Today I joined a bunch of mummies for a nurse-in at the Brighton branch of Sports Direct.
It was great to join together to feed our babies but really unfortunate it had to happen.
Why were we protesting? Because Sports Direct has failed to apologise or even comment after staff at its Nottingham store told Wioletta Komar to leave while she was breastfeeding her three-month-old son.
Some people may argue she should have fed him before going out, she should have given a bottle of expressed milk or fomula. But why?
For starters young babies don’t feed to a timetable. It wouldn’t have mattered if I’d breastfed my daughter before we went out or not, if she wanted to eat she’d demand it. That’s how demand feeding works.
Breast milk is digested quickly so babies feed approximately every two hours. You feed, you get into town and before you know it a small person wants more.
Expressing is not easy. Many times I’ve spent 20 minutes pumping for little more than a dribble. What makes matters worse is my daughter took four expressed bottles when I needed to pop out without her before refusing.
Watching that hard won breast milk go down the sink felt like seeing my liver going down the drain.
As for formula, why pay when I produce free food my child wants to eat?
Years ago mothers fed their children in public all the time. It was the norm and should continue to be considered normal. What went wrong? Page three and the supposed ease of formula. Bottles became the way babies were fed and nipples were sniggered at during tea break.
I’m a mammal, this is how my child feeds before six months. She continues to feed on mother’s milk until she’s ready to stop.
Mummy powers 