Time Magazine's Big Child Breastfeeding Bashing - or "Look How Far We've Come!"

This is what many are saying is a deliberately provocative photograph, used for the cover of Time magazine.

It shows Jamie Lynne Grumet, from Los Angeles, breastfeeding her three-year-old son, Aram.  Points of view have ranged, as ever, from "YUCK!" through, "Not for me, but whatever, I guess..." to "Absolutely fine, the problem lies with you if you find this offensive" - with every shade of shrill and shrug along the spectrum of opinion.

More photos from the shoot are on the Time magazine LightBox.

And you can read more about what Jamie Lynne Grumet thinks about breastfeeding her children in a Q&A session with Kate Pickert.

Some object to the strapline and text more than the photo, saying that this sort of "extreme" breastfeeding doesn't make you a better mother.  And, you know, it doesn't.  But it doesn't make you a worse one either - which is what a lot of the ire about breastfeeding past some arbitrary chronological point seems to be about, as people claim this is more for the mother than the child.  I've written about breastfeeding past the age of one in the past, so I won't rehash it here, except to reiterate that:

• You can't force a child with TEETH to breastfeed
• Breastmilk doesn't stop being nutritious once your child is a particular age. How would that even work?

I'm not a fan of dogmatic adherence to any particular parenting theory/method at all costs - differences in circumstances, personalities and influences mean that it is next to impossible to do the "ideal" thing in every given situation.  What I do believe in is making good decisions based upon all available facts.  It may be that the best decision you can make for your own particular situation isn't the one you would make given perfect conditions, but, so be it, that's life.

You know what, though?

When I first started blogging about breastfeeding, more than half a decade ago, there was very much a "should I breastfeed or not?" air to the debate.  And I think we've moved on - now, it generally has far more of a "for how long should I breastfeed?" tone - this shift from "should I do it at all" to "how long for?" is a massively positive step and really shouldn't be overlooked.

And, really, that's it. I could talk more about how some people think it's dreadful that the child has had a photo used of him breastfeeding, without his consent - but who knows, maybe by the time he's old enough to understand that some people make ill-informed and rude statements about breastfeeding, people won't be making them any more.  After all, look how far we've come in this last half decade!

Where to go for more information

Kellymom has a great factsheet about breastfeeding past infancy, full of all the information you'll ever need about why it's a great thing to do.

Kathy Dettwyler, professor of anthropology at the University of Delaware, has written extensively on the subject of the natural age of weaning.

Book recommendations

Have you seen an actual Acorn Pack Antenatal?