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A mother has suffered backlash on social media after sharing a sweet picture feeding her baby nephew.

The Milk Meg is a Facebook page by Meg who works closely with women to help them reach their breastfeeding goals. She is a International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.

Meg has also written a book, “Boobin’ All Day…Boobin’ All Night. A Gentle Approach To Sleep For Breastfeeding Mothers”.

The image that sparked the controversy? This sweet pic with her nephew.

milkmeg

The caption read: “My gorgeous little nephew! 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 has replied to queries re bottle feeding him first – “Breast was last resort because I basically have no milk left! I’m BF an almost 4 year old once per day. My nephew is 4 months old. I wanted to see if he was hungry before offering comfort boob.”

Responses were very mixed, but it seems the positive far outweighs the negative.

One follower asked – “I do not mean this in a harsh way, I am just curious. Does your sister feels ok with it?
I have no sisters and I don’t know anyone who would do this for me. I am 100% supporter of BF. I just have never thought of anyone else nursing my son. Is awesome the bond you have.”

The Milk Meg replied –  “Thanks. And to the others…of course I asked her!!”

One response was – “I’d be more than happy for my sister to feed my baby. I think it’s awesome to have a bond like that.”

Another responded – “My SIL wouldn’t even accept my (pumped because we are 6 hours from each other) milk for her daughter when she struggled to produce, it kind of hurt my feelings.”

Another fan wrote in support –  “I instantly wondered what the arrangement was cause she said she tried bottle feeding first and that made me think oh why was breast the last resort if she had permission to breast feed for her sister. Good on you megs! Keep boobin!”

The Milk Meg replied –  “Breast was last resort because I basically have no milk left! I’m BF an almost 4 year old once per day. My nephew is 4 months old. I wanted to see if he was hungry before offering comfort boob.”

J wrote –  “My Auntie feed me for my mom”

C wrote – “So love this!!!! Auntie of the Year, right there!”

L wrote –  “Great job! This used to be the norm. I fed two relatives babies.”

D said – “I wouldn’t care if my sister was baby sitting and nursed my daughter. She is healthy and a non smoker. Milk is milk. People drink cows milk.”

milk meg comments

L wrote –  “I’m sorry. . Breast feeding is a personal bond between mother and child. Unless it’s an urgent situation , I don’t agree with it.”

J wrote –  “I think this is wrong!”

N  said – “This is creepy”

W said – “Really don’t think this is right, pretty sure HIV can be passed on through breast milk?”

T wrote – “I’m all for it and I think it’s great!!  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.”

B wrote –  “I personally get so anxious/angry inside just even thinking about someone else nursing my baby girl.
I don’t think it’s wrong for others if it’s something they’re comfortable with. I just personally choose to keep my that bond between my baby & myself only.”

Her post has attracted over 3000 likes and 100 shares.

Could you “comfort boob” a friend or family members child?

Share your comments below.

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  • As long as the parents are ok with it then whos business is it?

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  • I personally couldn’t but I hope she got the ok from her sister.

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  • If it’s okay between all parties and was best for bub, that’s all that matters.

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  • I think if the sisters are that close that they are both happy with it, then that\’s up to them. Not my business and it\’s not disgusting at all. It is very sweet, and the aunt is obviously very loving towards the nephew.
    But why didn\’t she try a dummy??? If the mother was leaving the baby to go to work then I think she should be prepared with a dummy in case the baby needs comfort to sleep. Sometimes babies just need to suck on something whether it is the boob or a dummy, and it helps them sleep.

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  • The baby may have jrejected the bottle if the milk tasted strange from something his Mum had eaten or drunk. If his Mum was going to collect the baby for a few hours, would he have gone to sleep and slept for quite awhile or woken up again crying again very soon.

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  • This was so common years ago – pity we are so uptight about it these days.

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  • Shows love and compassion, so great offer. But, it does depend on the relationship between the two sisters, plus whether there were any instructions stating not to do that.

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  • I’ve heard of some cultures where if the mother died, then the grandmother took over breastfeeding. When I stopped breastfeeding my older children, I would have been very willing to regularly donate my breast milk to the milk banks that were being set up in some of our major cities, but unfortunately I was too far away to do that. I think Meg’s story is inspiring, and shows the special link she shares with her sister.

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  • I don’t think it is right, it is a special bond between the mother and her baby.
    I don’t think I would’ve wanted my sister to have fed my 2 daughters when they were a baby.
    She should have persisted with the bottle, the baby would have gone to sleep adventurely. I don’t think it is her right to do this unless they had spoken about it previously

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  • Each to their own, I guess. It’s not something I would have done for my nieces or nephews, as much as I love them; or something that I would have wanted for my child.

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  • I know some people aren’t comfortable accepting their arrangement, but I think it’s really lovely.

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  • I don’t see a problem either when sister is ok with this. I do however understand the mixed emotions and all kind of responses from other mums too.

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  • If she has permission then why not!
    On another note;
    “My SIL wouldn’t even accept my (pumped because we are 6 hours from each other) milk for her daughter when she struggled to produce, it kind of hurt my feelings.”
    I’m sorry but this bugged me, if your SIL would rather bottle feed that is her choice. Besides which i struggled to produce milk also and would not have accepted milk if my SIL had offered it, there’s nothing wrong with formula and it seems selfish for this person to only think about their own feelings, not having enough milk is stressful enough as it is without someone else crying about their feelings being hurt. Nice of her to offer of course but don’t get insulted if someone isn’t comfortable with that sort of offer.

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  • A few years ago on a forum i saw soemone had posted about a friend had bf her baby when they were shopping and the mother had stepped away for 15 mins the baby started to cry so the friend offered her boob to it. I was utterly revolted for the simple fact the mother who had stepped away had not consented to this. Now this on the other hand, If her sister was ok with it., than i dont see any issue with it. I would assume if the sister was not ok with it, it would not have happened. When my daughter was born in the premmy icu they often had mums donating milk for the premmy bubs. I think if its done correctly this kind of thing is ok., A sister knows her sister and baby best, im sure if the sister was some nasty unclean person that the sister would have said no. So really it comes down to mothers choice.

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  • I don’t see what the issue is here. She asked her sister & she was ok with it so what does it have to with anyone else?
    They used to have wet nurses years ago & no one complained about them, providing the boob supplier is healthy & has permission from the child’s mother then do it if it gives comfort to a child. It is not an exclusive right just to a mother since it is a form of sustenance & we allow others to feed our babies a bottle. So those who cannot breastfeed at all for whatever reason do they have to keep exclusive rights to bottle feed their child, not me because I was more than happy to share my babies’ bottle time if it allowed me to get much needed sleep!

    Reply

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