There’s a lot of controversy surrounding nipples lately. And I mean a lot.
We use breasts to sell everything from cheeseburgers to automobiles, but when it comes to their actual biological use, people get all uncomfortable about it.
But now, it’s not just women’s nips causing all the fuss. It seems that any nipple being used for any reason other than endeavors of a sexual nature or to sell stuff is up for scrutiny – or at least Twitter user Daddy Duke was when his daughter started sucking on his.
The new dad posted a video on Twitter last week showing his daughter all snuggled up to his bare chest. Apparently, he’s quiet as his daughter begins to drift to sleep – but then, he suddenly sneezes and wakes her.
She looks around, offended (as babies do when they are abruptly woken up) and spots something familiar – a nipple. Which, to a baby, means comfort and food. She latches onto the nipple and begins sucking on it.
Dad laughs because the baby probably isn’t going to get milk from this source, and how else do you react in that situation – other than overreact and end up with a screaming baby?
Reactions to the video were mixed, but a few that did stand out called the incident “disturbing” and said that the father should be investigated for child abuse.
But the truth is that this is normal baby behavior.
It’s called non-nutritive sucking. Central Manchester University Hospitals explains that babies don’t discriminate what kind of nipple (female, male or pacifier) they do this on, because they’re doing it for comfort, not food.
So, while it might be a little odd to see a baby latched to dad, there’s nothing too concerning going on – other than folks making a new dad feel terrible over something completely natural and, quite frankly, far from the biggest issue parents have to worry about (mass school shootings, anyone?).
That said, we’re not exactly surprised at these cruel comments. After all, if there’s anything we see way too much of here at Metro Parent, it’s the peanut gallery shaming parents over nothing.
Got any funny breastfeeding or comfort sucking stories? Tell us about them in the comments.
