Attachment parenting and that Time cover...

TurtleRunnerNC

Both of mine weaned at 18 months. At that point they were only nursing @ bedtime anyway.

UrbanRunner81

My kids self weaned. It was around 2 1/2 -3. They kind of lost interest the older they got. They would skip a day, then they would skip two days and so on and so forth. Actually I was upset when my daughter stopped asking. I was sad as she was my last child. I would have happily kept nursing her if she wanted to.

Sure the picture is shock value, they could did a more natural pose for a mom nursing a toddler, but they wanted to get people's attention.

Bevigal

Motherhood is a wonderful thing and breast feeding is quite normal...however I do not think its necessary to put it on the cover of a magazine. It should be a personal thing between Mother and child. Having a 3 yr old nursing will sell lots of magazines because its not in the norm.

shilohae

I nursed my son for 18months and am still nursing my daughter at 21months. She is almost weaned...down to two sessions a day :happy: However, I agree that that cover was meant to shock. The little boy looks a lot older than he is and while I (obviously) am a fan of extended breastfeeding it looked awkward and I find the title offensive. Am I a better mother than someone who didn't nurse? What about those super women who choose to adopt and can't breastfeed?? We all do what we need to do to be the best mom that we can be...my choices don't make me better.

Lovinmama

As for the comment the kid would be scared... uh no he wont! breastfeeding is non sexual it might seems strange but it is the same as bottle feeding as far as memories ... to a child it is innoncent and pure. I refuse to jusdge others for the length they choose to bf but I wouldnt past 2

12skipafew99100

I nursed 4 children for 1 year. One child a little longer and one child not quite a year. Every child is different. Some want to stop and some want to keep on. But that picture just creeped me out.

veganbaum

I was breast fed until I was three, I also ate food at that age, not so uncommon in the circle of my mother's friends or the time period. It was one source of nutrition. As someone mentioned, that's a recommended age to wean. Just because we're in Western society there's no reason to end something that is so beneficial for children before it's necessary. The cover was obviously made to be controversial, I think it's a ridiculous cover that will do nothing to make such breastfeeding acceptable in our culture.

samf36

All 3 of ours were bf and weaned themselves about at a yr. In my family it is what we did/do. I nursed where ever we were and when ever the child was hungry. I nursed in stores, in church, at family dinners, and I never felt the need to expose my breast and I an sure 99% of people never knew what I was doing.

Time is doing a disservice to bf with this cover. It is a choice each person needs to make and just because you bf or do attachment parenting doesn't mean you are a better parent , it means you made a choice and it is no better than the next persons.

Stinkerbelle84

I am not overly fond of the photo. I understand that it was intended to be controversial, but it felt more awkward to me. While breastfeeding is a perfectly natural thing to do, the photo was quite unnatural. And regardless of the age, I am all for being discreet about it. That is just my opionion though. I fully support moms no matter their decisions!

agthorn

I personally don't care how long someone breastfeeds their kid, but that boy is going to need loads of therapy when he's in high school and the other kids paper his locker with that magazine cover. I mean seriously, did super-mom give even half a second of thought as to what junior will think of that photo in 10-15 years?

wildearthmama

My daughter will be 3 in August, and our nursing relationship is going strong! Different strokes for different folks... we both really enjoy the intimacy and bonding in our breastfeeding relationship. This is definitely not the norm in the U.S. though, particularly with as old as she is. For some reason I can't open the link, but the cover picture sounds like it's creating heat without light. Moms are under enough scrutiny as it is, why make it worse? Additionally, why taint the future breastfeeding relationships of young women? When they might have been nurturing, pure, and good, now they have more potential to be slightly warped. Baby can tell if mama's not comfortable during a feeding! I only pray that this picture and story (and others like it) don't destroy any potential breastfeeding relationships for moms and kids.

AshleyVeronica

I think WHO actually suggests 2 years minimum but I could be wrong. I breast fed my son until he was 2.5 and he self weaned. He just slowly began having less and less, then just bedtime, then he was good without. I would have gone on longer. I know even at 2 people treated me like a freak for still nursing him. The amount of ignorance around the topic really upsets me. So many children miss out on the opportunity to nurse as long as is best for them because people think there is something wrong with it. That's not to say that those who use formula or stop nursing much earlier are bad mothers. This headline is totally designed to imply that - at least enough to get people pissed off and talking about it. By saying "are you mom enough?" implies that those who don't breast feed for long are "not". That's just messed up. People have their own reasons for doing whichever they chose and what matters most is that the baby is fed and loved!!! I am immensely grateful that I was able to nurse my son but I know it took A LOT of effort and fighting just to have that opportunity (my milk supply needed help from Domperidone just to happen). I would ALWAYS recommend breastfeeding for as long as possible (and I honestly see NOTHING wrong with those who are still nursing their 7 year olds like in that youtube video!) but if someone can't then whatever. The only women who bother me are the ones who choose to not do it because they believe it's sexual or "creepy"...THAT freaks me out. There are mothers who choose for OTHER reasons though and for that its to each their own I guess. I think its disturbing that Time could do a cover with someone drinking from a cow and people would freak out LESS than they do for this. Drinking milk from an entirely different animal is perfectly ok til the day we die, but a mother feeding her CHILD is so messed up to people?! It is natural and endlessly beneficial...VERY unlike cow's milk...

I agree with a commenter who posted elsewhere today about this - we need to stop buying into this crap that is deliberately placed in the media to pit women against women...we need solidarity especially in a "man's world". We can and should only judge our OWN parenting - not anyone else's (unless abuse comes to play I guess) and we need to stop ripping each other to pieces based on our own methods. I will always be gleeful whenever I hear someone I know is nursing - but I will not bash someone because they aren't either.

manda1002

I must say, I'm quite offended by the title "Are you Mom enough?" My first son I bf until he was 8 months old, then I dried up, mostly because he just wasn't interested and wouldn't sit still. My youngest I PAINFULLY bf until he was 3 months, when we found out he's lactose intolerant and we had basically been starving the poor child that whole time. I wish I could have bf both of them much longer, but it just wasn't in the cards for us. And just because a mom can't, or won't, bf until the child is 3+ years old does not make them any less of a mom who does.

teresa3491

I have always seen it as when your kid can just walk up, pull out your boob, and start chuggin.... its a good time to stop breastfeeding. Not that I am against breast feeding. Its the age thing.

As far as the cover pic goes and its "vulgarness".... has anyone seen the swimsuit edition of Sports Illistrated? I think we need to protect our kids more from the practically naked, highly innapropriate, images of women being objectified than a perfectly natural process between mother and child,

AshleyVeronica

I personally don't care how long someone breastfeeds their kid, but that boy is going to need loads of therapy when he's in high school and the other kids paper his locker with that magazine cover. I mean seriously, did super-mom give even half a second of thought as to what junior will think of that photo in 10-15 years?

I HIGHLY doubt that anyone will even know who that kid is then...unless he goes around telling people (in which case he obviously won't care) then nobody would know it was him in this picture lol I also imagine that he will not be ashamed of it either as he will probably have the value of breastfeeding instilled in him...

Lovinmama

As humans our natural weaning age is actually six!! the boy in the photo will be fine! that comment bugs me

Alexis14351

I don't care how long people choose to breastfeed their kids, your boobs = your choice. I nursed my daughter for 4 months and am nursing my son who is 7 months old, I plan to go the first year then we'll see. However, the title did upset me a little. I am so tired of the mompetition! People without kids hate you for having kids, people with kids hate you because you don't do it the "right way" like they do. I will admit I used to buy into this, but I've seen the light and will follow my own advice: "If you don't have anything nice to say, shut up"

laurapgmartinez

What I hate about that article is that it is setting up the mommy wars. We are competitive enough with each other and I hate that it is looking to shoot down each other. As mothers we should be looking to build each other up because lets face it - its a damn tough job.

I also hate that picture. Seriously. They are trying to create controversy and I guess they've done it but they have a chosen a thin, beautiful hipster type mother, a large (thats a tall 3 year old) BOY looking at the camera and exposed her chest and posed them to get people talking. If they showed her cradling her child nursing him, it wouldn't have created the same buzz.

And the title "Are you Mom enough?".....don't get me started.

^^^THIS EXACTLY! Well put!

teresa3491

it may be the same memories as bottle feeding but how often do you see a 3 year old walking around with a bottle??? It seems just as strange to me. My son is about 2 and the day before his 1st birthday was the last day he ever got a bottle.

UticaBoy51

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