Time Cover - What do you think?

[Gumbo4x4]

Okay, side note: Take a close look at that picture. Do those look like the breasts of a woman who's producing significant milk?

 

[lucas]

That poor kid.

 

[MainStreetMomma]

I'll let ya know in a few years

I wouldn't have really included you/ your son's age group because it was mostly through his 2's and he was done right after 3... I realize now the way I worded that was misleading, but when I said I wouldn't do it after the child was 2, I meant the point at which they are no longer 2 years old and become a 3yo. That's probably still confusing. Sorry about that.

The boy in the picture will turn 4 in a couple of weeks.

 

[HelenePA]

Okay, side note: Take a close look at that picture. Do those look like the breasts of a woman who's producing significant milk?

of course not, I'm sure the 3-4 yr old isn't ONLY nursing. For some reason people assume breastmilk is the only thing older toddlers are getting at that age.. I have no idea how much my son was getting at the end it probably wasn't much at all. it was usually only at bedtime for a few minutes... its not like a newborn infant nursing.

 

[HelenePA]

I wouldn't have really included you/ your son's age group because it was mostly through his 2's and he was done right after 3... I realize now the way I worded that was misleading, but when I said I wouldn't do it after the child was 2, I meant the point at which they are no longer 2 years old and become a 3yo. That's probably still confusing. Sorry about that.

The boy in the picture will turn 4 in a couple of weeks.

if it was up to him (my ds) im pretty sure we'd still be nursing.. I was the one who was SOOO done!

 

[snoopy5386]

Here is an alternate photo from the shoot, does this change how you feel about this mother and child at all?
http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/attachment_parenting_time_050612_46041_f/

I breastfed my first daughter until 34 months of age and I'm currently breastfeeding my younger daughter who just turned two with no plans to stop. She nurses 2-3 times a day, mostly for comfort and sleep. We are both happy with how things are going now and I see no reason to stop until one of us is ready for a change in our nursing relationship.

 

[Hannathy]

I think it is disgusting on so many levels.

I think anyone who is breastfeeding a 4 yr old needs to get a life of their own and quit using the child for their own selfish needs.

There is no need for a child to breast feed at 3 or 4. And they wouldn't have done it in the past because by then there would have been another baby that needed it.

 

[HelenePA]

I think it is disgusting on so many levels.

I think anyone who is breastfeeding a 4 yr old needs to get a life of their own and quit using the child for their own selfish needs.

There is no need for a child to breast feed at 3 or 4. And they wouldn't have done it in the past because by then there would have been another baby that needed it.

you can breastfeed 2 kids at once ya know... I mean there are people who do bf twins... trust me when I say it was 99.9% for him than me at 3... I never in my WILDEST dreams would have thought I'd have breastfed a 3 yr old.. but I did... I had no goal when I started, honestly at first it was one day at a time, no goals no let downs... (lol funny bf pun there!)

 

[Coconut36]

Okay, side note: Take a close look at that picture. Do those look like the breasts of a woman who's producing significant milk?

The size of the breast doesn't have anything to do with the amount of milk produced. Women of all sizes and shapes produce what is needed for their infants (and older). It's not like you have to be a DD or higher to "produce significant milk". You think women that are A or B cups can't nurse?

 

[Coconut36]

Here is an alternate photo from the shoot, does this change how you feel about this mother and child at all?
http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/attachment_parenting_time_050612_46041_f/

I breastfed my first daughter until 34 months of age and I'm currently breastfeeding my younger daughter who just turned two with no plans to stop. She nurses 2-3 times a day, mostly for comfort and sleep. We are both happy with how things are going now and I see no reason to stop until one of us is ready for a change in our nursing relationship.

To me that is a more accurate picture of a nursing mother/child. One of the many things that are off putting about that cover image is how odd it is. Like nursing women and their kids stand up like that..it's generally a time of closeness and bonding..something that cover picture does NOT show. It was done to sensationalize.

 

[sookie]

i think this is her diet. she probably eats big macs for lunch each day, and can because of the calories expended through breastfeeding.

she also adopted a boy from Africa and breastfed him past age 5.

 

[Planogirl]

That picture is creepy. The pose is weird and the child looks way older than 3.

As for the argument that other parts of the world BF far beyond a few years, I saw a comment from someone wise that people in other parts of the world do a lot of things that we don't necessarily agree with. Someone else doing it isn't a good argument IMO.

 

[luvmy3]

Here is an alternate photo from the shoot, does this change how you feel about this mother and child at all?
http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/attachment_parenting_time_050612_46041_f/

I breastfed my first daughter until 34 months of age and I'm currently breastfeeding my younger daughter who just turned two with no plans to stop. She nurses 2-3 times a day, mostly for comfort and sleep. We are both happy with how things are going now and I see no reason to stop until one of us is ready for a change in our nursing relationship.

It's a better picture for the cover of Time, but it isn't any less disturbing. A 34 month old is not an infant, its a preschooler, you can say 3 year old.
Seeing a mother cradle her almost 4 year old with her breast stuck in his mouth doesn't convey any of the feelings that seeing a mother nurse her infant does.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

Here is an alternate photo from the shoot, does this change how you feel about this mother and child at all?
http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/attachment_parenting_time_050612_46041_f/

I breastfed my first daughter until 34 months of age and I'm currently breastfeeding my younger daughter who just turned two with no plans to stop. She nurses 2-3 times a day, mostly for comfort and sleep. We are both happy with how things are going now and I see no reason to stop until one of us is ready for a change in our nursing relationship.

"No".

I stopped breastfeeding my 158 month old and my 139 month old at around 24 months. I was soooo done by then.

 

[SaraJayne]

Here is an alternate photo from the shoot, does this change how you feel about this mother and child at all?
http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/attachment_parenting_time_050612_46041_f/

I breastfed my first daughter until 34 months of age and I'm currently breastfeeding my younger daughter who just turned two with no plans to stop. She nurses 2-3 times a day, mostly for comfort and sleep. We are both happy with how things are going now and I see no reason to stop until one of us is ready for a change in our nursing relationship.

It doesn't change my opinion at all that the kid is too old to be breastfeeding.

 

[LisaR]

you can breastfeed 2 kids at once ya know... I mean there are people who do bf twins... trust me when I say it was 99.9% for him than me at 3... I never in my WILDEST dreams would have thought I'd have breastfed a 3 yr old.. but I did... I had no goal when I started, honestly at first it was one day at a time, no goals no let downs... (lol funny bf pun there!)

Two things stand out to me in your posts.
#1: You said you BF him until he was 3yrs and 1 month yet you keep talking about BF a 3 y/o. In your case, your child was barely 3 when you stopped. In the case of the Time child, he is weeks away from being 4. There really is a difference, IMO. That, and the minor detail that you didn't parade him about on the cover of a magazine.

#2: YOU stopped. YOU had enough. At the age that your son was, YOU recognized that he didn't need to BF any longer and it was a comfort thing for him so you did what needed to be done. In the case of the Time mom, she is the adult. She is the one that needs to stop it. The almost 4 y/o doesn't understand that he needs to stop unless mom stops encouraging him.

It doesn't change my opinion at all that the kid is too old to be breastfeeding.

 

[luvmy3]

"No".

I stopped breastfeeding my 158 month old and my 139 month old at around 24 months. I was soooo done by then.

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

Now the information I found us about 5 years old but Le Leche League states that the worldwide average for breast feeding is 4.2 years.

If that is indeed true I have to wonder why we as Americans have such a problem with it.

I'm not a fan of the picture but it's more the awkward pose and standing child than the fact that he's breastfeeding. I don't think I would even give it a second glance if I saw it in public, but my aunt was an extended breastfeeder so I've been around it.

 

[jrmasm]

It doesn't change my opinion at all that the kid is too old to be breastfeeding.

 

[Jennasis]

Reminds me of that squicky moment in Game of Thrones.