A breastfeeding mom had the best response of all time to being told to "cover up" while nursing in public.
Texas mom Melanie Dudley was eating with her family at a restaurant when her 3-month-old son became hungry. They were on vacation, it was hot as heck outside, and they were in the back corner of the restaurant. Melanie gave up on wearing the nursing cover pretty quickly.
That's when a stranger approached her to ask her to cover up.
"I was kind of stunned," Melanie told Today.
Speechless, she made a split-second decision on how to respond. She grabbed the nursing cover and covered up herself instead of the baby.
"I had no words so I thought, I'll just cover my head instead," Melanie explained.
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People love her for it. A photo of the silly moment has racked up over 100,000 likes on Facebook and turned Melanie into a hero for breastfeeding moms everywhere.
It's 2019, and public breastfeeding is still, somehow, a majorly controversial issue despite being legal in all 50 states. Some people believe that breastfeeding in public is inappropriate, while others think that it's a natural part of motherhood that shouldn't have to be hidden.
It's common for mothers to be told to "cover up" when they're trying to feed their babies in public — if they're allowed to feed in public to begin with. Heaven forbid anyone ever sees a nonsexualized boob in public!
Just last week, an airline came under fire for asking a breastfeeding passenger to cover up if she wanted to continue feeding her baby.
Mother Shelby Angel called out the Dutch airline, KLM, in a Facebook post. KLM later followed up to confirm that this is, indeed, its policy for breastfeeding on its flights.
"Breastfeeding is permitted at KLM flights. However, to ensure that all our passengers of all backgrounds feel comfortable on board, we may request a mother to cover herself while breastfeeding, should other passengers be offended by this," the airline wrote on Twitter.
A lot of people were infuriated by this response. As Shelby explained, it's not as simple as just covering up to appease other people's sense of modesty.
"My daughter doesn't like to be covered up," Shelby wrote. "That would upset her almost as much as not breastfeeding her at all."
After a certain point, you can imagine how moms would get fed up with constantly having to deal with other people's hang-ups while also trying to parent a young child.
So when Texas mom Melanie Dudley was told to "cover up" while breastfeeding on vacation, she had the snarkiest, most perfect response ever.
Melanie was on vacation in Mexico with her family, including her 3-month-old baby and her 4-year-old twin boys. It was extremely hot, and they were in the back of a restaurant, so when it was time to breastfeed, she didn't completely cover her breast. SHOCKING, I know.
And of course, someone had a problem with it.
"I was on vacation in Cabo San Lucas with my entire family and a man asked me to cover myself," Melanie told News Channel 9. "I’m usually discreet, but we were seated in the back of the restaurant."
So Melanie's response was to technically comply with the man's request by covering her own head with the blanket. She left her breast exposed with the baby continuing to nurse.
Well done, Melanie!
"I did have the cover on, but it was so hot. It was like, 95 degrees, and my little baby was sweating," Melanie explained to Today. "I said, 'You know what? I'm on vacation, I'm taking this off.'"
She was "stunned" and speechless when the stranger asked her to cover up. Then she had a light bulb moment and asked her husband to pass her the nursing cover.
"I just put it over my head. I don't know why," she said. "It wasn't like a salacious fight or anything. That was just my response. I had no words so I thought, I'll just cover my head instead."
Her husband took a photo of the moment, and his mother posted it to Facebook. A friend reposted it, and from there, it went hugely viral with over 200,000 shares and 40,000 comments.
"I've never met her, but I think she's AWESOME," the friend wrote. "I'm SO over people shaming women for nursing!!!"
Of course, there are plenty of critical comments on the post about why Melanie should have covered up or gone to a private place to breastfeed. Several people suggested that she go to the bathroom, which Melanie dismisses as "not very hygienic."
Most of the comments, though, have been supportive. Melanie has been shocked by the scale of the response.
"I just can't believe it. It's wild to me," she told Today. "If there's a larger message to this, it’s just be supportive."
"Let's be supportive of women who want to nurse in public, with or without a cover," she said. "I mean, just do your thing. It's not hurting anyone."
