Two moms reveal why they breastfeed each others babies: Milk is milk

British sisters-in-law Holly and Becky Stevens don’t just babysit each other’s children — they breastfeed them, too.From best friends to breast friends, the moms revealed during an appearance on the U.K.show This Morning that they have been nursing one another’s babies for seven years, a practice that started almost accidentally when Holly’s son Freddy was just five days old.What started simply out of convenience one day, while Becky was watching Freddy, who needed an emergency snack, became an unexpectedly practical parenting arrangement.“It felt like a natural thing to do, and it didn’t feel odd,” Becky said, who at the time was still nursing her own son Foy.Another time, Holly recalled arriving at Becky’s house without her breast pump and simply nursing Foy instead.

A bonus was not having to lug bottles around an already overcramped baby bag.“Less to pack,” Becky joked.Seven years later, they’re still at it: Holly has nursed Becky’s newborn daughter Pearl, while the pair say breastfeeding one another’s children has only made their already tight-knit families closer.While sharing milk may be unusual for some, the concept is nothing new.Wet nursing — having a lactating woman breastfeed another woman’s child — dates back at least to 2000 B.C.and continued as an organized profession into the 19th century before bottles and infant formula largely replaced it.But clearly, mothers are still sharing the love.A 2025 JAMA study found that among nearly 2,000 mothers nationwide, 3.7% reported giving their babies shared breast milk during their first six months.And Holly and Becky aren’t the only families who have crossed the breastfeeding divide.In a Reddit discussion about nursing another person’s baby, one user recalled that her mother and twin sister had babies only months apart and would breastfeed both children while babysitting for one another.Others were less enthusiastic, with reactions ranging from “Some people are ok with i...