There is no maximum age, up to which a mother can produce breast milk. Whenever the pregnancy happens, the lactogen process starts immediately. Usually after the age of 40, there are certain hormonal changes in the body, due to which the production of the breast milk is hampered.
It's not unusual for milky discharge to continue for up to two to three years after discontinuing breastfeeding. That said, some people (regardless of their sex assigned at birth or whether they've breastfed before) can experience milk production or milky discharge called galactorrhea.
Nutrition experts say breast milk of grandmothers is recommended for babies who cannot be breastfed by their biological mothers for whatever reason, noting that contrary to assumptions, women who are over 60 years can still produce breast milk and effectively breastfeed infants.
Once she stops expressing the milk, the breasts can stop lactating, till pregnancy happens once more. According to the medical practitioners at AMRI Hospitals, one of the best hospitals in Kolkata, a woman can produce breast milk for twenty, thirty or more years, as long as there is a constant need for it,.
But people should be informed that nursing a 6-7+year-old is a perfectly normal and natural and healthy thing to be doing for the child, and that their fears of emotional harm are baseless."
How long should a mother breastfeed? The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans [PDF-30.6MB] recommend that infants be exclusively breastfed for about the first 6 months, and then continuing breastfeeding while introducing appropriate complementary foods until your child is 12 months old or older.
Excessive breast stimulation, medication side effects or disorders of the pituitary gland all may contribute to galactorrhea. Often, galactorrhea results from increased levels of prolactin, the hormone that stimulates milk production. Sometimes, the cause of galactorrhea can't be determined.
In Mongolia, breastfeeding is celebrated and public breastfeeding encouraged with 65 percent of babies being exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. Breastfeeding also tends to continue until after the second birthday.
Galactorrhoea is milky nipple discharge not related to pregnancy or breast feeding. It is caused by the abnormal production of a hormone called prolactin. This can be caused by diseases of glands elsewhere in the body which control hormone secretion, such as the pituitary and thyroid glands.
PIP: Islamic law requires mothers to breast feed their children for 2 years. the father must assist the mother in breast feeding the children by providing her with food and clothing. If the father dies or does not live at home, the heir must support the mother thereby allowing her to breast feed her infants.
Galactorrhea (say "guh-lak-tuh-REE-uh") happens when a teen's breasts make milk but she is not pregnant. The milk may leak from one or both breasts. Sometimes milk leaks only when the breast is touched.
The American Academy of Pediatrics just updated its recommendations to encourage moms to breastfeed for up to 2 years. This aligns with long-standing recommendations from the World Health Organization.
“If they feed for as long as they want to they will naturally wean. “In a lot of countries it's perfectly normal to breastfeed older children and they will do it for a lot longer than we do in the West.”
Your body could be making extra amounts of a hormone called prolactin, which can cause a white discharge from your nipples. It doesn't have an odor. Occasionally teen girls have a milky breast discharge called galactorrhea, pronounced “gah-lack-toe-ree-ah”, which looks like milk.
Analysis of mother's milk shows that a mother who delivers a newborn does produce colostrum and milk designed to meet the needs of the newborn, even though the mother is still nursing a toddler. This offers the desired advantages for the newborn but no adverse consequences for the older child.
A woman can only act as a wet nurse if she is lactating (producing milk). It was once believed that a wet nurse must have recently undergone childbirth in order to lactate. This is not necessarily the case, as regular breast stimulation can elicit lactation via a neural reflex of prolactin production and secretion.
But, not one to follow tradition too strictly, the Queen set her own standard and breastfed her four children, something which her daughter-in-law Princess Diana also decided to do as well, and later the Duchess of Cambridge.
Advanced maternal age can delay the onset of lactation but not necessarily decrease the ability to produce it. However, older mothers may not be as sensitive to the hormone prolactin, which is one of the key hormones in milk production.
Generally speaking, breastfeeding your husband or partner is OK. It's not perverted or wrong if you want the person you are intimate with to breastfeed, or if they ask to try breastfeeding or taste your breast milk.
Thick or sticky discharge that is green, greenish brown or reddish brown may be caused by a non-cancerous condition called mammary duct ectasia. Yellow and foul-smelling pus may be caused by a breast infection.
Good for Your Husband
There is no harm in breastfeeding to your husband; in fact the breasts can produce as much milk as required, just think about some mom breastfeeding 3 or more babies. You just need to drink plenty of fluids, eat healthy, and have enough rest.