Woman Explains Why She 'Had To' Breastfeed Her Husband For 3 Days
To each their own.
TikTok. TikTok user Janelle McAloon set the internet ablaze when she explained why she breastfed her husband on their vacation.
Although some might have been able to conjure up reasons why this had to happen, others were shocked by the admission.
Janelle McAloon explained that she ‘had to’ breastfeed her husband for 3 days.
She posted the reasons why she breastfed her husband on TikTok, while they were on vacation in Puerto Rico without their kids.
“You know the part in your marriage vows, for better or for worse,” McAloon said as she started her video. “I had to take my husband up on that.”
“We were in Puerto Rico, and as you know, I’m breastfeeding,” she went on.
“I just forget to pack my pump, for whatever reason,” McAloon claimed. “So for four days we’re in Puerto Rico, my boobs are like, on fire.”
Sitting in the front seat of her car, McAloon outlined the unusual situation she and her husband, Josh McAloon found themselves in.
“By, like, the first day I’m like, ‘Josh, I need you to help me out,’” she said. “And that’s what he did.”
"So, I’m here to tell you, I had to breastfeed my husband," Janelle explained.
Janelle included the hashtags "#motherhoodunplugged" and "#momlife," with the caption “the awkwardness was real.”
Nursing moms need to express breastmilk in order to keep their supply up, either through feeding their babies or pumping.
If nursing moms don’t express milk on a regular schedule, their supply will dry up.
To keep her milk supply up, Janelle McAloon ‘had to’ breastfeed her husband.
If she didn’t remove the milk, her breasts would have grown engorged, leading to a high chance of developing clogged ducts or mastitis.
Most TokTok users praised Janelle and Josh’s choice, albeit for seemingly sexualized reasons.
“Sounds like a good vacation,” said one male user.
Another male user claimed, “I don’t know why he would complain.”
“He is living the dream,” noted yet another male commenter — a friendly reminder to not sexualize breastfeeding, it's a means of sustaining life and it's A LOT of work for the breastfeeding person. Don't be gross about it!
Other users were doubtful of Janelle and Josh’s choices.
“Any reason you did not just hand pump? A tip for next time,” said one user.
Janelle responded to the question directly, stating, “I tried so hard but for some reason, it wasn’t working until I had some suction going.”
“I know they have stores in Puerto Rico,” stated another commenter.
“Yes, they do,” Janelle responded. “But where we’re staying is far from all that! The last day we were there I was able to get one at CVS.”
Janelle reiterated that she was unable to get a pump for the first three days of their vacation, which led to her asking her husband to nurse from her.
Janelle and Josh followed up the original post with a video of them embracing, with the caption “It was a weird time” under the post “When I tell people I had to breastfeed my husband for three days.”
“I guess the silver lining is it brought you guys closer,” said one commenter.
Another supportive commenter noted that “Brene Brown says the amount of vulnerability you’re willing to show is equivalent to your bravery.”
Janelle addressed the intensity of media attention she’s received in another follow-up post.
“Just slightly embarrassing,” she wrote under a video of herself, filmed against a background of headlines about her nursing story from outlets such as The Daily Mail and The New York Post.
In the follow-up, Janelle included the hashtags "#motherhoodjourney" and "#momlifeiscrazy."
She received even more support, including from other nursing moms who’d been in similar situations.
“As a mother who’s experienced the pain of mastitis from being too engorged, I 100% love this,” said a supportive commenter.
The reality of nursing is often different from the public perception of what breastfeeding is supposed to look like.
It's not as uncommon as people think for a mother's nursing relationship to include people other than her own baby.
One detracting commenter claimed, “Literally you go in the shower and express your milk under hot water. Super weird this is the solution you came up with.”
Janelle refused to be shamed for her decision.
She responded to the comment by saying “I agree it is super weird,” noting that she tried hand-expressing in the shower but “it wasn’t working for me!”
Janelle’s honesty on an issue that occurs all too often for nursing moms is refreshing, and will hopefully reduce some of the shame nursing moms experience surrounding the ups and downs of breastfeeding.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.