TIME magazine and breast feeding a 4 year old

SassyCalyGirl
SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
in Chit-Chat
I personally found the cover pic to be disturbing-what are your thoughts?
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Replies

  • ColleenAtherton
    ColleenAtherton Posts: 230 Member
    I breastfed all 3 of my kids, so I don't find it disgusting or disturbing.

    BF-ing until the child was 4 is not something I would choose to do personally, but to each their own.
  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
    The kid is 3, not 4.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    I am not going to question how other parents raise their children, but the cover of the magazine was ridiculous. I am not a mother yet, but stuff like that is the reason women who choose to breastfeed have to put up with so much crap from the rest of the world over what's appropriate and what isn't. That picture made my skin crawl.
  • christynek
    christynek Posts: 152 Member
    To each their own. Breastfeeding is by far the best way to go. I understand people not wanting others doing it in public but sometimes there is no other option.
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    I'm against Time Magazine for pitting mothers against each other. And doing it on Mother's Day.
  • Alma_Sana
    Alma_Sana Posts: 453 Member
    I know everyone has their own opinion. . . .But I just think its gross the way she is doing it. Maybe when they get that old . . just pump and poor it in a cup or something if you must. Personally I think its too old to be breast fed
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
    The kid is 3, not 4.

    thanks for the correction-even at 3 years old-its disgusting. Not breast feeding itself-just at that age and the cover was just disturbing.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Why is it disgusting? That's stupid.
  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
    Why is it disgusting? That's stupid.

    Yep.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    My brother's wife did it until the first kid was, if I recall correctly, about 7 or 8. Their son was a preemie and their chiropractor/homeopathist recommended it at the time. Also he stayed in bed with them until he was about 10. "Attachment parenting", I think they called it. Certainly not my cup of tea, but also none of my damned beeswax.

    Their son is now a healthy, well-adjusted, outgoing teenager who is doing very well in school. He's a respectful kid who's a pleasure to be around, he works hard, and he's going to go a long way. Did the breastfeeding help? No idea. It obviously hasn't left any psychological scars or anything. They've got two other younger kids that they weaned earlier in life (not preemies) and they are also good kids who are doing well in school.

    There are plenty of ways to raise a child. Caring seems to be the key. Who knew?
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    I would like to hear the childs opinion when he grows up.
    I found it disturbing. Not the breast feeding but the picture. I think it is more of the inability of the mother to let go, not the child.
  • RDalton84
    RDalton84 Posts: 207
    Pump it and put it in a cup...you wouldn't keep giving a 3-7 year old milk in a bottle
  • _binary_jester_
    _binary_jester_ Posts: 2,132 Member
    My brother's wife did it until the first kid was, if I recall correctly, about 7 or 8. Their son was a preemie and their chiropractor/homeopathist recommended it at the time. Also he stayed in bed with them until he was about 10. "Attachment parenting", I think they called it. Certainly not my cup of tea, but also none of my damned beeswax.

    Their son is now a healthy, well-adjusted, outgoing teenager who is doing very well in school. He's a respectful kid who's a pleasure to be around, he works hard, and he's going to go a long way. Did the breastfeeding help? No idea. It obviously hasn't left any psychological scars or anything. They've got two other younger kids that they weaned earlier in life (not preemies) and they are also good kids who are doing well in school.

    There are plenty of ways to raise a child. Caring seems to be the key. Who knew?
    Dexter is pleasant. Heh

    Press sensationalism is nothing new. In terms of abuse, I can think of much worse.
  • Mustlovepugs11
    Mustlovepugs11 Posts: 131
    I breast fed my son up until he was around six months old. At that point he was getting to big and it seemed awkward so I started pumping and feeding him with a bottle until he was 1. Breast feeding a 3 or 4 year old just seems wrong. Pump and give it to them in a cup if you feel that they still need breast milk.
    Not sure if anyone watches Game of Thrones but the kid in the first season (I haven't seen the second season yet) sitting there attached to his moms boob at the age of 6 or 7 just grossed me out! I know that is just a tv show but the bad thing is I just came across an article on Boston.com a few weeks ago that talked about a pre-schooler who still breast fed. What the heck is wrong with these people!
  • Krizzle4Rizzle
    Krizzle4Rizzle Posts: 2,704 Member
    I personally find it disgusting-what are your thoughts?

    OP - Just curious if you are a mother.
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,779 Member
    I find it odd, but am not disgusted by it. I guess I am a little curious by it. I mean, my wife breast fed for a year, and my son was just a lot hungrier than what she could provide by the time she stopped. So how does this work? Is it supplemental with a mac n' cheese dinner?

    What she's doing doesn't have an adverse affect on me or my family, so I'm fine with her decision to do whatever she wants.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    I'll add it to the list of "things that don't affect my life even a little."
  • JanetLM73
    JanetLM73 Posts: 1,226 Member
    I'm a Mother, I would never tell another Mother how to raise their child or how long to BF, if the Mom and child is comfortable with it then who cares.
    I was given slack for only BF my daughter for a couple months, sometimes us Mom's can never win!!!
  • rungirl1973
    rungirl1973 Posts: 2,559 Member
    I try to keep my opinions to myself about how others choose to parent.

    When my kids were babies, my doctor recommended weaning them at or before 12 months. So, at 12 months, my kids were drinking from sippy cups and had no more bottles or breast.
  • lorierin22
    lorierin22 Posts: 432 Member
    I personally find it disgusting-what are your thoughts?

    In most countries children are breastfed until they wean themselves...usually around ages 3-4. This is not unusual or even discussed in those countries....it is just way of life. In American, breasts are not seen as life-giving, nutrient providers...they are seen as sexual objects. I don't fault you for your opinion. You are just a product of your society.

    I nursed my daughter until she was around 15 months. After that I started feeling the presssure of people asking, when are you going to stop doing that already? I didn't let them make up my mind...we were both ready to move on. But I did feel the pressure...I am also a product of our society.
  • TheChocolatePrincess
    TheChocolatePrincess Posts: 137 Member
    If he got teeth he ought to be eating a sandwich, not sucking on a boob. Sorry, breastfeeding a CHILD (not an infant or even a toddler) is inappropriate.

    Even women in nomadic societies only breastfed/breastfeed children that old out of necessity (i.e. there is a drought or food shortage so it makes more sense to give what there is to eat to the mother and she can nurse the child from her body).

    Maybe in times of desperation, like the lady who was stranded in the snow storm who kept her children alive by breastfeeding all of them (she had an infant and two older ones).

    Other than that, I feel (from watching those specials on co-sleeping and breastfeeding forever) that the children who breastfeed too long are emotionally stunted and tend to hold on to infant like habits longer than children of their same age group. IMHO, it stunts emotional development, just like thumb sucking, pacifiers, blankies, and binkies.
  • _Aimée_
    _Aimée_ Posts: 190
    Pump it and put it in a cup...you wouldn't keep giving a 3-7 year old milk in a bottle

    because it would ruin their teeth. We shouldn't be deciding how long to breastfeed for based on the limitations on a bottle.
  • Huskeryogi
    Huskeryogi Posts: 578 Member
    My mom let me naturally wean - for me that was 3 and a half. It wasn't something she set out to do, but it just felt natural. I'm obviously not embarrassed by it now (nor was I then). I'm a healthy, successful adult now.

    I don't like the TIME cover though. It's making the opposite point that the woman on the cover makes in her interview. The title is "Are you Mom enough" or something to that effect and what Gromet (I think that's her name) says is that there is more than one way to raise a child, this is what works for her, and that she wants the mommy wars to stop and for mothers to support each other. I applaud her sentiment.
  • TheChocolatePrincess
    TheChocolatePrincess Posts: 137 Member
    From what I have seen, it is supplemental. The kids are eating real food and nursing whenever they feel the need which is typically emotionally driven, not hunger driven.

    Mommy becomes a living binkie.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    I didn't breastfeed my first but plan on trying again with my next. I think the only reason the cover was gross was because of the way the two were posed. It was posed as a sexual looking scene rather than a natural, nuturing moment.

    Seriously, I know the kid was 3 but he looks like he could be 6. And he's standing on a chair sucking on his mother's naked breast.

    I feel it' sperfectly normal to do this inpubic until a certain age, but I don't feel a large child should be sucking on their mother's breast. By that age they are exposed to tv, video games and realize what things are sexualized.
  • mcqlove87
    mcqlove87 Posts: 59
    I'm against Time Magazine for pitting mothers against each other. And doing it on Mother's Day.

    yep.
  • greasygriddle_wechnage
    greasygriddle_wechnage Posts: 246 Member
    I'm against Time Magazine for pitting mothers against each other. And doing it on Mother's Day.



    ^^^^^^^^this^^^^^^^^^

    i am a mother. and i also have to say, at that age, or after 1yr, has NOTHING to do with the child anymore, this has everything to do about her. research.
  • chantalb20
    chantalb20 Posts: 132
    I'll be breastfeeding my son until he's 3 or 4.
    I'm 19 years old, and I made that decision the moment he was born - i want to give him the best, i produce plenty of milk, why shouldn't i? it's not disgusting, it's natural. sure, not everyone wants to, and that's completely their choice, but just remember that the international weaning age is between 4-7 years; it's only because breasts have become so sexualized that we find it 'weird'.
  • xNJAx
    xNJAx Posts: 170 Member
    I'm not a mummy yet, but personally I don't understand why anyone would *want* a child that age sucking on their boob! In my opinion, if the child is old enough to 'ask' for it or bite off a nipple it's too old to have one in it's mouth! :noway:

    There are plenty of ways to give breast milk without continued breast-feeding!
  • StarryEyed500
    StarryEyed500 Posts: 225 Member
    My almost-3 year old would throw a hissy fit if he didn't get a daily breastfeed. As long as he keeps asking, I won't refuse.

    Kudos to any mother not bowing to the unfair peer pressure to give up too early.


    *He's very tall for 3 lol

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