One of my best friends,
who I met at University, is shortly getting married. I am one of her
bridesmaids, along with our other Uni friends and her sister. Today
was her hen night. The plan was to have afternoon tea at the
Athenaeum hotel on Picadilly. This is a 5-star London hotel, just
along the road from the notorious Ritz. Initially I declined as I was
worried about taking the baby and upsetting the other well-heeled
customers with her crying. But, as bridesmaid I really felt I
should, and if I went, then baby went. Eventually one of my friends
cajoled me into going. Since then I have been worrying that we may
be refused entry or that breastfeeding could be a problem. I
couldn't have been more wrong.
I travelled to London
on the train, a long boring 2 hour journey. Halfway there baby began
to cry. I am happy to say that I just turned my shoulders slightly
towards the wall to preserve my dignity, latched her on uncovered and
fed her. I was all nonchalent. OK, there wasn't anybody sat next to
me, but it was still quite a busy train.
On arriving in London I
walked from Victoria to the beautiful Athenaeum hotel, with it's
lovely foliage covered frontage. My heart fluttered a little as we
were greeted by a waitress. What if she threw us out, or argued? I
certainly didn't want to make a scene on my friend's special day.
However, the waitress simply smiled and said 'Oh, a little one, how
lovely!'. I beamed and we went and joined our friends at our table.
The baby was immediately borrowed by the mother of the bride to be
and she was stripped out of her coat and declared lovely by all of
the hen party. However, on beginning the game of pass the baby (when
the music stops, whoever has her has to keep her :D) she began to put
up a protest. I grabbed a scarf feeling that decency was probably a
good idea, latched her on and proceeded to drink my champagne (only
one glass of course). Many tasty crustless sandwiches followed, then
cream teas with the most delicious jam. Completely stuffed, we were
then presented with plates of beautiful little cakes. During this
time the baby was passed around several times and had three bouts of
breastfeeding. The staff were amazing and did not react in any way
to my breastfeeding.
It was truly a wonderful afternoon and I felt completely at ease. My friend was beautiful as ever and appeared to have a great time. As she, and the rest of the party, went on to have cocktails, another friend and I left to catch our trains home. I must take a moment to praise a kind man on the tube. I jumped on a packed train with baby in a carrier on my front. Most of the commuters continued their careful stares at the floor. He immediately offered me his seat even though he wasn't in one of those priority ones. So, kind, ginger haired man on the Victoria line, should you ever read this, thank you again.
I now sit, typing this on my way home on the train. I have plenty of time having caught one of those extra slow trains that stop at every tiny village station. I am feeling proud of myself for my breastfeeding exploits today. Busy train and top London hotel and still only positive responses, just the way it should be. Baby is currently quietly feeding, having been the only thing that has made the two paddle boat/steam train enthusiasts sat on the other side of the aisle from me stumble in their conversation. However they quickly continued unperturbed. Occupants on this train have definitely seen my pasty flesh, but I am totally unworried by this, and if anything, just a bit dozy. Maybe a little sleep with my little girl...
(Photo borrowed from tripadvisor)
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