Meg Nagle is a mum of three boys. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and author of the book Boobin’ All Day…Boobin’ All Night. A Gentle Approach To Sleep For Breastfeeding Mothers.
But yesterday, Meg was subject to a mixed response of both support and heavy criticism for a photograph of her and her four-month-old nephew that she shared on her Facebook page, The Milk Meg.
“My gorgeous little nephew!” she captioned the image. “While my sister was at work today I tried to give him a bottle of her expressed milk a few times [which he wouldn’t take]. I could see he was tired so I popped him on the boob and voila, he was asleep in minutes.”
Meg’s followers and mothers of the Facebook universe quickly flooded the post with comments.
“I’m all about breast feeding but no not someone else’s baby….” commented one Facebook user.
“Breast feeding is a personal bond between mother and child. Unless it’s an urgent situation, I don’t agree with it,” said another.
Other commenters said the idea of Meg breastfeeding her nephew was “creepy” and “wrong”.
There where those who took the middle ground, saying that while it’s not something they would feel comfortable doing themselves, but they support Meg’s decision to feed the baby, and admire the closeness of her relationship with her sister.
“I’m all for it and I think it’s great,” commented “Tiff”. “But personally I don’t think I could do it and I wouldn’t like someone else breastfeeding my child. I always said (while I was breastfeeding) That it my one special thing that I had with my little one that noone can take away from me or do for me. But in saying that I would donate my breast milk if I was in a position too.”
Several expressed some concern over whether or not Meg had asked her sister’s permission before soothing her nephew through the “comfort boob”. Her response? “Of course I asked her!” Others were also curious as to why Meg hadn’t persisted with the bottle feeding. “Breast was last resort because I basically have no milk left,” she said. Meg is feeding her youngest son, aged four, once a day. “I wanted to see if he was hungry before offering comfort boob.”
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Top Comments
"Her response? “Of course I asked her!”"
Umm... What's the problem then? Assuming Aunty doesn't have any health concerns which can be passed through feeding.
This is everyday stuff in large parts of the globe.
There is no problem and i would say 99.9% of the comments she received were positive, it's just these articles that are sensationalising it and acting as though there was a massive uproar...there wasn't.
Ah, I see.
Looks like most of the other 0.01% (well closer to a few %) are people ignorant of extended breastfeeding (known in most of the world as just 'breastfeeding')!
I think it's natural for lactating women to share the feeding when babies need it. In fact, I think that's the main reason for our menstrual cycles synchronising when we live around other women; To also synchronise births and lactating; ensuring that a baby has more than one feeding option, and has a better chance of survival. Sharing the milk probably helps improve immunity as well.
I honestly don't believe humans are best mentally or physically equipped to live as seperately as we do in societies where the small (and relatively isolated,) nuclear family is standard.