfed to understand the ways in which mothers have the endurance to deal with nipple-pinching or straight-up acrobatics while breastfeeding,” she explained. “I have received the strangest glances and awkward giggles when people watch my 1.5-year-old standing on my lap while suckling … sometimes on one leg!”
“I had my son take that photo of us in Costco because I never want to forget (and [I want to] show my daughter in the future) the lengths we, as mothers, will go to when ensuring our kids are well looked after no matter the situation,” she said.
“My baby’s needs come waaaaaay before anyone else’s attempts to make me feel inappropriate for this sometimes-public act of nourishing and/or comforting my children,” she wrote in the caption for the Instagram post.
Trinati wants her children to know they they would always be her priority regardless of people’s judgement.
“Trust is a fundamental tool for developing healthy relationships and it begins with the care that we receive in childhood,” she said. “For me, breastfeeding demonstrates this to my children, and for this reason, I will never feel shame for allowing a baby of mine to do this with me in any environment.”
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