"Excuse me, ma'am. You can't do that here."

Recently, I've come across a very eye-opening campaign that has sparked tons of controversy. The campaign "When Nuture Calls," was created by two graphic arts students from The University of North Texas who read about a mother who was harnessed in a Texas Target for breastfeeding in public. They were shocked by the story and looked into their own states breastfeeding laws. Once they realized Texas has very weak breastfeeding laws they decided to create campaign posters showing the battle of public nursing many mothers have to go through.

"Welcome to the When Nurture Calls campaign. This aims to protect a mother's right to breastfeed her baby in public by striving to pass the bill HB1706, which will protect breastfeeding mothers from harassment and discrimination when they choose to nurture their child in public." Is the first message you see when visiting the When Nuture Calls campaign site. Many people know is that most states have breastfeeding laws in place, what many people don't know is that there is no penalty for breaking these laws in most of the states. So, nursing mothers have no protection by law to feed their children in a public place.

When Nuture Calls posters show mothers nursing their babies in a bathroom stall after being harassed when feeding in public. 

I think these students have done such an amazing job showing how hard it is to be a breastfeeding mother in the US. I know exactly how these mothers in the posters feel.

When Peeka was a month old my mother and I went to Ikea. I was excited because I knew they had a nursing room so I could feed my newborn without a worry. When we first arrived I went up to the 3rd floor and into the nursing room and nursed my little sleepy baby comfortably. I put her in my sling and shopped my heart out for a few hours until my boobs told me Peeka needed to eat. I headed back to the nursing room and it was locked. I waited a bit and tried again. Locked.

Peeka started to cry her heartbreaking newborn cry and my boobs felt like they were going to explode. My horomones were still a mess and I started getting frustrating and a little panicky. I didn't know where I was going to feed my baby. 

My mom went to get her car while Peeka and I waited. After getting Peeka bundled up and in her car seat (Decembers in Chicago aren't very pleasant) I helped my mom load up our goodies. I still needed to feed my crying baby. I finally just went into a "family" bathroom locked the door and sat on the toilet and nursed Peeka. I wanted to cry. It smelled horrible and people kept knocking on the door. I didn't know what else to do. I felt bad for Peeka and I felt bad for myself. 

After that day I went home and researched my butt off on breastfeeding in public. I searched for local and feeders laws and found that my wonderful state of Michigan only states that breastfeeding isn't considered public nudity. That's it. Most other states that do have nursing in public laws don't have any penalties for breaking those laws. I was so shocked.

After about 4 months of breastfeeding did I really say "Screw everyone." and started feeding Peeka in public freely. I don't just whip out my boobs wherever but I do find a quiet place and feed her. She can't focus if there is a lot going on and gives me nip-flash. I think getting more comfortable with feeding and having a baby who was bigger and could almost sit up alone helped me loosen up and nurse in public. My philosophy is "look at your own risk," when it comes to nursing.

I want all mothers to feel comfortable and able to feed their babies/toddlers in public without feeling pressured to go somewhere secluded like a bathroom. Breastfeeding is natural. You aren't doing anything wrong. You are nurturing you child and no one can tell you that is wrong.

Be strong mama's!

"You're not giving her baby food?"

So, Joel and I decided we wanted to give Baby Led Weaning a try when Peeka turned 6 months old. She has been extremely interested in food since 4 months of age and would constantly try and swipe whatever it was we were eating. So naturally we thought she would enjoy eating solids with her grubby little hands instead of us feeding her mushy purees. Plus, we knew exactly what we were feeding her.

The basis of Baby Led Weaning is that you ditch the bowls, spoons and purees and trade them for soft, unprocessed food that baby can feed herself. In theory baby can eat whatever you are eating. We went on the steamed veggies path for the first few weeks. We figured Peeka is going to have a sweet tooth like her dad and grandpa so we should get her comfortable with vegetables before fruit. Also, I am too lazy to puree Peeka's food and feed it to her which works well because she demands to feed herself. There are tons of great resources online and on youtube of how you can start Baby Led Weaning and what foods to avoid for a few months. Six Month Old baby Eating Steak happens to be one of my favorite YouTube videos. Just listen to the dad get into it.

Of course, our families think we are new age Hippies for cloth diapering and breastfeeding Peeka over the age of 3 months. So, when we tried to explain Baby Led Weaning to them they kept asking "So, you're not feeding her baby food? Doesn't she need to eat?" Naturally, I told them she is still getting all of her nutrients from breast milk. The next question is always "How long are you going to breastfeed? It's been 6 months." Of course, I have to remind them that I will breastfeed as long as Henly wants to. The subject usually gets changed after that.

The turning point with our families is always when we let them feed her food. It's quite amusing watching a baby try a bite of carrot for the first time and laugh at all the silly faces they make. We started with steamed carrots, then steamed broccoli, next was cauliflower and now we are onto steamed sweet potato; which she hates.

I was oblivious to Baby Led Weaning until Peeka was about 3.5 months old. I am still learning about it everyday. It's not for everyone though. Some parents and babies aren't comfortable with solid foods until close to a year old. Some parents feel uncomfortable with watching a baby's gag reflex. For our family it was something we felt was best for Peeka because she showed a huge interest in food; she would creeply watch us eat while drooling up a storm. Peeka is also very independent and wants to try new things on her own. Baby Led Weaning was a no brainer. We of course do try and give her things like unsweetened apple sauce and veggies mashed with breast milk but she rather eat solid mushy foods.

Enjoy the hilarious pictures of Peeka's Baby Led Weaning Journey:

Resources on Baby Led Weaning:
Baby Led Weaning - The Mush Stops Here
Baby Led Weaning | Is Baby Led Weaning the Best Way to Introduce Solid Foods?
Baby Led Weaning The first week of solids


-The Soggy Mama