Hellobee Boards

In much of the world, this would be considered normal.

That being said, in our culture it's not so I can see how complicated things get. I guess I can see both sides.

That photo just looks like they are trying to shock people, I have no problem with extended breastfeeding, but that photo doesn't look even remotely nurturing!

@Hanasu: I agree, they almost seem like they are making a joke out of it instead of trying to address the issue at hand.

I do think extending breast feeding that long is not something I agree with but I do my best not to judge those who do.

Ugh. this cover makes me not so happy. All I can think about is how the perverts of the world will see it.

I'm of the camp of when they don't need it nutritionally anymore, no need to breastfeed anymore. I think the max benefits are the first 3 months, so I was ok with stopping then, but I continued til 7 months. I think the longest I'd go is until a year, since that's when they start with cow's milk and they're eating table foods.

@Coco Bee: yeah, I was going to say, Wagon Jr. nor I ever really had that emotional connection with nursing. It was purely nutritional. He took more comfort in sucking his fingers, hugging his lovey, etc. So you can see why my perspective leans towards the practical, nutritional aspect

@Coco Bee: I can't even imagine. My nephew had a really tough time weaning. He would still reach under his mom's shirt after he was weaned, just to touch her belly, to be comforted.

@Running Elley: @blushink: I agree. When a child can run up to you and say "Mommy, I want some milk", I think it's time to let go.

That picture is ridiculous to me because the story isn't even ABOUT breastfeeding your older children. It's to promote Dr. Sears. Meh.

I agree the child looks way older than 3. People have differnt ideas of "normal" I personally feel like breast feeding is for babies, rather than children, thats just my opinion

I'm offended by it, but not by the picture. Is the headline "Are you Mom enough?" really necessary?! Way to fan the Mommy Wars flames, TIME. THAT is offensive to me. I don't care about the age of kid or how long anyone else wants to BF. Is BFing longer than a year for me? No. But it doesn't affect my life if you want to. But the idea/insinuation that a woman is less of a mother because she doesn't BF for 2 years (or at all) is disgusting to me.

This just about sums it up for me: http://www.peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.com/2012/05/time-magazine.html

@eiko2010: Awesome blog post.

I get tired of the whole Mommy Wars thing. I honestly don't care if someone breastfeeds their kid until they're 25, but the implication that in order to be a good mom you HAVE to parent in a certain way really bothers me. And the cover picture has basically nothing to do with the article; it's sensationalism at it's worst. Disappointing since we subscribe to Time magazine and I actually make time to read it every week...

I agree that TIME knew what they were doing by sensationalizing this topic and think, yeah, the cover was really unnecessary. That said, the whole thing does turn me off from attachment parenting (to be honest I was on the fence before). It makes me feel guilty to admit that I kind of value my me-time a little too much. To each his/her own, but I don't want to be tied to breastfeeding for 2 years or more, I don't want to share my bedroom with my baby and I don't want to wear a baby all the time. I just hate this idea that anything less than these (seemingly) impossible standards isn't good enough.

I feel like there's some push to get a message out that breastfeeding is more about the mom than the child, which is a message I disagree with.

This is just the most obvious covers I've seen with it actually saying 'are you mom enough' to make it seem like breastfeeding has become some sort of competition.

Apparently the Mom in the article was breastfed by her own mother till she was 6 years of age. Clearly, this woman has no issues with publically nursing her older child. I think you have to have a certain personality type to be comfortable with nursing that long to begin with.

Also, Americans aren't the only ones with breastfeeding opinions. A blogger just wrote about how pro-formula Mexico is. I would have assumed the opposite.

This is her blog :
http://iamnotthebabysitter.com/

For those interested.

hmm honestly, it sort of bothers me that there's a lot of backlash for extended breastfeeding... Whenever it comes up, most of the time I hear how it's bothersome, it's weird, etc... Why all the negativity around something so healthy as breastmilk?

So many mothers struggle and work SO hard with their newborns and babies to breastfeed!! Just see the hundreds of blog posts and threads on breastfeeding on this very website... but then at a certain age, all of a sudden "it's just so wrong"? I, myself, hope to stop at 18-24 months as well, but for the moms who go beyond that... good for them... to each their own... doesn't bother me one bit.

What about two year olds still taking bottles or three year olds with their paci's? The six year old who still sucks his thumb? I don't mind either... As parents, we ALL have our struggles... But it's funny, those parents with bottle/paci/thumb sucking toddlers don't get as much heat or attention for parenting that way. NOT that they should, I just think it's interesting that they don't, and if they do, it's not at the same level or with the same outright disgust as extended breastfeeding.

It's interesting that breastfeeding, of all things... something the medical community, the AAP, WHO, and countless other organizations try to promote and encourage... also is something that gets so much backlash.

My original plan was to only BF for 6 months, then I extended it to beyond 1 year when we found out LO was allergic to dairy, soy, nuts, and goat's milk. I literally just weaned her (like 3 days ago) @ 17 months cause I was finally comfortable with the nutrition/variety in her solids diet.

I have no issues with moms BF'ing til 3 or 4 but I do have issues with moms who do it because it seems too hard for them to wean their child. But I feel that way about moms that don't set boundaries in general.

@NYCaliMama: I also find this backlash disturbing and agree that there are a lot of other things - like extended pacifier use, bottle feeding, or 5 yo's sitting in strollers - that are much less beneficial to kids than something nutritious like breastmilk. The problem is the American obsession with boobs and not breastfeeding itself. If we didn't view boobs so sexually, then there wouldn't be any controversy with breastfeeding at all.

That's ridiculous. I'm happy to read about different parenting styles, but publishers/media people need to quit jumping the shark with extreme nonsense like that cover. It's not earning them any more attention. It's just obnoxious.

@Red: Agreed! It is the oversexualiation of breasts that causes the issues!

@yoursilverlining: i can't speak for other extended BF'ing moms, but I'd like to think their kids are eating more than just breastmilk.... For us, DD is 10 months and we are probably going to BF til at least 18 months, so I guess I will likely fall into the extended Bf'ing category then. But this is because she doesn't take bottles and we've skipped to sippies/straws... but she doesn't take enough from those at this point and I'm not sure she will until 18 months or so. She is eating solids though, since 6 months. At first she hated them, but after her teeth came in she's been doing much better. She does still love nursing though...

My first child was formula fed primarily! I don't see myself as a gung-ho AP parent...