# Why is it taboo for anyone older than a baby to drink breastmilk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667 "2003-02-04T07:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/41 "2003-02-04T20:46:53Z")
So much misinformation. I realize none of this relates to the OP but I’d rather not let some of the assertions made thus far go unchallenged. The worldwide age of weaning varies greatly; however, I’m sure the average isn’t seven. In the Solomon Islands kids used to breastfeed until 15, though. Just because a school-age child looks sick on breastmilk doesn’t mean breastmilk isn’t nutritious. It alone is not a sufficient source of sustenance for a child that large, but that hardly means it’s not good stuff. Flintstones vitamins are “nutritious” but that doesn’t mean my kid would be in good shape if they formed 1/2 his diet. Milk banks are not a new idea–and we’re not talking about turning women into cows. It’s a great thing when lactating moms with an oversupply can donate milk. It hasn’t taken off here, I’ll admit, but in some scandinavian countries it has; same with Eastern Europe, mainly to provide to sick babies in hospitals. Here in the U.S. I know two friends who nursed each other’s babies when babysitting, and I would’ve taken breastmilk from a friend from my son when I was having trouble with supply. Not everyone is comfortable with that but it’s not bad or wrong to surrogate feed. Teeth don’t necessitate weaning. Many parents nurse after the teeth come in. I did. The case recently cited was in Illinois (the mother having her child taken away due in part to breastfeeding a long time past toddlerhood). To my knowledge, LLL is run out of people’s homes as a grassroots organization and they do not invade hospital rooms to berate mothers. That must be a local problem and a real misuse of the organization. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/42 "2003-02-04T20:47:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > The psychological knowledge that breast milk is involved may make a difference, though. [starbucks employee] Would you like to use human milk for an extra $1. [/starbucks employee] :eek: ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/43 "2003-02-04T21:14:42Z")
hell,even a 3-year-old, or for that matter a 13 year old can get his little num-nums from mom’s boobs, and I don’t have a problem with it. As long as she keeps the kids out of restaurants and movie theaters. ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/44 "2003-02-04T22:57:47Z")
**TMI ALERT** FWIW, My ex hub loved the stuff. He indeed liked it in coffee, and remarked how it was sweeter. I had an abundance having given a child for adoption. It was rather nice to get the pressure off the mammaries. (You Moms who’ve nurced know that _sinking_ feeling to whit I refer) {Bad Joke} What do tits and trains have in common? They’re made for the kids but Dad likes to play with them {/Bad Joke} ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/45 "2003-02-05T00:39:21Z")
\*\*TelcontarStorm \*\* Your post shouldnt even be in the TMI category. Theres nothing wrong with what you did, nothing wrong with your ex helping you with your “load”, and certainly nothing wrong with your joke (damn true IMHO) Milk does a body good. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/46 "2003-02-05T03:33:13Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by X~Slayer(ALE)_ > **Aww cmon! its not like we’re gonna herd topless women into stalls, stick electric suction machines to their boobs and have them sit there for eight hours chewing their cud.** [sup] > [@](#): > > _Hemlock’s link_ > **The six women he employed to provide the milk returned to their hometowns in the countryside.** [/sup] There will have to be some centralized collection point. The USDA would not allow women bringing their milk in sealed containers (such as mentioned on the site you linked to). The milk would have to be collected by certified sanitary means, so yes suction machines would be used. For every amenity you provide these women the cost of the milk will go up, but let’s think **blood bank**. If she isn’t there 24 hours and being _milked_ at least 8 times production will decrease dramatically. [sup] > [@](#): > > **Milk production in the 20 major States during November totaled 11.7 billion pounds, up 1.8 percent from November 2001. October revised production, at 12.0 billion pounds, was up 2.1 percent from October 2001. The October revision represented a decrease of 26 million pounds or 0.2 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate. > Production per cow in the 20 major States averaged 1,501 pounds for November, 16 pounds above November 2001.** > [@](#): > > **milk (at 8.62 pounds per gallon)** > [@](#): > > **with an confinement system of dairying, it costs approximately $2,500 per cow,"** [/sup] Using the above information it costs $6.85 a day to produce 5.8 gallons of milk on a dairy farm. Although some of that goes to feed and house the cow, none of it is paid out as a wage or for her service. It comes to $1.18 a gallon and in the store it sells for $2.99 a gallon. If a woman could produce one gallon (she can’t) and she was paid minimum wage for one hour (you wouldn’t like this low rate), then it would cost $6.49 a gallon for human breast milk. That estimation is so liberal in your favor it is funny, yet nobody would pay that much. I am embarrassed even to be figuring what it would cost for this. If the idea was carried out, I am sure there would be a huge objection. In short, I think it is dumb and demeaning to women. - 🙂 [sup]Anna Nicole Smith might completely revise these calculations.[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/47 "2003-02-05T14:26:07Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\* > Among all the other reasonable ideas given in this thread is the fact that a woman can produce just so much milk and if she has more than one (or maybe two) child(ren), it is necessary for them to grow out of liking to breast feed. A taboo is a good method of insuring this._\* Breastmilk is not finite like that – you produce as much as is demanded. I’ve read about mothers nursing triplets and more. It must be exhausting, but it is possible. BTW, it is also possible to breastfeed while pregnant. I don’t know why people think it’s not, but I’ve been doing it for two months. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/48 "2003-02-05T14:36:17Z")
The only setback I see for producing human milk for mass consumption is the fact that its something that ‘takes food to make food’. The woman would need to eat more calories than she is expressing to stay healthy. If in the future, in some bizarre fasion we find that human milk tastes better than cow milk, perhaps the demand would be sufficient to see it in grocery stores? People are so wierd. We have no problems eating the seared flesh of animals (count me in!) wearing their skin, and drinking their body secretions, but major eww factor ensues if we are drinking same said secretions from people. ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/49 "2003-02-05T18:02:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Incubus \* > \*\*Sounds like breastmilk would make good coffee creamer. \*\* YES! It would! I once dated a woman who was lactating and after having tried breast milk personally I found it very tasty and we both agreed it would make an excellent coffee creamer. We broke up before I ever got a chance to try it, though… I never understood the idea of being disgusted at the thought of drinking breast milk. How is drinking something engineered by nature for human consumption any worse than drinking cow’s milk? I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/50 "2003-02-05T20:12:28Z")
For you literary folk: remember the final scene in _The Grapes of Wrath_, too! ---
**Author:** ![Rhetoric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rhetoric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhetoric)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/51 "2003-02-05T20:20:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by I\_Dig\_Bad\_Boys \* > \*\*…there’s the La Leche League which fiercly advocates it. I’ve heard horror stories from a few of my mom’s friend’s daughters about them. They said that the LLL comes into their rooms after they give birth and tell you if you don’t breastfeed you’re commiting a form of child abuse or something.😮 > > IDBB \*\* No offense since I know this is only hearsay but I’ve got to say that it is kind of silly. In any large organization, there will be those fanatics that give it a bad name. La Leche League is primarily made up of breastfeeding mothers who get together to let their kids play and receive support from one another. My mother was a LLL leader for years and is now a Certified Lactation Consultant. After my wife and I had our first child 14 months ago, she has attended several meetings and really enjoyed them. My son gets well-socialized with other children at an early age and she can see that other mothers have similar issues that she does. They meet once a month and none of them have the qualities described. The whole reason behind support groups like LLL is because of the steady decline of breastfeeding. I don’t remember specific dates, but from the time that formula-feeding started getting big in the early 20th century, breatfeeding itself had become more taboo. Women had to go and sit in a stall in the bathroom if they wanted to feed their children. It wasn’t until the 90’s that it started really coming back…and still only slowly. And now, a majority of women that formula-feed do so because of two things. 1) Lack of education 2) They have never seen it done and think of it as purely sexual. One hundred years ago, most people breastfed. You saw your mom, your aunt, and your sister breastfeed. It wasn’t strange or gross. Kids now aren’t exposed to it. From an early age, we’re taught that breasts are only used for things of a sexual nature. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will be changing any time soon… ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/52 "2003-02-05T20:54:04Z")
Two things: 1. > [@](#): > > Breastmilk is not finite like that – you produce as much as is demanded. If people are anything like cows, then this is not true. Cows generally produce a fixed volume of milk in their lifetime. Where, in the past, they might have done oit over the course of 5-10 years before slaughter, modern dairy techniques enable the farmers to extract that volume within 3-5 years, before the cow is sent off to the butcher. I welcome a cite specific to humans, though. (And I have no idea what the “maximum volume” for humans is–2 kids? 3 kids? 8 kids?) 1. Here’s a revealing article (“Why we are revolted”): [http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20030125/FC25YUCK/Health/health/health\_temp/1/1/4/](http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20030125/FC25YUCK/Health/health/health_temp/1/1/4/) > [@](#): > > But what struck Dr. Curtis, and forms the heart of her theory about the evolutionary importance of disgust, is how similar we all are when it comes to what we find revolting. > > Excrement tops the list, followed by dead bodies. \*\*Then come bodily secretions including spittle, blood, pus, vomit, urine and sexual fluids. > > … > > Visual cues are also important. Research shows that humans are not disgusted by their own bodily evacuations and secretions, unless the material sits around for a while. > > For example, people aren’t put off by their own saliva, unless you ask them to spit into a vial and then drink it. "Then they’ll look at you and say, ‘Bleck,’ " says Dr. Dalton, an experimental psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia. > > …Research shows we are less disgusted by the bodily secretions of family members than those of strangers… > \*\* ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/53 "2003-02-05T20:56:05Z")
oops. forgot to close the boldface… ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/54 "2003-02-05T22:26:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\*[sup][/sup] If a woman could produce one gallon (she can’t) and she was paid minimum wage for one hour (you wouldn’t like this low rate), then it would cost $6.49 a gallon for human breast milk. That estimation is so liberal in your favor it is funny, yet nobody would pay that much. > > I am embarrassed even to be figuring what it would cost for this. If the idea was carried out, I am sure there would be a huge objection. In short, I think it is dumb and demeaning to women. > \*\* A woman producing milk would be paid for the amount she produces not hourly. Yes, a certain type of suction device will be used but not the way cows are milked. and the USDA would have no jurisdiction over this, please let me reiterate that women are not cows. Women can use a special bra that expresses milk under their clothes into a briefcase sized suction machine that has its own portable refrigeration which can then be collected once a day into a central processing plant for screening and bio-filtering. It will follow the FedEx model of pickup and delivery. Granted it will be more expensive than cows milk but have you seen the price of bottled water compared to tap water? How is this demeaning and since when is making money dumb? ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/55 "2003-02-05T22:34:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\* > 1. > > If people are anything like cows, then this is not true. Cows generally produce a fixed volume of milk in their lifetime. Where, in the past, they might have done oit over the course of 5-10 years before slaughter, modern dairy techniques enable the farmers to extract that volume within 3-5 years, before the cow is sent off to the butcher. > > I welcome a cite specific to humans, though. (And I have no idea what the “maximum volume” for humans is–2 kids? 3 kids? 8 kids?)\*\* I supposed you have a point that there must be _some_ limit, but certainly two or three children breastfeeding would not be impossible, as suggested by the post I quoted. I have read anecdotal stories that suggest at least 6 would be possible with the proper nutrition. (Draining, but possible.) ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/56 "2003-02-06T17:34:31Z")
> [@](#): > > (Draining, but possible.) Draining … isn’t that the whole point of it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nogginhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5e9695/32.png) [@nogginhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogginhead)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/57 "2003-02-06T18:42:30Z")
[way TMI] Just FTR, I got Ms. Nog to give me some of the good stuff straight from the spigot last night… Sweet, yes. Thin, yes. Sexy? Well, with episiotomy scars still healing, and worse, anything remotely connected to sex is pretty stimulating. So a big Yes. You think drinking breast milk is taboo, try talking about hemhorroids! [/way TMI] ---
**Author:** ![DeviantKat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@DeviantKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeviantKat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/58 "2003-02-06T19:14:55Z")
I guess my husband was one of the few, but he was grossed out by the idea of breastmilk, though he often teased that he’d bring Oreo’s to bed with him. I personally don’t think it should be a taboo, but that’s society again, impressing the starch on what is a purely natural and beautiful act of creation. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/59 "2003-02-06T19:16:47Z")
Golly, I didn’t know it was taboo. What’s up with that? I’ve had two lactating GF’s over the years, (although I myself am childless, boo-hoo,) and figured it was just an added bonus in a bit of oral-mamillial gratification that you’d be about anyway. (Like Joyce’s Molly Bloom observed, “so much smoother the skin much an hour he was at them I’m sure by the clock like some kind of a big infant I had at me they want everything in their mouth all the pleasure those men get out of a woman…”) A hot & sweet surprise that harms no one-- it’s not as though anyone’s going to deprive the baby. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667/60 "2003-02-06T20:46:14Z")
In 1995 or thereabout Swedish milk banks paid women at a rate of $21 a liter. They only take breastmilk produced in the first three months so there is a finite time period women can produce. The average donor produced 50 liters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-taboo-for-anyone-older-than-a-baby-to-drink-breastmilk/152667.md?page=2)