How do hijabis breastfeed outside the house?

I feel like this is a really silly question, but I'm throwing it out there finally since I'm genuinely curious and I'm a revert of 10 years without a Muslim family.

Since we cover up in certain ways as hijabis, how do you manage to breastfeed your child when you're out and about? I know pumping is an option, so does everyone pump? Does everyone lock themselves up in a public toilet? Does everyone just stay home all the time? 😂 I genuinely don't know.

It's pretty much impossible to find nice nursing clothes that are hijabi friendly. Also I don't really have close Muslim friends who wear hijab, and those I know either feed their baby formula or they live a life where they're mostly at home or at some family's home.

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my cousin usually goes to the public toilet to feed her son but when she dosent one near by she has a big shwal , she sits somewhere nice and quiet takes out her shwal wrap over her and gets her son inside to feed him which i think its a good idea as you really cant feel whats goin on inside her big shwal🙂🙂🙂🙂

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I personally dont like to feed my babies in the bathroom, they are very unsanitary and it doesnt feel right to feed them where people go to relive themselves
I will either use a breastfeeding cover, u can get them easily on amazon or some places have a family room specific for feeding and changing baby they are not everywhere mostly only in malls and shopping centres so i will always keep the breastfeeding cover with me

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I used a nursing cover to breastfeed but I never pumped when i was out because I didn’t need to. I suppose the nursing cover would also work for pumping.

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I used to take the baby blanket and wrap it around us to feed, or a very large Muslin cloth also, used to feed everywhere, park, shopping centre restaurant, I was always covering up when bfeeding though so never bothered anybody

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As your baby gets older they will try to yank off the nursing cover/ muslin cloth so be ready ladies ! Lol 😆
I normally wear a cami vest under my top, so when I pull my top up my awrah is still covered, then bring baby close to your boob, put your hand under your top and pull out your boob from the top of your vest and get baby to latch straight away. Practice at home first , then go to a quiet place like a coffee shop etc and just try it out , once you do it the first few times you become better at it.

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lol my baby always tries to yank it off too like so much for modesty🤣

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It was hard the first 2 months because I felt like I only had a few things to wear when I’m going out. I’d wear shirts with buttons which I only had two of or a jacket with a normal t-shirt and lift it up as I need it. It was winter so it worked out fine. After the first couple of months, I was like this is so hard! I couldn’t wear my regular clothes like abayas dresses because there’s no way I was going to lift them up in public. So I decided to sew zippers onto some staple abayas (black, gray, white) and wear more open abayas too. I don’t know if a two piece jilbaab is something you’re interested in but it’s the perfect thing to wear as a breastfeeding mom because it’s a hijab and a top in one and your baby could just go underneath! I also try to breastfeed in the car if I’m going inside like a grocery store or restaurant. The mall has a family room and places like target have breastfeeding rooms too so I take advantage of that as well. It’s gonna get easier but also harder lol.

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Easier because once your baby starts solids you can feed them anything if you can’t pop your boob out at that moment lol. And harder because like Shabnam said, they will try to yank off your cover and move a lot while feeding 😂 so it’s not like newborns who stay put. Feel free to message if you have any questions!

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Nursing cover from Amazon is great, unfortunately I didn’t breastfeed long enough to do it outside but I did use this in the house around Family. Works really well.

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I used a nursing cover and my SIL just uses a blanket.

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Seems like I have to purchase a nursing cover 😅 thanks for the tips!

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I always went to the car for feedings honestly, and then I invested in a wearable breastpump, I got the momcozy one which helped have some milk to give my daughter on the go

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You can now get abaya’s/jilbabs that are breastfeeding friendly. I have a couple jilbabs that have a slit or zip underneath to breastfeed but also a piece of fabric on top. Or I wear a skirt and a nursing top and then wear a larger hijab then normal to use as a cover.

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Be careful with the covers. Your baby will pull on them. I learned that the hard way when I was nursing in the middle of Central Park 😭 luckily I was in the kids area with only moms and kids around and I don’t think anyone saw.

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Thanks for all the input, really helpful! Personally I totally forgot about the nursing covers. I rather not use those since the baby can pull on them and also it makes it super obvious that you're breastfeeding. Also I don't like to cover up my baby all the time. But let's see. Maybe it works out well ☺️

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