I am 5 weeks pregnant and yet to give birth to a baby. My due date is in July 2009. I want to know: can my husband, 30 years old also suck on my nipples for taking or drinking milk, after a year or six months of baby breastfeeding? Are there any disadvantages of breastfeeding my husband? If yes, please do let me know.

It will be a terrible drain on the mother...

Breast stimulation DURING pregnancy has been shown to cause miscarriage and pre-term labor in those women considered at risk for miscarriage /preterm labor. But if you are talking about AFTER the birth of the baby then that is a different story.

Breast touching is a part of foreplay for many couples and, in itself, is not harmful. When you start talking about actually FEEDING a 30 year old man that's a bit different.

• It would reduce available milk supply for the baby.
• The drain on the mother's resources would be immense. Mother's caloric intake would have to keep up with both baby and a grown man.
• In my somewhat educated opinion I have concerns regarding disease transmission to the infant. Anything the man has (such as a cold virus for example) could potentially be transmitted to the baby.

Historically:
I know in past centuries, breast milk was used for the sick (infirm) and the elderly but I am not so sure it was directly from the breast. Most likely the milk was expressed then spoon-fed like one would broth.

There is a story about a man imprisoned for his religious beliefs. The ruler seeking to prove the man's God was false, left him to starve in prison without food or water. It is said that his lactating daughter came to feed him every day for several months. According to the story, it was enough to keep him from dying and the ruler eventually released him from prison. But we are talking a STORY from the early church nearly 2000 years ago.

Marie Davis RN IBCLC
http://www.lactationconsultant.info

I've heard of it before...

I have friends who have allowed their husbands to suck from their breasts so that he may taste what breast milk is like.

I have also had friends who, during love-making, started to leak breast milk and their husbands got a taste of the milk.

But I have never heard of anyone actively breastfeeding a grown man as a form of nutrition. I'm not sure this is good. Shouldn't he be eating solid food like regular 30-year old men? It takes a lot of biological energy and resources to produce breast milk from your body (it is precious!) why would you waste it on someone who can get his nutrients by himself?

There is a whole sub-culture of adults who participate in "adult lactation" where lactating women will breastfeed grown men. Some of them do it for sexual reason (namely the men get turned on when they breastfeed on a lactating woman) while others do it for comfort (the same way a baby may want to nurse for comfort and not necessarily for food). You can read about it more on wikipedia. As well, the book Fresh Milk: The Secret Life of Breasts talks about it a little too. You can see a painting of the story of the daughter breastfeeding her imprisoned father here.

Maybe it is OK for you to let your husband try some breast milk from your breasts, but I wouldn't recommend feeding him with it 3 times a day, everyday.