When mom and lactation consultant Meg Nagle posted a breastfeeding selfie on her Facebook page on Monday, it quickly went viral for a very interesting reason.
Users were intrigued to learn that the nursing baby in the photo is not in fact her child -- he's her nephew.
"While my sister was at work today I tried to give him a bottle of her expressed milk a few times (which he wouldn't take)," Nagle wrote in the caption, adding, "I could see he was tired so I popped him on the boob and voila, he was asleep in minutes."
The photo received many comments inquiring if she had her sister's permission to breastfeed the baby -- to which Nagle responded assuringly, "Of course I asked her!!"
Beyond the curiosity, the response to the "brelfie" was overwhelmingly positive, much to the delight of Nagle, who blogs at The Milk Meg and has written a book called Boobin' All Day Boobin' All Night: A Gentle Approach To Sleep For Breastfeeding Families.
In the comments section, many mothers shared their own experiences nursing the babies of loved ones.
"I've nursed my niece, and my twin has nursed my son," wrote Crystal Taylor, "If it's anything like me and my sister it's been discussed before that we will do what's necessary to take care of the littles."
"My bestie and I have nursed each others' littles," commented Jamie Sue Faris. "It's a special bond and has come in handy when I was in labor and when she was having latch issues but couldn't explain the issue."
In a follow-up post, Nagle shared some guidelines about the benefits and risks of breast milk sharing.
Ultimately, the best decisions about breastfeeding are the informed choices a mom makes for her and her family.
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