Im breastfeeding my baby for over a year now. If this is true, i'm gonna ask my husband to do it the next time we have a baby. (Lol) By the way, i saw this on tv but the program did not provide a detailed information. I just want to know if it is a fact or a myth.
2007-06-26 14:32:55 · 21 answers · asked by bru 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
There is a tribe in Africa that practices this, but there is more to it than that.
If the mother dies in childbirth (that seems to be the only trigger - rather costly way to get out of breast feeding, if you ask me), another woman in the tribe who is the mother of a breast feeding baby will also feed the motherless child - but only after the child suckles with the father for a while first.
After a couple of weeks of the baby suckling on the father's nipples, the father is able to produce a thin milk substance that can sustain the baby, but it is not as nutritious as the mother's milk.
The truth is that men and women have mammary glands, but men's are simply not developed.
On a humorous note, I've wondered if the breast feeding fathers need to wear a bra during the time they are breast feeding....
2007-06-26 14:43:59 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Yes, in theory, men can breastfeed. Male breasts have milk ducts, and some mammary tissue. They also have oxytocin and prolactin, the hormones responsible for milk production. There have been reports of men who were able to produce milk through extensive breast and nipple stimulation, but no one knows whether the milk was of the same composition or quality as the kind women produce. Using a pump, or a feeding tube (a small silicone tube attached to a plastic bottle filled with formula) at his breast, he might be able to get a baby to latch on and suckle, but how long it would take to produce even drops of milk is anyone's guess.
2007-06-27 00:26:23 · answer #2 · answered by omorris1978 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First the good news: It is TRUE!!! Men CAN breastfeed their babies.
Next the bad news: Unfortunately, men can't have babies.
2007-06-26 21:37:43 · answer #3 · answered by Answer Man 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A girl I work with was telling us about a TV program (maybe same as you watched?) about a woman who couldn't do it, so her husband went through hormone therapy for a few months and... viola! A man who could lactate. Poor guy, never thought he'd be in that position, did he?
2007-06-26 21:37:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anniekd 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it's a myth. They don't have the same mammary glands that produce milk. But if your baby needs a "pacifier" a man could let it suckle until you were ready to feed. But I don't know of a man alive who would do it.
2007-06-26 21:36:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Men DO NOT produce milk and therefore CANNOT feed their babies.
Next baby I suggest you pump it, bottle it and when its feeding time hand the bottle and the baby right over to your hubby.
2007-06-26 21:36:19 · answer #6 · answered by pamomof4 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are fake breasts that they can "attach" to their chests to simulate breast feeding. But as for actually producing milk...don't think so. Women have glands specifically designed for such tasks. Enjoy it...it's the very few things in life we can do that are uniquely "us".....and it's good for you and the baby!
2007-06-26 21:38:00 · answer #7 · answered by Tiffany 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes men do have milk ducts and they can breastfeed, just google the same question and there should be plenty of info. They are called "milkmen" seriously just look it up.
2007-06-26 21:36:47 · answer #8 · answered by RevGal 2 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Men don't have milk supply to breastfeed.
2007-06-26 22:48:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
men don't have milk ducts that would sustain a baby's health requirements.
2007-06-26 21:35:34 · answer #10 · answered by ♪♫♪justpassingby♪♫♪ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋