A dad has sparked debate on social media after sharing a video of him 'comfort nursing' his baby girl.
Alongside a video of his baby daughter sucking on his nipple, the dad, known as Daddy Duke on Twitter, wrote: 'baby girl was OBVIOUSLY confused 😭😭😭😂'.
Of course that, like most things on social media, the dad's video started sparked debate and was criticised by some people, who said it was 'weird'.
One said: 'You want a baby to suck on your nipples for no reason! Weird.', while a second wrote: 'This is child abuse to the extreme.'
But not everyone had a negative reaction to it, as some even shared their own experiences of babies trying to find comfort in nipples that did not belong to their respective lactating mums.
One wrote: 'It's not weird it’s sweet. It’s one of those common moments every dad goes through with their baby, it’s cute and funny. ANYONE holding a baby while they’re hungry or wanting comfort has experienced the baby trying this. And in that moment, it is funny and cute.'
Another wrote: 'People talking about how it’s “wrong” and “disturbing” are dumb as hell for being in they feels over an 8sec video with a confused but loving dad NOT overreacting to his baby comfort nursing.'
Comfort nursing is not a new concept, with many experts saying babies go to the breast for many reasons, from obviously feeling hungry to being thirsty, tired, scared hurt, or feeling overwhelmed.
According to HuffPost UK, Dr. Jack Newman - who's a breastfeeding specialist and author of ‘Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers’ - spoke about the phenomenon and told ABC News that a father’s nipple is a 'good fleshy substitute' to soothe babies.
'This is not about producing milk, but strictly calming the baby with the father’s breast. They will be just as content sucking on their mother’s breast as sucking on a pacifier, someone’s finger or a bottle nipple as they would their father’s nipple.'
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