Julia has breastfed in restaurants, parks, balconies, trains, bars, museums and opera houses.

My new philosophy on this is that I am raising a member of the next generation and even my peers who choose not to have children, will need these people around to run banks, retirement homes, cane-making companies in their old age, etc. Everyone knows it takes a village to raise little people, and all the community has to do for Julia is literally let me feed her when she’s hungry. That’s the contribution to raise the next generation who will better our world, and keep civilization running when I am gone. That’s it. That’s all. Let me feed her.

It’s still awkward as hell to pull out a breast under cover of a scarf though. Even at home I’m always looking around wondering if it’s really socially acceptable. And then I remember that it’s just us and this really is how babies are fed.

We have an organic cotton cover. This worked really well in the beginning and a friend ordered one after seeing us with it at dinner. It’s discreet and really cute to look down and see baby’s beaming face below. I just got tired of pulling it out of my bag (an entire ecosystem of its own) and trying to position it while holding hungry, squirming Julia.

So I use a scarf. I wear it around or put it on in advance, so when Julia announces she is ready to eat by pulling down my shirt and screaming, I can put that scarf in place in a split second. I have nicer scarves, but I prefer one where she isn’t likely to pull threads with her sharp little nails, and one suitable for spills. It must be thin and soft. Banana Republic makes excellent scarves for this.