Luca is now 11 months old and I am still nursing our little koala. I love the expression on some people’s faces when I talk about nursing my nearly 1-year old here in Germany. Although breastfeeding is very common – and advocated – in my home country, I have the feeling that a lot of people are not quite sure about what to think of a mum that is nursing an “older” baby (a lot of the mums I know stopped nursing their babies when they were around six months old – at the latest). Usually, they are surprised or they don’t say anything at all. Oh, one year ago, I would have made exactly the same face, I guess. I never thought I would be a “nursing mum”. I wasn’t judging them at all. I just thought that this wasn’t me. It didn’t fit the image I had of the cool and busy working mum that easily combines her life as a workaholic with having a baby (yup, exactly: I had NO idea at that time!).

But things change when you have a baby. Opinions change. Since the first moment the nurse placed Luca on my belly, I just wanted the best for this tiny human being lying on me. Nursing suddenly felt like the best choice for me. It felt natural. At least, I wanted to give it a try. I knew from other mums that the worst thing you could do was to put pressure on yourself and that, for some mums, it just doesn’t work out – no matter how hard they try. So, I tried to be relaxed. After all, I didn’t want nursing to become a constraint neither.

Today, nursing time has become one of my favorite moments during the day (except for the occasional biting of course… because, yes, Lucas has eight – sharp, very sharp – teeth now) and I am pretty proud to have come this far in our breastfeeding journey. Today, everything is pretty easy but, man, it has been hard at some points. ..

I remember the first days at the hospital back in Switzerland. When you’re pregnant, everybody talks about giving birth and how hard it can be. You hear so many stories (even those you don’t really want to hear). But nobody talks about the first days at the hospital (and at home) when the baby is finally there! Nobody ever tells you that you are sweating like crazy when the milk comes in. Nobody tells you that you spend sleepless nights worrying about your milk supply because your little one is loosing weight. And then there’s this moment when you are alone with your baby for the first time. No nurse, no husband, no mum around, and your baby just won’t latch. I also remember falling asleep while nursing Luca during the night and suddenly waking up and checking if our baby was still alive or if I had squashed him (yes, you DO have these kind of strange thoughts when you are a new mum). Obviously, he was ok and peacefully sleeping on my chest ;-) One of the things that helped me a lot at the beginning was a nursing cushion. I had already used it for sleeping during my pregnancy and it made nursing much easier.

When Luca was three months old, we moved from Switzerland to Dubai. We had never been to Dubai or the UAE in general before moving there. Somehow, I thought that nursing in public would not be accepted in Dubai. I felt anxious about how to deal with this “problem” as little L wouldn’t take a bottle at all. In addition, little L’s nursing sessions took a long time at the beginning! So, I didn’t know how to combine breastfeeding and flat hunting, shopping for some furniture etc. etc.

At our arrival in Dubai, I was surprised – in a positive way. In many ways, Dubai was completely different from what I expected it to be. And this was also true for nursing. Not only do many women in Dubai nurse, they generally nurse their babies for much longer than in Germany or Switzerland.

Moreover, you can find nursing rooms in many public places including malls. I personally used the ones in Dubai Mall and Marina Mall quite a lot when Luca was younger (whenever possible try to avoid the changing/nursing room on the Marina Mall ground floor (P) as it can get quite busy). While there are also quite a few nursing rooms at Mall of the Emirates, some of them are nicer and quieter than others. I usually went to the one in the Fashion Dome, which is relatively hidden and therefore not as busy as the others. Another possibility is to simply go to a regular changing room (if the shop is fine with that but, usually, nobody refuses a mum who needs to nurse ;-)). I have never done this to be honest but I’ve heard that it is perfectly fine.

When Luca was a bit older and I felt more confident about nursing, I started going to cafés. I like to sit in a quite corner of the café, have a refreshing mocktail and watch the people around. Sometimes, I even “nurse on the go”, especially on weekends when we we are out and about ;-) Personally, I prefer to use a nursing cover (the at Favourite Things are great!!) but I know that some other mums don’t. Breastfeeding is a much less controversial topic in Dubai than it is in some other countries. At least, this is the impression I got.

There are also great and very active support groups, such as the Facebook group “Breastfeeding Q&A UAE”. It’s a community group of over 2000 mums that discuss topics related to breastfeeding, encourage mums and help them achieve their individual breastfeeding goals. And even an online space where women can share their milk in a safe, ethical manner to allow babies get access to human milk (check Facebook group Human Milk 4 Human Babies – UAE or their website for more infos). I also like www.kellymom.com a lot, a website that gives great advice, not only on breastfeeding but also on other topics such as baby’s health, nutrition etc.

Living in Dubai makes breastfeeding easy, I find :-) The only disadvantage I see? Dubai is a shopping paradise and (I guess, other nursing mums will understand what I’m talking about ;-)): shopping is just not the same when the only question you have in mind is “Is this dress suitable for breastfeeding?”.

xxx

Tani