What Does It Mean When You Dream About Breastfeeding?

Dreams can sometimes make you feel unnerved when you wake up, especially when your mind is trying to pull fragments of the visuals together and make sense of them all. No matter what different scientists and researchers believe about dreams and the interesting journey research has taken over the years, more recent studies have managed to find meaning between dreams and our emotions, per The Scientific American. Quite simply, dreams could be our mind's way of making sense of how we feel about certain realities in our waking life.   

If you're pregnant and dreaming about breastfeeding, you might not wake up too perturbed the next morning. Pregnancy and all the related hormonal changes and stressors that come with it can leave expectant mothers feeling anxious. Dreams are quite a frequent phenomenon in pregnant mothers, according to the author of "Creative Dreaming," Patricia Garfield (via WebMD). Coupled with the fluctuation of hormone levels, "pregnant women need to sleep more, and the more you sleep, the more you dream," shares Garfield. 

What if you're not pregnant and you've just seen a dream about breastfeeding a newborn? Breastfeeding, in addition to helping you burn a lot of calories, is an activity that signifies a close emotional bond, according to Aunty Flo. Here's what this dream could mean. 

Beyond the sore nipples and sleepless nights that usually accompany breastfeeding, the act in itself is one that nourishes a newborn and contributes towards its growth. Dreaming about breastfeeding could mean that a new opportunity is on the horizon, according to Scary Mommy. It could even be your unconscious mind telling you that you're going to find new love in the near future or that a good relationship with your romantic partner is inevitable (via Aunty Flo). 

Your nurturing and caring motherly instinct could also be signified through this dream. Do you have someone in your life you could potentially care for in such an unconditional way? Are you investing in such a relationship already?

If you're pregnant and the baby in your dream is a girl, this could be an indicator that you're going to give birth to a girl, reports Aunty Flo. If you've got a special relationship with a baby in your waking life, this might trigger such a dream too. Breastfeeding a baby girl could also mean that you're ready to leave the past where it is and embrace newer and better changes (per Scary Mommy). Nursing a baby boy, on the other hand, could mean a promotion or better financial prospects, Psychic Blaze noted. 

Having an innately nurturing quality can make you put others' needs in front of your own for too long and too often, and a dream about breastfeeding might be calling on you to become aware of that, according to Female First. Try not to burn out from giving too much of yourself. Take a look at the relationships you're investing time in and see how you can better care for them whilst also caring for yourself. 

Did you grow up without adequate nurturing from your own mother? Female first notes that a dream about breastfeeding could just be your heart's way of telling you that you're yearning for such love in some areas of your life as an adult. It could also mean you're too dependent on something in your life, whether that be a person or a thing.

If you're lacking breast milk in your dream, this might be another way your subconscious is trying to tell you about your emotional health by what you're dreaming (via Dream Christ). You might be about to encounter some challenging life experiences that are going to leave you feeling lonely. Take stock of the relationships around you and find strength and courage in them.