Nursing Covers

When your baby is a newborn, using a nursing cover is a great way to "break yourself in" to nursing in public. Most tiny babies don't object to having a piece of fabric tossed over their heads, and the stiff neckline of a nursing cover makes it easy for mom to see baby, and for baby to see mom.

When your baby is a bit older, a nursing cover can be used in order to minimize distractions and help baby focus on nursing when you're out and about in an exciting new environment. On the other hand, the cover itself might seem exciting and new to baby, and become its own distraction.

It is very much possible to learn to nurse discreetly without a cover. In fact, a nursing cover is essentially a giant billboard shouting "I AM BREASTFEEDING RIGHT NOW!!!", which isn't really very discreet. I'm half inclined to object to the use of nursing covers AT ALL because of this paradox. Ultimately, though, whatever makes YOU feel comfortable nursing in public is what you should be doing or using. Note that I said whatever makes YOU, the nursing mom, comfortable. This may or may not be the same thing that makes others comfortable. They'll live.

In my personal experience, the one instance in which I find my nursing cover to still be useful is while I'm nursing Rhys, especially nursing a tired Rhys, in his carrier. The cover isn't so much "over" his head in this position as it is "around" his head, which isn't as objectionable to him. It also gives the illusion that I'm walking around with a "sleeping" baby instead of with a "BREASTFEEDING!!!" baby.

I own two covers by Udder Covers which have served me well over these last ten months. Both were purchased using free cover discount codes. Use one of the following codes (sourced via a simple Google search) and you'll pay only $9.95 in "shipping and handling" for your cover (which is still a heck of a lot less than the $40+ covers go for in boutiques): onefree, family2010, babies, cousin2, parenthood (etc., etc. . . . the list goes on.)

Nursing with a cover while shopping at the Queen Mary Scottish Festival

Product Recommendation: Undercover Mama

There are a zillion different options for nursing tops, and which one any particular mother likes best is a matter of personal preference. While some mothers prefer to wear specially designed nursing shirts with cleverly concealed openings, one doesn't need any special clothing in order to nurse a baby. Any shirt that you can lift from the hem, a shirt with a scoop or v neck that you can push down or anything that unbuttons down the front can suffice.

I've always been a fan of the v-neck/push down method, although it can be a bit indiscreet for nursing in public. My new favorite option, for times when I want a little more coverage, is the Undercover Mama.

The Undercover Mama is a tank top without straps that attaches with little clips to your nursing bra. It is designed to be worn underneath any shirt and to provide coverage to the back and belly when lifting from the hem for nursing access. You could accomplish the same effect by wearing a built-in bra style nursing tank under your shirt (I like these ones from Target), but I find that the Undercover Mama is a little less bulky. It also allows you to wear your own, perfectly fitted nursing bra. And the Undercover Mama clips to your bra in such a way that one handed nursing access is still possible, which is great because how many moms do you know who have spare hands free?

Now that Meyers has staged his last stand against nursing covers, the Undercover Mama really helps me to nurse discreetly in situations where I want to be discreet (allow me to qualify that by saying I often exercise my right to nurse INdiscreetly!). However, when I want to keep things under wraps a bit, I'm able to do so quite nicely with the Undercover Mama on.

A few days ago I was nursing Rhys at a museum and a group of guys came up and stood literally 2 feet from me. I was sitting there glaring at them, thinking "Pervs!!!" until I realized . . . they HONESTLY had no idea what I was doing (and likely would've been mortified to figure it out!). I was even less conspicuous than I would have been if I were wearing a nursing cover, and that's worth a recommendation, I think.

Nursing my little bundle on Xmas Eve, wearing the Undercover Mama

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I was not paid to write this post or to endorse the Undercover Mama (Although now that it's out there, I'd gladly take a free nursing shirt. Maybe? Please? Ok, nevermind.)