Breastfeeding in public? Nursing room in malls?

L

lbs23

Registered User
Hi there.
Will be back to HK for the first time with my 6mths old son. I'm still breastfeeding the baby and I'm just wondering

*Do people give you weird looks if you breastfeed in public? (which I assume they do...)

*Which shopping malls have proper nursing/change rooms?

Thanks!
 
i never, ever had a problem. but i didn't make a big deal of it and was fairly able to be discrete while doing it. i never used a cover as i thought:
1) too hot for baby
2) more conspicuous
3) i couldn't see to get baby latched.

there is a list on this website of places to feed. if you do a search you may be able to find it.

good luck
 
The Elements Mall in Kowloon above Kowloon station has a great baby room for changing the baby and breastfeeding. Pacific Place mall also has one though I've not used it for BF. I think the Harbour City mall also has a BF room - but there is always a line outside whenever I go (on weekends) so I've not used it. I've never BF in public outside a feeding room in malls just because I thought I would be too self-concious and my son would never concentrate on feeding if we were outside!
 
i, on the other hand, just got on with it. i couldn't be bothered searching around, then waiting in line for a room if my kids were hungry.

i even did it on the mtr once.
 
I used a cover (bebe au lait, not too hot and easy for me to see the bub to get her latched on) and mostly nursed in coffee shops etc. I found the nursing rooms too inconvenient - there aren't enough of them and sometimes you have to wait to use them. I found that sitting in a coffee shop with a nursing cover, no one even knew what I was doing AND I felt comfortable. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable nursing in public without a cover, although many women are fine with it and I think that's their choice - if you want to do that, good on you :)
 
exactly! to each her own... it's what makes YOU comfortable... if other people have a problem with it, it is exactly that...THEIR PROBLEM. you are just feeding your child.

(caps not intended as shouting, just as emphasis)
 
i use the bebe au lait nursing cover as well, though baby now hates it (he's 9+months now) but will nurse for a bit before trying to 'get out' to see the world outside.

i love the elements mall baby's room.

personally i guess i'd be too self conscious to nurse in public in full view of crowds/people but actually i've found quiet corners a few times and BF without the cover. but then, i can't do it with my husband as HE'S more self conscious than i am (he's always asking me to cover up more)
 
My hubby too solidstars. I have nursed in public a couple of times without the cover - and I pretty much said to the hubby "I know what she needs, I can either feed her or we can listen to her cry for half an hr til we find an empty baby room" - in those situations he was more than happy for me to feed her even without a cover!

My daughter went through a stage where she didn't like the cover, but I still kept at it and she figured that if she wanted milk, she had to be under there. The bebe au lait has the benefit that at least she can see out a BIT... she would always stick her hand out the peep hole and play with my face...

Carang, I agree completely. But I do kind of have a problem who use breastfeeding as their "protest" and make you feel bad for wanting to use a cover. Some women make it sound like if you breastfeed with a cover, you're ashamed of it or something. My thoughts are - I don't say that they SHOULD use a cover, so why tell me that I SHOULDN'T??

(I also use caps for emphasis - it's easier than learning all the formatting for "bold" and "italics" ;) )
 
i think that the trauma of my birthing experiences caused something in me to snap. i never used bf as a protest (although i know what you are talking about). i hate bf "nazis" (i don't use that term lightly) that make women feel guilty for not doing it the "right" way.

i honestly think that women have nothing to be ashamed of and actually something to be proud of if they choose to bf their babies. i don't think they should be "sitting in" in places to prove a point. however, if i was feeding my child and someone came over and asked me to stop, i would probably have taken their head off.

if you are more comfortable with a cover, go for it. if you are more comfortable without a cover, go for it. if you are more comfortable using a bottle, go for it.

what i DO have a problem with is a society that causes women to feel ashamed of breastfeeding in public. it's not like we are doing a striptease on the table tops of starbucks, for goodness sake! we are feeding our children!
 
i agree with you carang, if someone came over and made an issue about it as i was BFing i would probably tear their head off as well.

my husband's still very sceptical about me Bf in public, he's always fiddling with my nursing cover. baby likes to play/peek out the bebe au lait hole too. several times i've snapped at him as it really irritated me (in my mind, feeding baby was more important than whether i was 'showing' or not)

but hey, when in rome, do as the romans do, i guess.
 
IFC has a very comfortable baby room to BF as does the Pacific Place....good for those that do not want to BF too (bottle warmer)
 
I used a drape when I was feeding in public and would not be comfortable without one. I fed #1 to 11 months and he got used to the drape fine.
 
I, as a matter of fact, need to use a drape or BF in the baby nursing room simply because my son can get so easily distracted by anything and everything!

Thanks for all the info ladies!
 
Not as difficult as I thought

I went to HK in November 2009 when my LO was 6 months old with my mum and stayed with my grandmother. It was a last minute decision and I went into overdrive panic about bfg. In the UK we can pretty much bf where we want and most of the time without drawing too much attention. One particular friend told me that I would have to make compromises if I wanted to bf in HK ... ie I may need to feed LO in the loos! Having not been to HK for 10 years this was not very positive at all.

Anyway, we arrived, and I was so very surprised to see that there were nursing/feeding rooms in many shopping malls and department stores, even in the NT - we live in Tai Po - AND they were so very clean... so much cleaner than the UK, so HK gets a massive thumbs up from me for bf facilities! Not once did I have to feed my LO in the loo.

I even bf in a courtyard in Fanling, and a few coffee shops around Kowloon. Clearly, this is an issue to do with how comfortable you are about bfg in public in HK - and I for one, was very consciencious about it, and my mother was even worse, but she soon relaxed and we just got on with it. I was discreet of course, but covering up was never going to happen since that makes my LO want to know what's going on outside even more!

The baby room in Pacific Place is lovely, it's an egg shaped pod, with low lighting, soap and large disposable changing mats (paper sheets). However, be aware there were times women were just using it to take a nap or something...(not once did I believe any were expressing either!). Elements is fab! Festival Walk is just great if not a little cool. There are two feeding rooms with changing facilities and two changing stations in the main area.

Good luck!
 
Brilliant! I would love to know more. I had no ideas there was a BF room in Festival. I too live in Tai Po and had no idea they were there. Where are the BF places in Tai Po?

I just realised the other day how much of a "no no" it can be to do it in public places. I tried the other day and got a big talking to by a woman that, "there was a man close by and I musn't do it".
 
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I understand that it's up to the mum to do whatever she feels comfortable with. Personally, however, even though I was initially worried about breastfeeding in public in Hong Kong, I now don't even think about it. I do it whenever baby needs it, whether I'm on a bus, on the star ferry, in a restaurant, etc, just by hitching up my t-shirt. I've never had any comments, and if people look to see what I'm doing I just give them a big smile because I'm proud of myself. The more you do it in public, the more it will become second nature, so give it a go. I don't feel comfortable having to sit in a lonely, quiet bf room when out, so my choice is to do it wherever I like. Like I said though, it's up to the individual mum, but don't feel bullied into having to hide away if that's not what you want to do.
 
I am so proud of you, Momma. Wish there are lot more moms like you. Some people's attitude towards breastfeeding in public is so 'negative' - I don't see why moms should hide themselves away with their baby like they are doing something 'disgraceful'!!! One of my colleagues mentioned the other day that her sister-in-law breastfeeds her baby in the living room in the presence of her father, mother, and brothers. I asked, "What's wrong?" She pulled her face long and said, "So shameful". This attitude puts me off.
 
I think that Hong Kong is perceived as a very breastfeeding unfriendly place and a place where everyone disapproves of breastfeeding in public. But I don't think this is really the case.

In 1999 a mother of a four month old was asked to stop breastfeeding in the Peninsula Hotel lobby. About 20 mothers and babies then held a protest about this. This became big news in the newspapers over the next two weeks with one paper selling the story on to the next. Finally the TV stations joined in too.

There was a Cantonese TV programme which held a telephone line vote. The programme didn't question that breastfeeding was the best. Their question was, Is it acceptable to breastfeed in public?
55% of voters said yes and 45% said no.

Since this time the breastfeeding initiation rate in Hong Kong has increased from 50% in 1999 to over 70% now. So I believe that even more than 55% would now agree that breastfeeding in public is acceptable.

If you feel comfortable to breastfeed in public I would encourage you all to do so. It is only by everyone seeing that this is a normal activity that it truly will become a normal activity.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
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