Experience the Joys of Nursing

by Amy Kotler MD

I am an Orthodox Jewish woman and a pediatrician and a mother! I am currently nursing my first child Hannah (pronounced "chana") who is 21 months old. She nurses very frequently when-ever she wants where-ever she wants. I don't always use a sling, but it does help carry her and hide what I'm doing. Most of the time, I forget my sling at home and I find it just as easy if not easier to get her in position with out it. I always wear 2 piece outfits and just lift up the shirt from the bottom. I find nursing clothes tend to be more difficult to use and even more exposing at times. When she was younger, I tried the blanket/bib thing, but neither of us liked it! When she was first born, I definitely had to practically strip down to figure out how to nurse her, so I did do it in a private room, but by 6 weeks we were pros

I had a lot of support from my mother and sister. My mother nursed 3 children in 1968, 1970 and 1978. I'm the middle, so at age 8, I saw my mother nurse my brother and I remember it. What I didn't know until recently was that when he had open heart surgery for a congenital heart disease, she pumped the whole time he was in the ICU to keep up her supply and continued nursing him for 18 months. Thank G-d today he is healthy and smart! Unusual for the severity of his condition! My sister had 2 children who she nursed before I had my first. Her youngest is 18 months older than mine. So she was very helpful to me in help with latching on and the mechanics of breastfeeding. She is not orthodox as I am, and thinks its funny that I cover everything yet "whip" my boob out at every opportunity.

I cover my knees, my elbows, my collar bone and my hair! but you may see a bit of my back or tummy when I'm nursing. If I'm around only women, I don't care. In public, I just hold my daughter close and if I feel a breeze somewhere, I try to rearrange or cover it with my arm or hand. She's pretty quick, so its faster just to get it over with (her nursing needs) than to try and run and hide!

According to Jewish law, I can pray and my husband can pray in front of me even while I'm nursing, so its not exactly considered nakedness. I've very often nursed her in grocery stores (I guess she also gets hungry) At first I held her and stood in a corner pretending I was looking at something, but then I didn't want to waste time, so I learned how to nurse her while she sits in the front and I push the cart! Also holding or in sling while I push with the other hand. It worked best in the winter when I was wearing a big coat which I could pull out the sides of. I do get some stares, but I don't care, I don't feel embarrassed for taking care of my child's needs! I would feel more embarrassed if I had a screaming child or she was running around taking everything off the shelves (which she does when she's not nursing!)

The two pictures are of me and her. The first was at an Orthodox wedding (she's been to quite a few- and no, I'm not the only nursing mother there, although some do it in the bathroom, there are others like me) the other is on our trip to visit friends in Houston at NASA. On the airplane (4 flights) she was great and the people sitting next to me never even knew I was nursing (I hear this from a lot of other e-moms)

After she was born, I stayed home until she was 4 months old. That was a wonderful time together, I never wanted to leave her, and I never gave her a bottle. Then when I went back to work part time, turned out, she wouldn't take a bottle. After trying different methods including spoon feeding and sippy cup, I just gave up pumping and she was fine waiting the 3-4 hrs for me to come to her day care to nurse (lunch etc...)

I left my BF unfriendly office in December, and have since been a stay at home mom to this wonderful active toddler. In Sept. she will go to preschool 3 hrs a day, and I will be opening my own BF friendly office! Its a lot of money (loan) and work- but I'm getting more and more excited every day!

I would love to have a picture of us nursing in one of our 101 positions (she's done it standing on a chair while I cooked!) but I'm afraid of having that kind of contraband in my house, so the sling pic will have to do for now. I hope more women will be able to experience the joys of nursing that we have.