men can breastfeed? I had no idea

Originally posted by Militiaman
Don't male babies also produce milk sometimes? I think it's due to estrogen in their system that make them produce milk...

Yes, that is true. Male babies when they are newly born sometimes produce milk...

This reminds me of the family guy episode

I found a link that sums up this thread very neatly,
and what most of the members have posted is true.........


Male Lactation

The phenomenon of male lactation in humans has become more common in recent years due to the use of medications that stimulate a human male's mammary gland.(milk-secreting organ of female mammals) It is common knowledge that human males have nipples. It is not so often understood that they also have mammary glands. Ordinarily the mammary tissue is low in volume and cannot be noticed. Under the appropriate hormonal stimulus, the mammary glands of human males can also produce milk.The volume of milk produced will be small relative to the amount that a female can produce.

The most common circumstance under which lactation is induced is when hormonal treatments are given to men suffering from prostate cancer.
The secretion of an endocrine gland that is transmitted by the blood to the tissue on which it has a specific effecthormones are used to retard the production of cancerous prostate tissue, but the same hormones also stimulate the mammary glands.

Transsexuals
(A person whose sexual identification is entirely with the opposite sex) Transsexuals may also produce milk due to the hormones they take to reshape their bodies.

Extreme Stress
Has also been known to be a cause of male lactation, as evidenced upon the return of American POWs from the Korean and Vietnam Wars, where physical activity and food were in short supply.

The phenomenon of male lactation occurs in some non-human species, and the lactating males may assist in the nursing.One species of fruit bat (Dyacopterus spadiceus) is notable for this reason.

Lactation and even nursing have occasionally been observed in humans (*).

www.absoluteastronomy.com...


I had to edit the above a bit because all the links came in with the part I cut, but you can read the original text from the link.


I do have one question that I haven't been able to answer on Google though....

Sympathetic lactation in females.
I have heard that in a close group of female humans, that one woman can give birth and start breast feeding, and other females in the group will start lactating. It seems like a very valid survival instinct for our species. Having more than one lactating female would increase the chances that the young would be provided for if the primary care-giver was injured, diseased or lost.
And if this is true in humans, anyone know if this occurs in other simian groups?
(let's hear from ape and monkey folks)

Yup I knew this. Men can also get Breast cancer..same tissue.

Nipples are just Over developed Sweat Glands

Greg Focker: You can milk just about anything with nipples.

Jack Byrnes: I have nipples, Greg, could you milk me?


hehehe

Who would have guessed the answer is..

"Yes Jack....actually I could milk you..."

Breastfeeding dudes huh? No thanks....leave me out of that one... I'll bond with the kid by tossing around the old pigskin, reading stories, etc. Mom can have the milking.....

Dont men have nipples because the nipples are formed before the sex of the baby is defined?

I have a newborn at home. under two weeks old. he is constantly trying to get my mannipples in his mouth. I always pull him away - for the sake of y'all I'd be willing to deal with the shame and humiliation I receive when my wife tells everyone that I breast fed the boy. However, I am not wearing those nipple pads and the leaky boob syndrome would be quite the public humiliation. If the boy had teeth he could floss with my chest hair whilst sucking away at the craknipples.

This is not surprising in two ways,

One being the purely biological sense. The organs are present and could function.
Two being the fascination people have with these sort of topics.

Good God!

First there's 15 year old boys having periods, and now men can lactate!!

The end of the world really IS near...

Dogs and cats sleeping together.....mass hysteria!!!

If the boy had teeth he could floss with my chest hair whilst sucking away at the craknipples.

Thanks so much for the visual....

I vote we dont cross the bounds. Women have always taken care of children, and man provides for woman so she can provide for baby. I think the system has worked well enough. I dont like this idea of men and women switching roles. keep with Tradition!

HAHAHAHHA!! OMG! THATS AWESOME! er....i mean funny..... lol jk
Well the only male breast feeding ive ever seen is on Family guy when Peter thought he was a woman(or wished it?) and he tried to breast feed stewie...lol, it was gross, stewie pulled a hair out of his mouth....Hahahahhaha!!!!
Anyways, how would a man's body know when to produce the milk though? I mean....if it produces after...err....yeah....we would be producing milk 24/7 im sure! though...lol