My husband and I took our family to Italy in October and I had the same concerns, as I was nursing our youngest who was 18 months old at the time. We spent time in Rome and throughout Tuscany. I nursed freely as necessary, in restaurants, at tourist attractions (Pompeii!), on transit, and never saw anyone bat an eyelash at me and my nursling. I took great care to be discreet since I wasn't sure what the cultural "mood" about breastfeeding would be. My toddler would not consent to being covered at all.

The one place where I did encounter special treatment regarding breastfeeding was at the Vatican. I tried to hold off nursing my daughter while we were there, but she became quite tired and upset and wanted desperately to nurse. I made my way to the restroom area where I had seen some benches. As I sat down and prepared to nurse, a Vatican employee motioned for me to come into a little room across from the benches. She opened a curtain and showed me a chair behind it, and very kindly, in Italian, indicated that I was to nurse there. The male security guard excused himself to leave and the female employee pulled the curtain around me and let us get down to nursing. I was treated very well and never made to feel that I was doing anything wrong. In the Vatican the rules are more strict for modesty and the like, as women's legs and shoulders must be covered to even enter.

We had many wonderful nursing adventures in Italy!

Megan
Typed as my now 2 year old performs nursing gymnastics
 
Megan O'Reilly, CLE, LLLL
Nurture Me
Breastfeeding education and support
240.217.7504
[log in to unmask]
www.nurturemebaby.com
 
             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome