Got milk?

When not nursing, she loves to snack!

My husband (the handsome man he is) asked me to blog about our vacation, but the truth of the matter is, we didn't eat dinner most nights until after 8pm and then I had to get everyone ready for the next adventure in the morning.  No time for blogging, so I'm going to have to catch up after the fact.

I will say, though, that this was a perfect vacation!  We had a few cranky moments and some screaming from the backseat, reminding us why we nicknamed Sophie "baby dragon."  We also discovered our trusty GPS, whom we named Lexi, does not navigate well in large cities with tall buildings.  Nevertheless, we picked some fantastic places to visit.  It isn't easy to find places that have activities to entertain a studious 7 year old, social butterfly 5 year old, and an active 10 month old who learned to walk just days before the trip.  Our destinations included the Crayola Experience in Easton, PA, Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA, the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, and Ocean City, NJ.  We also stopped in Hershey on the way back, but more about that later...

My biggest fear, however, wasn't how to entertain the girls, it was how to feed them.  Most specifically, the baby.  Despite my firm conviction that women should be allowed to breastfeed anytime, anywhere, it is still a difficult situation.  I, for one, am fine ignoring the furtive glances or rude comments thrown my direction by grouchy grown ups.  I am discreet.  I am calm.  I am determined.  My 10 month old, though, is easily distracted.  This can mean longer feedings with a few less than modest moments.  The best plan is to find a quiet, out of the way location to sit and nurse her.  This, however, is often quite a challenge.  You would think that a place built to entertain small children would take that into consideration.  You probably would not be surprised to find that the place often suggested to me is a bathroom stall.  Yuck!  I have nursed one time in a bathroom, and I will never do it again.  Who wants to spend that much time in a public bathroom, much less eat in one?

At the Crayola factory, I did find a table in the back corner..  While my older kids made clay creations with dad, I pretended to be creating artwork.  In fact, I was just staring off into space while my sweet baby nursed.  No one noticed.  I find that to be my best strategy. No crazy cover-ups, no apologies to those around me, and no big efforts.  Just act like its the most natural way to feed a baby (imagine that!). She fell asleep in a few minutes.

Napping in the shade at Sesame.

Sesame Place was a whole different story.  The first day, I ended up just going to the kiddie pool cabana and hoping for the best.  It was non-eventful, but still quite public.  Luckily, the pool had just closed for maintenance and we were there on a very non-crowded day. I sat in a beach chair in the shade and by the time the pool reopened, she was sound asleep.  We returned to Sesame another day, though, and the crowds were huge.  There was no quiet location to be found.  Kids were running wild everywhere and I knew Sophie would not settle well.  Then, I spotted it.  A door just off the main path that read "nursing moms only."  Yipee!  Part way through the day, dad and the older girls headed off to stand in the long line to the "duckie slide" while I took Sophie to the baby wave pool.  After a few minutes, she was more interested in my tankini top than the water, and I knew she was ready for milk.  I spotted my family above me in line, pointed to the baby, mimed a sort of drinking motion and hoped they knew where I was headed.  I pulled open the door to a very plain room, but there was a diaper changing table, a sink, and a big rocking chair.  Best of all, it was free from crowds and distractions.  Whew.  We settled in and enjoyed the quiet, darkened space out of the sun.

I think I am very discreet!

In between our trips to Sesame, we went to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.  It was fantastic with all sorts of interactive exhibits for the baby and my older girls!  Every area for the older girls had a small area off to the side for toddlers and babies.  The only thing missing was an obvious place to nurse.  This time, though, I wised up and asked.  Low and behold, as soon as I asked, a manager came right to get me and escort me to a private boardroom.  He asked if I needed anything to be more comfortable, and told me I could have the room to myself as long as I needed.  Even if she wanted to finish her nap!

Napping on the beach after nursing.

The beach in Ocean City was the only place that proved to be more eventful, but not because of any rules or regulations.  I sat right down under our umbrella, covered with a towel, and...the wind whipped the umbrella right out of the sand and down the beach, taking out a couple people as it traveled.  So much for indiscretion.  I had pretty much the whole area of the beach looking at me.  I just acted like I was horrified that the wind was blowing and that I had no idea why there were chubby feet sticking out of the towel.  And just as we settled in again, umbrella secured by jamming it between the bars on the stroller, a medical emergency, complete with a full rescue a few hundred feet off the coast and beach ambulances, occurred the next beach over.  This prompted everyone who could walk to come right in front of our beach blanket to gawk over the rocks at the activity.  I just watched with them, ignoring the kicking feet and waving arms poking out of the towel.  Eventually, the activity subsided and she drifted off for a nice nap in the salty air.

Still, I found the balance of nursing a baby with a fast paced family vacation challenging at times.  I spent more than a few feedings sitting in my car while the rest of the family was having fun.  But, it's all worth it to me.  This is one thing I wouldn't give up for the world.  Those precious moments that only I can have with her won't last forever, and the milky smiles make my heart melt.

**postscript: It appears that my dear, sweet husband may have hacked my blog and added a comment above.  I'm sure you can guess which one!