Take Your Family on a “Breastfeeding” Field Trip!

By Karen Miles, IBCLC

This summer, are you planning a family trip to the local zoo, rodeo, farm, or an event with a petting zoo? Consider turning it into an educational experience, for you and your children, by spending a little time teaching them how various animals nurse their young. It’ll give your children an appreciation for nursing as the natural way that both human and animal parents feed their young. (Bonus points if you nurse your own baby while there!) And if you are expecting a baby, this is a great way to introduce the concept of nursing to your older kiddos. 

1. First, visit your destination’s website for a listing of animals there.

2. Next, In the days leading up to your trip, check and see if any of the animals in the chart below will be featured at your destination, and make a note of which ones. Use the online sources below to study up on those animals’ nursing habits so that you can then share some tidbits with your children before, during, and/or after your excursion.

3. If time allows, tap into these additional nursing animal resources. Then tie-in human lactation concepts.

To teach the concept of lactation support:

Share a fascinating story of a nursing zoo animal who needed some lactation support, such as this mother orangutan from Metro Richmond Zoo. 

Tip: Watch the video together as a family. Then, tell your children: Just like this orangutan mother, human mothers sometimes need a little help from others to learn how to nurse their babies. So they may go to a breastfeeding support group, see a lactation consultant, or take a breastfeeding class to learn how to breastfeed.

To teach the concept of breastfeeding an adopted baby, or to share the concept of milk donation: 

Read about animals who nurse babies that are not their own, such as this female gorilla at the Cleveland Metropark Zoo.

Tip: Summarize the article for any littles in the household. Then, tell your children one or more of the following facts:

Just like this female gorilla, a human mother may wish to breastfeed a baby she did not give birth to. If the mother is not already nursing another child at home, then she may encourage her own body to make breast milk by using a breast pump and possibly also taking some special medications and/or herbal supplements. Working with a lactation consultant will help guide the family in how to best build a breast milk supply for the baby. And if the nursing parent’s own milk supply isn’t quite enough to cover all of the baby’s meals, the family may decide to also give the baby donor breast milk from a human milk bank, or some baby formula.

4. If you are not currently nursing a baby, and your children have hardly ever seen anyone breastfeed before, consider sharing some videos of human mothers across the globe nursing their babies. It will give your kids some exposure to what human breastfeeding is all about. You’ll find some great ones at Global Health Media.

To view them, select your preferred language (there are tons of language options!) in the “All Languages” box at the top of that webpage. Then, type the word “breastfeeding” into the “Enter Keyword” box. Now, prepare yourself for plenty of curious questions from your children. Keep your cell phone ready to capture video of your children’s reactions because some are bound to be hilarious! 


Karen Miles is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Lactation Content Specialist with Milkify.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or be a substitute for medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare provider for any questions you may have related to your own health, or your baby’s health.

Image Credit: Sergio / stock.adobe.com