I nursed both my sons, they never saw a bottle with all those chemicals in the formula and the plastic. I think whatever needs to be done to feed the babies the way nature intended should be done!

how about not my cup of milk. LOL

It took two frusterating weeks to finally get my first child to nurse because the hospital did not honor my wish to nurse and insisted on giving him a bottle anyway. If it weren't for a very dear friend, also nursing her infant at the same time, suggesting that we switch babies for a few feedings so that my son could get the idea and my milk production get better stimulated by her baby that was already a pro at nursing, I would have given up and never had the joy and pleasure of knowing that I was doing the best thing possible for my son. Sure it was odd at first, but nursing a baby is the most natural thing ever and to all of those people who think that it is nasty or wierd you probably have the very same opinion about nursing babies period, regardless of who they belong to.

How about this for a sensationalistic AOL headline: "Entire Population of Country Drinks Milk from Teats of Anonymous Bovine"

It is "gross" and "Weird" that we might give human milk (from a person we know and trust) to our human baby, but it goes without comment that we have an entire industry based on taking the "infant formula" from the teats of another species and drinking it, fermenting it, adding bacteria to it, etc. (I am talking about cow's milk here, for those who have not yet caught on). Do people even take a moment to THINK about what they are saying?

Wet nurses have been around for as long as historical records have been kept. Why do we suddenly find this very natural practive "creepy?" mmmmmmm, now pass me a nice cold glass of bovine lactate.

I nursed when I had my babies back in the 70s early 80s. When we went to church some of the women would nurse each other children when in the nursery or if babysitting. They would always ask prior. This was before HIV so it was acceptable etc. Now with the transmission of disease etc I would hesitate. I think people who use the terms disgusting etc never have had the joy of nursing. It is perhaps one of the most wonderful things of being a mother. My daughter is now nursing her baby and it is unacceptable in alot of circles for her to keep nursing when the child is beyond 6 months. This is crazy. When people ask me how long she is going to nurse. I tell them it is none of my business. That shuts them up. My grandbaby is 14 months. I nursed my last child til she was 3 years. It is not only great emotionally for the child, but is also great healthwise.

It is weird and disgusting. Yes God intended for us to breastfeed, but not like this. We as American women can be talked into anything. We are so gullible and weak!

I cross-nursed the young baby of a very close friend a couple times, with their permission (or at their request), because the baby just would not take a bottle. Mine was the same (refused a bottle), and I had a close friend breastfeed her once when I had to be away for most of the day. While nursing is certainly a bonding experience for a baby and mom (like playing and snuggling), it's NOT sexual, so I'm not sure why people are so uptight over it. Obviously there are serious health concerns, though, that people need to consider when cross-nursing.

I am ABSOLUTELY disgusted by this article! It's so hard to understand why breastfeeding has for even a second been thought of as unacceptable. Wet nurses, etc. have been used for hundreds even thousands of years! It's natural!! Why has natural become disgusting?!?! It's so upsetting to me that anyone would even question that. Research the harmful substances that are in formulas and tell me that's the right choice!! "Nature does NOTHING unnecessarily."-Immanuel Kant Nurture your baby! Breast milk is there for a reason, no matter where you get it from.

Although I nursed my son and find nothing wrong with someone else nursing a child (there have been wet nurses throughout history) I do find it disturbing when women feel they must do so in public.

Yes, it is a normal, natural funtion. But so is urinating and defecating and I don't want to see those either!!

I nursed my son in private, I didn't feel that it was something to share with everyone. We already know what kind of perverts are out there, let's not give them something else to drool over. I think women that do nurse in public are just doing it for the reaction. They like exposing themselves.

As another example of cross-nursing, I nursed my foster infant. I was afraid to tell anyone I was nursing her, for fear the social workers would say, you are getting too attached, we are going to have to move her. She was a coccaine addicted baby and very difficult to calm. One night, after hours of shreiking, in my sleep deprived state, I lifted her to my breast, almost without thinking. She calmed immediately and that began a long nursing relationship. We adopted her ten years later.

I think women should be cautious about cross nursing for all the reasons listed. In addition, the milk of a newly lactating woman is richer and made for newborns, whereas the milk produced months later may be leaner designed for toddlers with other forms of nutrition. The later milk probably won't hurt a newborn but should not be used exclusively.

Breast is still best!!

What is the 'ick' factor? Formula is waaay more icky than your freiends breast milk! Your baby missed out because you were afraid your baby would would reject you after suckling on your friend.

I nursed all 4 of my kids.But have found that babies who are established nursers aren't always willing to nurse from another woman. Once while babysitting my friends son, they were really late coming home, and their son was fussy to nurse and go to sleep. I tried to nurse him (we were close friends and both nursing our kids of the same age) but he was very unsure of nursing from me. I finally coaxed him to nurse some but he fell asleep and waited for his mom to come home with the "real deal". This baby definitely had a preference. It was also very strange nursing someone elses kid. Just as babies prefer different types of nipples on bottles, each mother's nipple is shaped different and feels different in the babies mouth. They want what they are used to.

My daughters in law cross nursed my grandchildren. That way one or the other could go out for a nice evening with their spouse and not have to worry about being back by feeding time. The cousins are all very close and no problems with parental bonding.

Ok, so I personally think this is disgusting beginning with the mother's switching, but has anyone thought about what the child may think later down the road when they find out they were nursed by their neighbor or his girlfriend's mom or whatever the relationships is? It is not right for the baby even if we as women want to make ourselves feel better about doing it. Seriously wrong!

I DONT HAVE SO MUCH OF A PROBLEM WITH IT IF IT IS SOME ONE YOU ARE EXTREAMLY CLOSE WITH YOU LOVE AND TRUST MY ISSUE IS YOU DONT DO IT WITH JUST ANYONE KNOW THERE HEATH AND MENTAL HEALTH SO THEY DONT START TO THINK THE BABY IS THERES AND WETHER YOU ARE CROSS FEEDING OR NOT THERE IS A LIMIT ON AGE COME ON NOW 2,3,4, YEAR OLDS SHOULD NOT BE DOING IT. 1 YEAR PEOPLE 1 YEAR NOT WHEN YOU FEEL READY THINK OF THE KID WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO DO GO OFF TO KINDERGARTEN AND EXPECT YOU TO GO THERE AT LUNCH TO FEED THEM OR TO WALK UP TO THE TEACHER AND ASK TO FEED.OR WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO PUMP AND SEND IT IN A THERMOS THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT REALLY I FEEL CROSS THE LINE WHEN IT COMES TO BREAST FEEDING.

GOD gave women their brests for the purpose of feeding an infant. It is the right thing to do weqther ones own infant or someone elses makes no difference. The real issue is in the matter of sex. In so called civilized societies, the brest is mostly a sex object rather than a means to nourishment. That oreintation is what is sick. It is recorded in history that in rare cases lactating women provided sustinance to adults who were starving, thus saving their lives.

In the middle of the night 26 years ago, the nurse in the hospital brought me the wrong baby to breastfeed and without my glasses, I didn't notice, but the baby knew. She didn't want to nurse from me and turned her head away. I managed to get her latched on, got my glasses and then said "This isn't my baby." The nurse was embarrased, but neither the baby nor I were the worse for the experience. Luckily we were both healthy, because there can be health risks to cross nursing. I certainly wasn't repulsed by the idea that someone else's child had nursed.

I hear you...I don't really want to go and say it's disgusting or weird...who am I to judge what others believe is good for their babies. While I myself wouldn't consider cross-feeding my kid (Kids soon) ..I'm not going to call the others that believe in it disgusting or weird. They believe they're doing what's best. It's not my type of thing would be a better answer instead of what was giving to us to chose between all three of the choices.

The problem is that many women will just opt out of nursing becuase they want to "get back to normal" or "go back to work soon" or various other reasons. The truth is, anyone can nurse, unless you have some kind of disease, or are taking medication that is passed through your milk, The mistake women make is that in the beginning nursing is hard. It takes a while to get used to it. you have to nurse a lot to increase your milk supply and some women, for various reasons, either they haven't got good information or support, or they really don't want to do it, give up easily and say "I wasn't able to nurse."

While I support the need for cross nursing in some cases, I just don't like the idea that women who need to have their babies bonding to them, are just turning them over to others for the most intesely enriching part of their interaction with their baby.

I don't believe in using terms such as, wrong or sick, because if it was wrong or sick, it would hurt someone, not give the life sustaining nourishment that it does. Some people just like to tell other what to do...and when they can't...they call them wrong and sick. Worry about yourself and let others live their lives.