after thinkin about this for a while, and i have two kids myself, one i breast fed, the other didn't take to is. a four year old should not be drinking out of a bottle, if your kid has a full set of teeth, its time they eat food. not a bottle. there for, you need to remove your tit for the kids mouth.

go ahead and disagree, but even those of you that breast feed, i'm sure would have some comments to a mother who let her 4 year old son walk around drinkin a bottle.

I just tried clicking on the link and it said 'Page not Found'. Anyone know where I can view the video??? Thanks!

I personally was offended by the cover. This is NOT what extended breastfeeding is. And i feel like those that do breastfeed beyond a certain age will be now looked down on. I do understand that TIME was just trying to sell magazine but i wish they would have done it in a more nurturing way. Extended breastfeeding, or just breastfeeding at any time in a childs life is beatufiul and personal. A child does not stand on a stool and breastfeeds from a mother that is posing the way she is.

Attachment Theory is not being distinguished from Attachment Parenting. Attachment Theory was developed by John Bowlby in the 50's and researched by Mary Ainsworth. Bowlby was interested in distinguishing healthy from unhealthy forms of attachment between parent and child. Whether he would think the Sears' Attachment Parenting was healthy or unhealthy is an open question.

In any event, there is a distinction between keeping children close because they are happy that way and desire it and keeping them close because we feel pain at their maturation and increased desires for independence and choice. Bowlby evaluated parent-child attachment on a case by case basis, and so should we. One size does not fit all.

For example, when children wake parents in the middle of the night with bad dreams, parents can help them understand that "bad dreams are stories we tell ourselves for a reason" and help them understand how upset feelings from the previous day can lead the child to create a bad dream. This will help the child go back to bed and go to sleep comforted and is better than just taking the child into the parental bed, which doesn't advance the child's development (see the children's picture book, Mommy, Daddy, I Had a Bad Dream!).

(www.smartlovepress.com, www.mommydaddyihadabaddream.com).

Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D.

As an integrative pediatrician I see families with many different philosophies, most of whom are successful at raising happy, healthy children. While the philosophy of attachment parenting makes many compelling arguments and works well for some families, it does not for others. Fortunately or unfortunately, we live in a world that offers many choices, few of which are black and white. One of the most important ideas I hope my patients understand is that there is no one right way to raise a child, and if you are raising yours with loving kindess, an appreciation for the world around them and the healthiest options that work for your family, then you are doing just fine.

Oh, and I also had c-sections. I am not particularly happy about that, but like Sara said, it does not make me less of a mother, nor my children's lives somehow lesser. It did make breastfeeding harder at first, but I was determined. :)

You know, although everything my husband and I have done falls (primarily) into the "attachment parenting" catagory, I get really upset by folks essentially trying to pit women against eachother. (I'm a better mother, a more caring mother, a more loving and intelligent and learned mother BECAUSE ________________ fill in the blank)

I had to stop nursing at 11 months because I have Bipolar Disorder and needed to go back onto my medication.
Does this make me a lesser mother?
For many, YES. It does. I put MY needs above the needs of my child. Could I parent my baby without my meds?
Maybe. It was getting to a bad place. But I probably could've done it. *Should* I have done it? Some would say yes.

I get so very, very frustrated at the way women (and men!) are willing to attack others for DOING THE VERY BEST THEY CAN. (and I'm not talking about obvious child abuse. I'm talking about having to feed your baby formula; move them to their crib; etc)
We co-slept till a year, then finally gave into exhaustion (NOBODY WAS SLEEPING) and moved our boy to his crib. And we have ALL slept better since (well, hubby and little guy, yes, me- I'm probably never going to sleep again since having a baby, haha. Stupid monitor.)

I really think that we, mostly women, but also men who are primary caregivers, need to step back and STOP with the attacking. It is so harmful. Harmful to our psyches, harmful to our ability to talk about what is really going on, fear of judgement.

And yes. I had a c-sec. Not ideal. My baby was 11 lb at 38.5 weeks (no GD, btw. Just a big baby). But we do what we need to do to get through life, I think. And I am so glad, feel so blessed that my baby was born in the year 2010 (with a head measuring 16.5 inches around) so that I was able to have a c-sec. Did I love it? NO. Did it make me a lesser mother? No. Only the people who judge marriages by the weddings would see my baby's life as lesser for the way he arrived.

Sorry!! I've had a few things to get off my chest. Obviously.
Just think we need to LET GO of the way everyone else is raising their kids and focus on our own sweet babies. (this is, VERY OBVIOUSLY, not directed at people abusing their children.)

here we go!!!!!! ;-) AP parent here - i've tandem nursed my kids, all have nursed at least two years, and i have nursed through a twin pregnancy, too. we co-sleep and babywear, and all is well. my kids are awesome- and i don't understand what the controversy is??? it's how kids are MEANT to be raised.

@DeSeLo- I was an attachment parent before I knew the term as well. I wore my kids in a backpack or carried them on my hip as long as I could. If i had laundry to do and needed hands free or was holding an infant in my arms and had a toddler as well-that back pack served a great duty!!! I always had it handy. I wouldn't always put the kids in bed with me, but somehow they all ended up there more often than not. But I do LOVE your question-why have a baby and then put them all the way in another room all by themselves??

I am an attachment parent. I did not know what it was and I when I found out about co-sleeping I was not into it but as soon I had my first child I did not want to be without him so I did it all and I am still doing it; nursing, co-sleeping, wearing your baby, potty training early so I am all for it. I am not into a label. I tandem nursed and I am still nursing my baby who is now a recent a toddler. My first born is so healthy, smart, self-confident and all around beautiful child.

thanks Denise for your common sense post that attachement parenting has worked for you and your lovely independent grown kids . I think attachement parenting and extended breastfeeding is great but its up to the parents to not completey give themselves a nervous breakdown over it ! as for Rion - well i think i must be a joke ?!!

and Daniela ,yes i am totally with you !

I've raised four sons with attachment parenting, and if I had it to do over, I would do the same again! I wore my babies in a sling until they were too big to carry, I breastfed them until 3 1/2, 2, 18 mos, and 12 mos, and they slept in our bed until the next baby came along, at which point they graduated to a toddler bed beside ours until they were ready for their own room. They are now 22, 20, 18, and 15, and they are happy, healthy, and well adjusted. My two oldest sons are totally independent, living on their own and navigating college life completely without my help. In addition, my husband and I have now been married 23 years, so it would seem that our marriage survived the family bed just fine!