TIME magazine and breast feeding a 4 year old

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

This!! 100% this!!!! The whole reason mammals have breasts is to suckle their young. A human child's immune system doesn't even fully develop until around 7, so at ages 3 and 4 the child is still receiving benefits from breast milk. There's absolutely nothing "disgusting" about it - it's one of the most natural things a woman can do.

I did not breastfeed my kids that long...the longest was 18 months. It would not have been my personal choice to be breastfeeding my kids at that age, but who am I to judge? As far as the magazine cover goes, when I breastfed my babies, if there was anyone around other than my other small children, I always had a light blanket thrown over me and the baby. Just my personal choice. The magazine cover was bold, but shouldn't be surprising to anyone because it's not like breastfeeding older children is anything new. I support it because it is my hope that people will be more accepting of breastfeeding as a whole and not be so prudish about it when they see mothers breastfeeding their babies in public.

And for the people who say if a kid has teeth, they should not breastfeed.....that's ridiculous. A lot of babies start getting teeth at around 3 months and they should still be breastfeeding at that age.

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.

You say you agree with the post about not pitting mothers against each other and then you make a judgement about mother's who breastfeed past 1 year?

I don't think it is disgusting or any of the other negative comments that have been made - I breastfed my daughter until she was two and my son until he was 18 months old and they both weaned themselves. I will say that as my family is plagued with asthma and allergies it was definate choice to continue with my daughter and I never even thought about it with my son.

Re peoples views - it is purely based on the society in which they live, for example if you lived in Mongolia you would find it strange it someone stopped feeding at one or even 18 months!

Think this topic should just bring home the fact that we should not be so judgemenal and especially when we are being manipulated into being so by an emotive picture...

As this is a weightloss site - breastfeeding is an amazing way to lose weight to, mother natures remedy for getting back into shape!

I heard this on the radio on my way to work. By the way they were talking you'd think the kid was 10. I was freaked out by that. But to hear it's only a 3 year old...eh. I think if the kid can begin to verbalize that they want mom's milk (ie. Grown Ups lol) then it's definitely time to ween.