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May 10th, 2012
04:37 PM ET
Breast-feeding: Too much of a good thing?It's hard to avoid staring at the cover of Time Magazine this week. If you're on social media like Twitter and Facebook, the widely shared image may have arrived on your screen before you ever saw it in the supermarket. The provocative cover shows Jamie Lynne Grumet, a 26-year-old mother from Los Angeles, breast-feeding her son. This isn't your typical mom-and-baby shot: Grumet's son is 3. In case you were wondering, Grumet told CNN's Erin Burnett that her son is actually breast-feeding in that now-iconic image. Grumet said her own mother breast-fed her until age 6, and Grumet still remembers it. "I'm proud of her," Grumet said. The picture promotes an article about the growing popularity of "attachment parenting", a theory first advocated by Dr. Bill Sears and his wife, Martha, in their 1992 best-selling guide “The Baby Book.” The Searses argue that co-sleeping, “baby wearing” (where the baby is attached to the parent with a sling) and extended breast-feeding will help parents respond better to the individual needs of their babies. Celebrities such as Mayim Bialik of "The Big Bang Theory" are also promoting ideas about attachment parenting. Bialik said on Friday that she still breast-feeds her 3-year-old son. "He's not done breast-feeding, and I'm not ready to tell him not to," she said. Many moms and dads have strong opinions about these practices, especially the breast-feeding advice. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies be breast-fed exclusively for the first six months of their lives. "We don't all nurse older kids," Bialik said of mothers who subscribe to attachment parenting ideas. "But the notion that a child's voice matters, that every child is different, that's the basis of attachment parenting." Heather Curtis, wife of Fark.com founder Drew Curtis, told CNN's Geek Out that she practiced breast-feeding for an extended period, carried her babies in slings and practiced co-sleeping, as Bialik did. So did Caryn Rogers, a science writer for the Preeclampsia Foundation. "I didn't really choose to eschew conventional care so much as chose to get what I believed was the most evidence-based care," Rogers said. Grumet said that sleeping with her baby does not affect intimacy with her husband. Watch: Breast-feeding cover-mom defends pose "I think intimacy is extremely important in a marriage and I think a strong marriage is going to be a great foundation to show your children how to be raised confident and happy and I had that with my family, too," she said. Time: Extended breast-feeding is more common than we think CNN.com readers expressed mixed views on the subjects of the best age to stop breast-feeding and the appropriateness of the Time cover in general. See what they said. We want to know what you think. Is it OK to breast-feed well past toddler-hood, or is it too much of a good thing? soundoff (3,790 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Next »Leave a Reply to jamison
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It's a family choice and a private matter. But that said, I think this was extremely poor judgement to have allowed her and her son splashed on the front of a magazine like that and making it so sexually provocative. Just read some of the lewd comments on this blog and you know that it is provocative (and disgusting). It's my sincere hope her little boy doesn't become a target of some lunatic pedophile ~ or even her with regard to some perverse freak out there on the loose who has resources at his finger tips to pursue it. Let's hope and pray this little guy doesn't pay in spades for her bad judgement, just to sell magazines.
I mean 'don't' become a target.
Agree Leigh2, I thought it was a Playboy Magazine the way she looks in provocative pose .Poor little boy victim of future cruelty in schools . Kids are and always be very cruel. Time is running out of stories and sales so turning to Playboy.
I'm sorry, but she looks like a poser to me. The same ilk as that Salahi woman. I guess far too many people jump at their 15 minutes of fame ("I was on the cover of TIME with my kid sucking my t*t! Wait a sec, and it'll be on my wall and I'll tweet about it too!")
My husbands former wife did this with their boy until he was 3 1/2. They slept in the same bed until he was 8. He has recently been diagnosed with ADHD, possible asbergers and a myriad of other psychological disorders. He has a speech impediment and poor fine motor skills. He lacks focus and concentration in school. I love him dearly, he's a very sweet boy, but his mother has really messed him up.
His mother had nothing to do with her son's disorder. You're not very smart are you?
Her breastfeeding him that long and co-sleeping that long isnt what have him adhd or asbergers. She didnt mess her son up.
And you have some sort of clinical evidence that breast feeding did that to him, right? You do understand, I trust, that breast feeding until three or four was not uncommon in the past and can still be found in many parts of the world. If it caused the effects you assert, one would think we would have noticed it before now.
It's common in third world countries because they don't have the food source we do
I could see the speech impediment, but not the psych disorders...
Breastfeeding is the biological norm,so it did not create or cause any problems. She actually gave his growing brain & body the baseline of what it was expecting. Had he been formula fed he would have been exposed to many health risks that could have made his conditions worse.
Okay, i think the fact that the woman on the cover is breastfeeding that long is creepy despite being an advocate of breastfeeding, but everything that you just stated that other child has can not be attributed to his mother's parenting skills! Psycological disorders like aspergers dont come about because mom caudled them too much! So despite how you feel about her parenting skills you have no right to blame her for his disease processes.
Mind your own business people. Who cares what other people do in their family? I sleep with my children off and on and they are 13 and 10. They just like to cuddle with Momma. If you don't like it...tough! Oh, by the way...I support gay marriage too, and legalizing pot. How do you like those cookies?
Are you going to be on the cover of the next Time with your kids?
Tiffani...I support gay marriage and legalizing pot as well....sleeping with a 10 & 13 year olds....not so much.
How about a same sex couple, smoking pot in bed with their kids who are eating cookies?
Do you want to go out and get some coffee sometime? Call me.
At least you're consistent. Consistently perverted.
Sleeping with them is one thing...letting them fondle you is another thing
I like those cookies just fine!
Dave love your post! and Patrish too!!!!
I have nursed 2 of my children to 3 1/2 years old. I think this cover is not indicative of any one I know. First of all people get this funny idea that the kid nurses rather than eats all day long..not true. They do nurse for comfort at this age but mostly they might only nurse twice a day. Weaning is a gradual process some do it quicker than others. Yes a parent MIGHT be able to move weaning along but some children are easier to work with than others.
A 3.5 year old shouldn't nurse for comfort. That's a poor coping strategy that won't serve the child in the long run. At that age, children should be learning boundaries and developing coping skills and personalities-they shouldn't run to mommy's breast every time there's a problem.
THAT WHY THIS MOTHER WELL NEVER GETTING THE BREAST CANCER IN HER LIFE TIME , AMEN .
All Your Base Are Belong To Us.
Maybe this EXPLAINS why MILK PRICES gone up on SUPERMARKET....
MILK IS EXPENSIVE....... FEMALE'S MILK IS A GIFT AND FREE.
No offense David, but there's no way I'm putting breast milk in my cereal or mac and cheese.
I chose not to breastfeed my three daughters because for me it was not worth the pain and it made me feel just depressed. However, making that decision was not easy because knowing that other amazing mothers will do it without complaining made me feel like a horrible person; a feeling that went away after I discovered other ways to bond with my babies. I feel this woman's choice is grand and if this makes her relationship with her son stronger, so be it. We need to stop judging everything other human beings do and let them go on with their lives as long as their action don't hurt us.
Well said. Nobody should judge you or mothers that extend breastfeeding.
Don't beat yourself up or put other mothers on a pedestal that they don't deserve! My mother didn't breast feed me. I'm healthy and still had a very close relationship with her until she died. Anything, and I do mean anything, can be taken to an absurd extreme. Breast feeding a child more than 6-12 months is extreme. I don't care what anybody says, it's just ridiculous.
It's sad that the cultural norm is to feed a toddler breastmilk from a mother that was torn from it's baby at birth and locked in a pen for it's sickened life while forced to produce unnatural amounts of milk until it's early death. Yum, cows milk.
The fact that she posed like that is perverse. That child is old enough to eat all foods and definitely knows what he is putting in his mouth. That is 100% the choice of the mother and is in no way medically necessary.
I once sat next to a mother and infant on a transcon flight. There I was, hammering away on my laptop, when in my peripheral vision I see some contortions and then a huge flesh-colored mass come out followed immediately by slurping sounds. My hands froze over the keyboard and I was afraid to move my eyes at all lest I be accused of scoping out the boob a mere four inches from my shoulder. It was awkward for me as I was a bachelor and I assumed that things like that happened in private. Still, I was ok with it after I got over my shock at something I had no experience with.
If this woman and her child were seated next to me, however, I would be thoroughly creeped out. If the kid is old enough to wear shoes and cammies, then it's time to get him started on beer. I'll take over the breast duties...
Poor kid... he is going to have to live with that photo the rest of his life. I really hope his Mother is enjoying this, because by posing for that shot, she has set him up to be tormented for years to come by other children. I hope she saves whatever money she is making off this, because she will need it for his therapy sessions.
BREAST FEEDING IS THE ONLY SOLUTION TO SOLVING ALL THE BREAST CANCER PROBLEM , AMEN . THIS IS THE SECRET MEDICINE TO PREVENT FROM GETTING BREAST CANCER IN THE FIRST PLACE FROM THE ASIAN COUNTRY , AMEN .
Please turn off caps and stop saying AMEN. Thanks
Dang I wish that were the case. My mom was breastfed and breastfed all of her children. She has had breast cancer three times, and currently fighting it. Stage four right now... if only it were as simple as 'breastfeed and you won't get cancer!"
Hey dumb dumb, my Mother breast fed all of her children and still got breast cancer. It has nothing to do with it....moron.
What JRummy16. Yea, that would be great.
I always thought that when teeth start sprouting it's also nature's way of saying that it's time to start weaning.
Maybe she is waiting for braces until she weens him. OUCH !!!!
Aren't there far worse things going on in this country such as children being neglected and NOT fed that we should be concerned with? I won't be breast feeding my toddlers but I really couldn't care less if some woman who I don't know and will never meet does.
I would think its kind of painful after the kid gets teeth 🙂
not at all, if you correct them after the first time they bite. My sons had all their baby teeth before they weaned. Proper nursing technique involves the baby's tongue over their bottom gums; that's the only way they get milk.
I would literally crap my pants if i got to breast-feed off a mom that INCREDIBLY hot. Holy shizz
OH no! That would really shorten your yum-yum session!
If you want to breas t feed your child until they are 6 years old then go ahead but it is a completely different thing to allow a picture of your child sucking on your nipp le on a widely published magazine.
It reminds me of when I look a little longer at the people who have tattoos all over their body, have a huge mohawk and dress radically and then when you stare they look at you like you are evil. Why do you dress like that then?
When the boy goes to school with his Hello Kitty lunchbox I just dont want to hear any complaining from the mother about how he get's his azz kicked on a daily basis because he's a whiny mama's boy or when he starts middle school and some other smart-azz kid figures out who the mama's boy in the picture is. It will be the mom's fault for babying him too long.
I think mom's can do whatever they want with their kids as long as its not obviously dangerous or a threat to the child. But I wonder if her son is ok with being used as a pawn in this discussion..
Hmm. She admits her mother breast fed her until she was 6? Thats disturbing. Child abuse takes on many forms. Abused children are often child abusers themselves. Its just another example of many in society accepting wrong as right, and right as wrong.
you ignorant morons are hilarious.... and I love it... media takes a controverisal issue and proverbially SLAPS both sides of the issue in the face and then basically says FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT... priceless entertainment... LMAO
this is one way a bored person can get attention
I still breast feed and I'm well into my 30's....I don't understand why this is such an issue.
The reason people hate her is the fact she looks like a model. She isn't taking the practice to extremes or being an object of sex. She's an attractive blond in an age when our society perceives the idea of a mother bearing her breast as sexual taboo. That's ridiculous. And those who see it as such as mentally ill. Get over it. She has a right to act the way she does and raise her kid the way she was taught. Stop objectifying this poor women who simply wanted to highlight a social issue with a bit of panache.
yeah, i agree, but i'm hungry and i don't need a chair.
Wow. She's a hero and obviously a wonderful mother.
Like your screen name! LOL. I like someone who's honest with him/herself
Your name says it all...ty for putting your foot in your mouth so I didn't have to put mine elsewhere.
Freakin' creepy.
"Grumet said her own mother breast-fed her until age 6, and Grumet still remembers it."
Some people remember their parents beating them, but that doesn't mean they should do it to their kids too. Grumet is a freak and a pervert.
"Howling in shadows, living in a lunar spell. He finds his heaven – spewing from the mouth of hell. . . .Listen in awe and you'll hear him – – – BARK at the MOON!" . . . . 😉
OZZY!!
FLAT CHEST FEMALE should try it.
I wonder if he gets to keep snacking on those when he reaches puberty? That's when it gets even more warped.
All I gotta say is. Mission accomplished.
You now are all interested in why the $^%# that is on the cover of Times magazine.
Where do I get in line for my feeding!
Right behind me.
that kid looks like 6.
I agree , is anyone really buying that he is three? If so his birthday it tomorrow and he is in the 99th percentile for height and weight. But honestly when i first saw it i thought he looked about the age of my 7 year old
People are missin the whole point of being a PARENT....Parents make the rules, not kids of ANY age! "Some kids are easier to control"? Then take parenting lessons! Sleeping with your kids to learn their needs? Are you crazy? Why can't you just talk to them? And look at them? Sleeping isn't listed on any communication method list Ive ever seen. Sorry, but my child quit the bottle at 1 year, slept in his own bed all his childhood, never was diagnosed with ADD, graduated from high school a year early, from college in 4 years, etc., etc., etc. All this with (GASP) a working Mom!
How do you kick a two-year-old out of your bed a let the next kid sleep there for years? Or does the entire family sleep in the same bed? Talk about sleep disorders!
Like I said before; as long as I dont have to listen to her complaining a few years from now when he gets beat daily at school for being a little p-ssy, and snaps and takes a gun to school. Now THERE's a Time magazine story!
You've got to be kidding me? That is way too long to nurse any child unless the Mother is getting more satisfaction from it then just nourishing her child. Just plain sick
breast feeding good , Really don't want to see it in public though. Get a pump fill bottles so when your out in public we don't have to look at your breast .
Seriously, who really cares if you breastfeed until they are 3 or 4. Big deal. However, it is a big deal when this little fellow grows up and his buddies see a pic of him with his mom's boob in his mouth. Sure, make a statement and stand up for what you believe, but I'm certain the boy didn't have a say in it and now he's famous for for it. Such a pic could really embarras him – but as long as someone got to make their point his feelings were a justifiable sacrifice, huh.
What was Time thinking? Very bad taste.
exactly right. She's getting HER satisfaction from this, but she's risking his future for it. I think it's called abuse; using your children in a detrimental way to benefit yourself.
This is in no way ABUSE; but I do feel for him when he gets older.
Angela, Time was thinking that their magazine is dying, so they traded in journalism for some good ole' Jerry Springer tabloid sensationalism. It's desperation.
Not just a family choice other could a mother go to seventeen. Let me see mother breast fed until six kid is 3 so the kid is currently only half as stupid as the mother. Just wants her 15 minutes.
Exhibitionism that smacks of paedophillia. Sorry ladies, but you're just getting off on this display. This is about you and not your children anymore.
I so agree with you 🙂
Sounds about right to me!
DEAR FEMALES AROUND THE WORLD.... AND FLAT CHEST LADY TOO....
There's nothing wrong with BREAST FEEDING.
I call next!
Carol just got owned in that interview...
I will need several copies of this!
I I think this is sick, at Three, should be learning cups, this is another example of legalized pedo, her son is old enough for cups, Now i could see breast feeding till teething, but this is just f-word-ing sick. there should be a law to when this should stop, just like there are laws, for drinking,smoking,driving,voting,sex ect. this is gone way to far... very bad mother.
As far as I can tell, there really aren't any physiological benefits of breastfeeding for so long. At age 3, a child can obtain all of its nutritional needs from food, and it's immune system should be functional. So it would appear that breastfeeding into childhood is the mother's choice for her own social or emotional reasons. I guess there's really no harm in it for the child, but I fail to see the point in doing it
I don't know why a lot of people think this is gross but didn't you ever think that drinking an animal's milk is gross? I stopped drinking milk when I started breastfeeding. I thought if i can't drink my own milk because it's gross then why am i drinking cow's milk? Eew.
It's only wrong if it's Octomom.
What along wait in line THAT would be!
maybe she comes with attachments
Hmmm... mama-hookah?
Looks like "TIME" finally discovered the secret to selling magazines. Didn't take Hefner that long...
That poor kid will teased about this photo over and over again. Whether or not to breastfeed is not the point. Exploiting a child's happiness for shock and awe publicity is the real issue here.
Oh yes !!! kids are very cruel at schools .He will pay the price when mother will pose for Playboy.
Oh yes !!! kids are very cruel at schools .
It'll be more like.."Dude can we meet your mom?"
Till 6!!.. and this kid is 3 sorry that's just creepy, and I certainly won't brag about it. No wonder each generations is more screwed up that the last one.
it really depends on what the other kids at the pizza party are having
Yeah!