Time Cover - What do you think?

[EMom]

I went to ONE La Leche League meeting. The person that ran it had a 4 year old that was running around playing. At one point, he ran up, lifted his mom's shirt, slurped up some milk, and ran off to play again. It was totally natural for both mom and son. Me? I hightailed it out of there and never returned.

I do believe in BFing and did so with my DD but when a child is old enough to say, "Yo, mom? Hit me up with some milk," it is time to stop the BFing, IMO. Obviously, others feels very differently regarding this issue.

Thank you. Thank you for yet another eye-gouging vision.

 

[low-key]

thats disturbing, a healthy normal kid that age should be eating happy meals

 

[JessicaR]

thats disturbing, a healthy normal kid that age should be eating happy meals

What - thats not a happy meal?

 

[QVCshopper]

And we wonder why our kid are such screwballs......

Nice. Yes, I'm a screwball. I graduated in the top 10% in high school, cum laude in college (which I paid for by myself), have a graduate degree, own my house outright, and have a wonderful, loving family. Yes, a screwball indeed! (I think I need a break from the DIS...)

And, in case you missed my other post, I was nursed until age 3-4. My mom is not too clear about it, so I think it's 4 since I distinctly remember. One action -- which isn't even a bad one -- does not define a person.

 

[jennyjinx3]

OK...I stopped reading at page 8 but I will just say my piece and move on. A child of 3 - 4 years of age IMO be able to comfort themselves somewhat without nursing. If the child is only nursing at that point for "comfort", I believe it is more about the mom's need for comfort. Don't mean to offend anyone...JMHO

 

[Hannathy]

What - thats not a happy meal?

Give him another 12 yrs or so......... Or I wonder if it will bother him to be doing that to another woman since it was his source of comfort after a rough day in Kindergarten.


I fear for this generation of boys coming up and also for the poor girls that will have to deal with them.

 

[low-key]

What - thats not a happy meal?

, thats a grown up happy meal

 

[EMom]

Give him another 12 yrs or so......... Or I wonder if it will bother him to be doing that to another woman since it was his source of comfort after a rough day in Kindergarten.


I fear for this generation of boys coming up and also for the poor girls that will have to deal with them.

That's what I meant by my post. I can just imagine a man getting busy with his wife/girlfriend and all of a sudden, it's not HER face he sees........it's MAMA'S!!!! ACK!!! That may be the ultimate in not cutting the cord. Just keep you son on the breast long enough to complicate his adult sex life.

 

[QVCshopper]

Hmm, do you think more kids are nursed long term or not nursed at all/short amount of time? I mean in relation to this lack of maturity.

I think the overwhelming majority are nursed very very little.

I will agree that putting this boy on the cover of a magazine is the real issue. I am against exploiting kids for profit in any sort of venue (reality show or blog). They cannot consent to the broadcasting of their lives I this fashion that will live on forever.

I do find it interesting that those who do try to be AP are often called out as trying to be superior to others who believe differently, and not accepting and trying to make others 'feel bad' about their choices....when they sure get their share of the disapproval in the real world don't they?

15% of US women nurse their babies past six months. This "immaturity" that someone mentioned is not from nursing. IMHO, it's because our society is on super speed, racing to get everything done, get everything now, etc. It's an entitlement issue brought on by too much "stuff"--from technology to toys and beyond. Oh, and I don't tell anyone I somewhat AP. It's no one's business, I have my MIL judging me as it is.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

Sorry, I liken it to prepubescent kids being naked in front of the opposite sex parent.

If you do it long enough for your kid to actually remember it, it's gone icky.

Frankly, I don't need a memory of my father seeing me naked at 12, kwim? So daddy's, stop going into the bathroom where your daughter is taking a shower by 9ish, okay? Same for mom's and sons.

I'm pretty sure I could do without any remembering of my mom giving me a snack right before skipping out to the kindergarten bus too. Because when you are a young teen, you really don't need anymore angst about how weirdo you are.

Just put it away.

 

[QVCshopper]

Sorry, I liken it to prepubescent kids being naked in front of the opposite sex parent.

If you do it long enough for your kid to actually remember it, it's gone icky.

Frankly, I don't need a memory of my father seeing me naked at 12, kwim? So daddy's, stop going into the bathroom where your daughter is taking a shower by 9ish, okay? Same for mom's and sons.

I'm pretty sure I could do without any remembering of my mom giving me a snack right before skipping out to the kindergarten bus too. Because when you are a young teen, you really don't need anymore angst about how weirdo you are.

Just put it away.

Truth be told, me nursing as a preschooler had no ill effect on me. I'm not embarrassed by it, I'm not ashamed of it, and I certainly didn't worry about it as a teen. Pimples and tests and boys, yes. I agree with you on the other aspect though.

 

[herdtoDisney]

Give him another 12 yrs or so......... Or I wonder if it will bother him to be doing that to another woman since it was his source of comfort after a rough day in Kindergarten.


I fear for this generation of boys coming up and also for the poor girls that will have to deal with them.

There are millions and millions of people all over the world who were breastfed till/past age three-it is typical in much of the world-and I'm not aware of any massive worldwide intimate relationship problems due to it

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

There are millions and millions of people all over the world who were breastfed till/past age three-it is typical in much of the world-and I'm not aware of any massive worldwide intimate relationship problems due to it

Yeah, but were they photographed while doing so and pasted all over the country? Ask any middleschooler about breastfeeding and see the reaction. What a selfish, egotistical thing for her to do.

 

[Jennasis]

I don't think this kid will be traumatized for breast feeding as a 4 year old (I just think it's weird and kinda gross). I DO think he could be set up for issues because of the PHOTO in the magazine. That mom is an idiot for exploiting her kid.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

I don't think this kid will be traumatized for breast feeding as a 4 year old (I just think it's weird and kinda gross). I DO think he could be set up for issues because of the PHOTO in the magazine. That mom is an idiot for exploiting her kid.

Have you had a kid in Middle School? It's about the most vicious place on earth. The Taliban could learn from these kids. Unless he's homeschooled, odds are his MS years are going to suck.

Maybe it'll be different by the time he gets there, but i doubt it.

 

[Kitty 34]

I don't think this kid will be traumatized for breast feeding as a 4 year old (I just think it's weird and kinda gross). I DO think he could be set up for issues because of the PHOTO in the magazine. That mom is an idiot for exploiting her kid.

That's exactly what I was thinking!

Hey, though, nice thread and discussion for Mother's Day weekend!!!

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

I'm not saying he'd be traumatized by BFing till 4 or so, it's the photo that's the real problem to me. I still think BFing a 48 month old is weird, and I think the kid will be squicked out remembering sucking on his mother's ****, but hey, whatevs.

 

[QVCshopper]

That's exactly what I was thinking!

Hey, though, nice thread and discussion for Mother's Day weekend!!!

Haha. This thread is one of the most negative I've read in a long time on here. I've basically have been called a screwball, not to mention gross, disgusting, immature, and who knows what else, all because of a choice my mom made when I was young. And because of a choice I make to feed my baby.

Open up your eyes people. Nursing is not bad, neither is bottle feeding, and ultimately, how does it really affect you? It doesn't. Is it really going to ruin your life if you see a mother feeding her kid/baby/toddler and you see a flash of something more than you'd life? Look the other way for God's sake.

I might just go stage a nurse-in of my own somewhere! Maybe at Target. I will give you that I think the photo may come back to haunt the boy though. I can see that.

 

[badblackpug]

I committed the sin of net reading all the replies.

I'd like to comment on a few things, but as a disclaimer I will admit that I have never breast fed any of my kids. I am not anti nursing, but my kids are adopted, so there just wasn't that decision to be made.

I think it's funny that people think they are saying that Time is trying to sexualize extended breast feeding by portraying a "thin and pretty" mom. I don't see why all moms have to be portrayed as dumpy, or sloppy, or whatever. Moms can be attractive and stylish, whether nursing or not.

Yes, in other countries moms nurse until 4 routinely, but that is mostly in 3rd world countries where food and clean water supplies are not plentiful and mothers do whatever they can do to ensure that their children receive adequate nutrition. In developed countries there is no need for this. If you have an adequate food supply to provide your 4 year old with adequate nutrition then breast feeding at 4 is for a psychological reason, either the mother or the child's. ...and supplying your child with adequate nutrition does not mean you have to use cow's milk. There are many children that are raised without cow's milk, for whatever reason, and still do not nurse until age 4.

I have a 4 year old (or if you would prefer 51 months) I cannot imagine her nursing, or wanting to nurse. She is my 3rd of 4, and usually by 4 kids see themselves in the big girl/boy stage, and I would think view that as "for babies." My 4 year old is very much aware, and will make it very well known that she is "not a baby!"

My opinion on the "mom enough" headline, though I admit I haven't read the article, is to ask, "have you ever met some of these people?" LOL

I have been accosted by the people who feel the need to inform me of what is best for my child. I had a woman sit down next to me while I was feeding my youngest son in WDW and lecture me on "breast is best." As I said earlier, my kids are adopted. I am blond haired and blue eyed, my husband is blue eyed and fair skinned/freckly (no hair LOL), all of my children are African-American. My youngest being the lightest of them all, but still, it is very obvious that he is not genetically ours. Yet, still, this woman had to give me the lecture on the bottle. My point is it is really none of her business how I choose to feed my kids and why.

 

[mhsjax]

Haha. This thread is one of the most negative I've read in a long time on here. I've basically have been called a screwball, not to mention gross, disgusting, immature, and who knows what else, all because of a choice my mom made when I was young. And because of a choice I make to feed my baby.

Open up your eyes people. Nursing is not bad, neither is bottle feeding, and ultimately, how does it really affect you? It doesn't. Is it really going to ruin your life if you see a mother feeding her kid/baby/toddler and you see a flash of something more than you'd life? Look the other way for God's sake.

I might just go stage a nurse-in of my own somewhere! Maybe at Target. I will give you that I think the photo may come back to haunt the boy though. I can see that.

Glad you brought that up, for some reason BF is ok with some people up until the age of 4, but what about a 4 year old going around with a bottle hang in out of its mouth?. The kid need to eat. Drink form a cup and grow up. FWIW I never gave my kids milk, juice, pop or anything before going to bed. They had to learn after 1 year and we weaned form the bottle, that going to bed on your own was the goal. Actually I stopped giving a bottle before bed around 6 months. My kids learned how to comfort themselves. No one, and I repeat no one need to suck on something for comfort before going to bed or any other stressful time. Kids need to get their nutrients from food, not all of us gave sugar crap to our kids. There are more choices than sugared pop, and juice. My kids are huge water drinkers, that is what they live on.

I went to play groups Gymboree and other things, and all the moms couldn't believe that my kids drank water from a zippy cup. Their had to have juice. Grow a back bone moms, give the kid water, and take away the **** after age 2.