TIME magazine and breast feeding a 4 year old

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'.

Good for you!!
Americans have such a scewed vision on breastfeeding. I nursed my son til he was 19 months old and go soo many comments about how disgusting that it was. Now, my daughter is 8 months and im getting the when is she going to be done ?s. The WHO suggests nursing until 2. http://www.who.int/topics/breastfeeding/en/

As for part two, pumping does take time, but my god sons mother would pump and I dont remember it ever taking that long? Maybe it was the type of machine?

I used a Medela Freestyle, and that's the Cadillac of personal use machines. It depends on a lot of things as for how long it will take. How established the supply would be is a big one. Breast milk works on a supply/demand system. If you need a bigger supply, you pump more (or nurse your child more) to get your body to start producing more. And, as previously mentioned up thread, it's not as efficient as nursing the child directly from the breast.

I've had times during pumping where it was a struggle to get an ounce, but towards the end when I was weaning myself from pumping (and anyone who says "just quit cold turkey" doesn't necessarily realize that can hurt and possibly even cause an infection in the breast from engorgement) with my first, I got 17 ounces in an hour. That's a lot when one has a one month old who is only taking in about 20 ounces in a day.

All pumping situations are not the same, simply because all boobs don't produce at the same rate. Some women who can breastfeed successfully can't get more than an ounce out of a hospital grade pump.

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.

Yes, this right here.

AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DING DING DING...winner!!! No mother props her child on a chair to suck on her breast! Time magazine took something that is very special and turned it into something tacky.

Also, I nursed my 5th son until he was almost 3 and it was not disgusting, it was very special....BUT, he NEVER stood on a chair and fed! We cuddled and I loved every single second of it.

My thoughts about breastfeeding at that age are bias because I don't have a child, so I don't know what it's like and how it feels and the attachments you get from doing it. But I think the cover is a little odd in the fact of how they are placed. Maybe if the child was in her arms breastfeeding it would have been warming, but he is standing up straight like a dictator, and he is standing on a chair with her boob in his mouth! I don't see a loving relationship between the two of them at all! I see her saying, hey try and say something to me about breastfeeding my 4 year old! And the caption says," are you mother enough?" I don't think you can tell whether someone is a good mother based on those guidlines! There are perfectly good mothers out there that maybe can't breastfeed their child!

But HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! LOL :flowerforyou:

If the child can walk, talk, and chew, its time to stop breastfeeding.

NO NO NO! BOTH my son's walked at nine months old! I nursed my oldest for THREE sad miserable months, and then my youngest for 16 amazing months!! I sorry to jump on all this with this statement alone (because outright I do not agree with ANY of the negative comments AT ALL!) I can not believe some of the harsh opinions and such misguided information and I truly feel sorry for you. Comments like yours are what drive people to NOT nurse in public because they don't want to feel disgusting when they are doing something so simple. You don't have to watch, you don't have to explain anything to anyone nothing and by breasts being SOOOOOOOOOOOOO over the top sexualized in our country well duh of course you are going to feel uncomfortable.

*I tried pumping but once you really get going it's hard to get enough BECAUSE your baby will aways be a better pump then an electric one.

*I also used something called a hooter hider (very cute look for them on EBAY) but by the time I get settled down, my little guy would always flip the covers since he would get hot and then everyone got a much better show...that didn't last long....

Honestly, I STILL miss nursing. If there was anything I got out of it, it was knowing that THAT was the ONLY thing I had to do at that moment. It was a break in my day...it's kind of hard to multi task when you are nursing. It made me sit down and relax. And the comments about pacifiers...wth...As long as baby is in nursing mode then he will use mom as a pacifier...how do you think her body otherwise figures out baby's needs and makes more milk? UGH....I hate stupid people...

As for the cover of TIME...kuddo's for the mom who is on the cover..it takes ovaries of steal to really put yourself out there like that. Some of my favorite pictures are of me nursing my kids. I will NEVER regret having those pictures because they were only that little ONCE.

I breast feed my son for the first year, however once he was able to was able to walk and hold a cup I stopped. That was my personal decision and she is entitled to hers.

I wouldn't say I find the cover "disturbing" because breast feeding is a beautiful natural thing that bonds you with your child. With that being said, I believe that it could have been more tastefully displayed that better showed the beautiful nurturing side to the story.

I feel bad for the child who will be starting school this year who will most likely be teased and caused to feel shame for something their should be no shame in. As a mother, I would hate to be the reason my child had insecurity.

I think that I woman has a right to breastfeed as long as the child wants it, but I would be more tactful and consider how the child may feel.

I understand the purpose of debate. Everyone wants to be heard.
But as a mother, and I am guessing most mothers share the same opinion, I don't really care what anyone thinks about how long I breastfeed my child. You can love it or hate it. It really make absolutely NO difference what anyone else thinks.

I would seriously love for everyone to take a look at the actual ingredients in formula. How can anyone even think about giving this to their children, its so disgusting. What really pisses me off even more is that there are women in this world that will never be able to breastfeed and its sad that people have become so judgmental. These women will never know the bond & the security that a woman feels while nursing their baby.

Wow. I find it sad that you would bash women who don't choose to nurse for whatever reason. For some women, nursing can be a detriment to that bond. I'm one of those women. I could not nurse my son. The thought made me physically ill. (I have no problems with other people doing that, but me? No.) I pumped for a while until it started to impact my mental health and interfere with bonding with my baby.

I tried with my daughter, who is now seven weeks old. I had the nurse help me get her latched. I quickly had to give her to the nurse. You know why? Because I vomited. It's not bonding and secure when one is vomiting on her child. And then there are those who physically can't.

Cheers to you for contributing to the mommy wars! I formula feed, but I support the rights of others to breastfeed whenever and wherever. But thanks for judging me as not being mom enough.

There shouldn't be mommy wars. Not any one of us was born an expert in parenting. Just because you like your way better than you like my way- doesn't make you any more qualified or any more of an expert.

It's ridiculous that moms do this to each other.

Co sleeping can be quite dangerous.

Yes, in some situations it can be. But so can letting them sleep in a crib.

Co-sleeping is not advised to parents in england/ireland. As it does/can lead to child deaths. Cot is far far safer.

I had my son in England and we were adviced not to co-sleep ONLY if one of us was a smoker because the toxins can be transfered through skin. Also not to co-sleep if you'd had any alcohol, other than that it was totally acceptable and safe. We co-slept with my son often, he was in our room till he was 5 months old and even now at 3 1/2 sleeps with us.