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I must say firstly that these videos aren't pornographic as they are supposed to be in the context of nurturing. They are also YouTube video sources, so they have been approved for a general audience there given their strict policies against users posting very graphic videos.
These two videos showcase some families who practice a parenting style called Attachment or Attached Parenting, which can involve breastfeeding a child well into the age range of 4-7 and even up to the age of 9 in some cases.
I don't know how typical the parenting habits of these families are of most parents who participate in and practice Attachment Parenting but they are considered part of the "movement" or philosophy.
Advocates of Attachment Parenting claim that this lifestyle will raise children into highly functional, empathic, nurturing, and loving individuals who, contrary to belief, grow up to be independent thinkers. There are many people who criticize and state the opposite, that this lifestyle raises a child to be very dependent on one's parents or people in general, especially regarding the implementation of extended breastfeeding, if it's practiced, and that the children grow up with a sense of entitlement and egotism due to excessive focus on the child and lacking the proper amount of discipline since many advocates do not believe in disciplining their children.
What are your thoughts? Do you feel this type of lifestyle is beneficial or harmful to the development of children?
I did practice extended breastfeeding, and nursed my daughter until she self-weaned at age 3 1/2. I did not nurse my son more than a month... I had trouble breastfeeding and no good support.
I think that I did a lot of attachment parenting type things... babywearing (using a sling), cosleeping... and my kids still slip into our bed most nights.
I'm not into the "non-coercive parenting" or "taking children seriously" movement that tends to go along with AP. I believe that children need rules and consequences for their actions. Our home is not a democracy, where the kids have equal say.
We do homeschool, which fits nicely with the AP theory.
So we kind of pick and choose what works for us, and some of that is/was attachment parenting.
Breastfeeding a baby after 1 year old Max is just absolutely sick!
What is "sick" about it?
The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of two years. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child. The American Academy of Family Physicians states: "Breastfeeding beyond the first year offers considerable benefits to both mother and child, and should continue as long as mutually desired".
Ain't no dam way. I suppose the extended breastfeeding is ok...if you can do that. I figure if they are big enough to ask for a breast OR BOTTLE...they are big enough to use a cup.
More power to them. I am raising my children to understand the rules of society. When they get a job when they finally get them all touchy-feely grown, do they really thing society is going to understand about their non structured self?
I doubt it.
I breastfed my daughter until she was 2 , & she rarely used a bottle before 1...By 1 she was drinking milk in the bottle too. And pretty much went straight to a sippy cup at 2.
IMO anything beyond 2 is a little over the top. She was tall & heavy and it was just awkward. By then it was pretty much morning and bedtime...with some *snacking* LOL. I mean when they stop nursing to have *conversations* with you, I mean really it was time to say bye bye Din Din.........
I don't really care how long other people want to nurse. It doesn't effect me, even when it is done in public. I don't understand why some people really get worked up about it. I understand people totally not wanting to do it themselves or even disagreeing with it, but there are other people who get really, really worked up about a child nursing past two years, or even one year.
As for me, both times I was aiming for two years. I had enough and weaned around 15 mo. with my first. I am just weaning my second--he will be 2 in less than two weeks--and oh boy, have I been ready for a couple months!
Breastfeeding a baby after 1 year old Max is just absolutely sick!
I don't understand why nursing a child who is over a year is so "sick". I think seeing a baby with a bottle full of artificial milk is pretty disgusting. Breastfeeding is what is best for the child. Like other posters pointed out, one year is the minimum that is recommended by the WHO.
I nursed my son until he self-weaned at 3.5. I also tandem nursed him and his baby brother for a year; my youngest is still nursing at 19 months. Nursing for so long(I am going on 4 years straight) is one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done. I only nursed my girls for 10 days and 6 months because I had no support and encouragement. My boys are so much healthier than my girls were/are, and I definitely attribute it to the extended breastfeeding.
As for other AP techniques, we are also co-sleeping, homeschooling, and practiced babywearing.
I too used to think it was very strange to nurse a toddler,until I did it! It was not a plan,it just happened.I nursed my first child until 6 months.Then,it got to be too much.I was working full time,he bit me,and I wanted to work on getting pregnant again.I nursed my second until 16 months,and would have continued if he had not just stopped on his own.Then I had my third.I no longer had to work outside the home,and she nursed until age 3.At that time,I decided it was enough.We were only doing it at bedtime.I would not have done it in public anymore as I did when they were infants.I would not have felt comfortable with that,and I was really ready to be done with it by then after 3 kids! So for me,age 3 was the cut off and I really can't imagine going beyond that.By then there are so many other ways to bond and form attachments.But,like crazyme4878 said,what others decide to do is not my business.I did not watch the video or do any reading on peoples reasons for doing it.
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Attachment Parenting & Extended Breastfeeding
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