Erotic lactation is sexual arousal linked to breastfeeding. It may involve feeling aroused by the idea of breastfeeding, watching breastfeeding, or participating in breastfeeding, either as someone who breastfeeds or gets breastfed. Mutual breastfeeding can be a sign of affection in lesbian relationships. Practitioners may be said to be in an adult nursing relationship.
Many people feel aroused by breasts and nipples. They may love looking at or touching breasts and nipples or having their own breasts and nipples stimulated. A small survey conducted in 2008 suggested that between a quarter and a third of men married to women have sucked their partner’s nipples. It’s not uncommon for these sexual interests to transfer into a sexual interest in breastfeeding, also called erotic lactation. From a psychological perspective, erotic lactation can also help people fulfill their emotional and physical sexual desires.
Couples may engage in erotic lactation after a pregnant person’s natural milk supply comes in. Simply suckling on the breast can also trigger lactation without pregnancy. So can a breast pump, supplements and the birth control pill. Many couples use a combination of these methods to trigger lactation.
Couples who engage in erotic lactation may say they’re in an adult nursing relationship, or ANR for short. Two people in an exclusive relationship may identify as a nursing couple. People may also satisfy their interest in erotic lactation outside their relationship with a sex worker offering lactation services. Someone breastfeeding may act as an adult or role-play the part of a baby. This kind of role-play, called infantilism, may involve wearing diapers, calling the breastfeeding partner “mommy”, and using baby talk. Going to one of Japan’s breast milk bars is another way to satisfy an interest in erotic lactation.
An interest in erotic lactation often goes hand in hand with fetishes such as milk fetishism and lactophilia. However, that’s not always the case. While some people feel erotic lactation satisfies a fetish for them, others say it simply adds another dimension to their sex life. These people feel aroused by breastfeeding but don’t feel they need it for sexual gratification.
