Breastfeeding Shock Tactics

Does this cover shock you? The Time magazine cover, which is about attachment parenting has been causing a storm all weekend with comments ranging from ‘it’s normal and beautiful’ to ‘it’s sick and wrong’. Wherever you stand on the idea of attachment parenting, which encourages mothers to breastfeed into toddlerhood, co-sleep, and carry their babies in a sling in an effort to limit their time away from their child, this cover has done breastfeeding zero favours. While the magazine’s aim was no doubt to sell as many issues as possible  (lets pick a mum who looks like a model rather than the founder or the movement Dr Bill Sears), the image definitely doesn’t make it easier for women to breastfeed especially those who struggle with both breastfeeding and the idea of breastfeeding in public. I think it’s hard enough to convince people that breastfeeding is a normal and natural thing without complicating the issue with discussions about extended breastfeeding. The fact is well over half of UK mums stop breastfeeding by the time their babies are six weeks old (though 90% of those who stop don’t want to). So whatever your thoughts on breastfeeding big kids (and by the way there’s no research that says it’s bad for the child) I wish magazines like TIME wouldn’t go out of their way to sensationalize the topic like this. But what are your thoughts? Let me know.