Monday, July 28, 2008

Cross-Feeding

So today on Good Morning America, there was a clip about breast-feeding someone else's baby.  In the clip a woman tried to calm down her best friend's 3 month old baby for a long while and realized that he really just wanted to nurse.  So she nursed him and he was better.  Her friend doesn't have any problem with it.  She knows her friend well (that she doesn't have any disease or drug problems) and wants her baby to have breast milk.  So she is fine with it happening from time to time when she isn't available to nurse him herself.

Apparently, 46% of Americans label breast feeding someone else's baby as Disgusting or Weird.  Obviously I haven't experienced breast feeding personally.  But at this point I do see it as just feeding a baby.  I don't understand how that could be gross.  Woman have done this for years.  That is what wet-nurses were for.    Isn't it better for a baby to be nursed by another woman than to be hungry and upset (if they don't take bottles).  Perhaps I'll change my mind on this when I have my own baby.  But I do think that I wouldn't mind my sister or very-close friend stepping in for me if I were not available.  What do you think?

3 comments:

SAHW said...

My friends and I were discussing this a few days ago...I was mentioning how it's interesting that this was such a very common practice in the past, but almost unheard of in the western world now. In one of my classes, the instructor said that we have no problem giving our children milk from animals to drink, but we hesitate to give milk from another human...
I really don't know how I'd feel about it though, since I haven't had to deal with the situation yet, but I do think it's an interesting idea.

Btw, love your new look! :)

Miss Feisty said...

Hmmmm...this is kind of wierd to me. But, as they say...guess I can't knock it til I try it! (hopefully soon!) :)

Anonymous said...

I've often been holding a child that was hungry and thought about it, but of course, I've never done it. Personally, I'd not have any problems with it. I was out at a baseball game with a co-worker. (It was a work thing and we were on the team.) He had his baby with as his wife was meeting up with us later. His baby was nursed and bottle fed but my friend had forgotten the bottles at home. The baby was fussy and hungry and had to wait an extra couple of hours for his mom to get there to nurse him. I, on the other hand, was on the tail end of no more milk supply after finally having it go down from when my daughter was stillborn. I still had some and knew it because the whole situation was making me 'let down'. I would've offered to nurse that baby in a heartbeat... but... you know... weirdness.