Time magazine image of breastfeeding

[banana87]

Apparently this image is kicking up a hot debate in the US.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/time-magazine-cover-showing-mother-828267

I really wish people would educate themselves about the benefits of extended breastfeeding before proclaiming its child molestation. Utterly crap.

Children will see it as odd because it isn't normal in the west to EBF in public. Thats not to say that it shouldn't be, just that it isn't currently. Of course people who know him will see the photo

my ds2 and ds3 both went to pre-school whilst they were still bfeeding, they didnt bfeed at pre-school but some of their friends knew they were still bfeeding and it wasnt an issue, they were THREE!! i am yet to hear of 3 yr olds teasing/bullying each other for bfeeding?! lots of them have dummies at that age, or bottles still or other comforters, its normal for a child that age to have some kind of comforter, whether that is breast, bottle, dummy or cuddly toy, my ds4 has a blanket (he is just 4) he doesnt take it out now but when he first started pre-school he did and it went with him adn was put on a special shelf, no one picked on him because of that.

"And if you do believe in taking teddy bears off of children at 31 then you're just mean!"

bronze sat in my living room is a cuddly mouse, it has bells in its ears and is called 'jingle bells' it was made for me when i was a baby and i still have it, i am 33 and my 17mth old dd now plays with it, which is apt as we call her mouse (merryn mouse) :)

i dont think 3 yr olds do see bfeeding as odd, certainly none of the 3 yr old i know and have known (a lot!) dont anyway :)

But 5madthings I am assuming you didn't photograph yourself and publish it in say the school newsletter? It's one thing EBF your DC and not worrying who knows about it, it's quite another to take such a graphic photo and have it published in Time Magazine

no but i did sometimes feed them when i picked them up if they were tired and upset etc so people saw and when they had friends round if ds2 hurt himself he would often want to feed, again his friends saw that and it was just normal.

and again the mother didnt choose that photo, apparently others were taken, in more 'normal' poses but not chosen and its obvious why.

and as brobze said most 3 yr olds dont read the times magazine, yes their parents may well do and if they are then judgemental over it then i would reasses my views of them tbh.

it's not the 3 year olds or the parents I would be concerned about, it's those in Y1 and above. They would have a field day, you would have to be naive to think otherwise.

and i do have pics of me bfeeding ds2 and ds3 at the same time when ds3 was little, they are in the family album along with many other pics and have been shown to friends and family [shrug] its just a photo of two little boys having a snuggle and a feed with their mum, you cant see my breasts as my top covers them and the two boys are across my lap,they are turned inwards so i guess its obvious they are feeding but it just looks like they are having a nice cuddle and they are moments i look back on fondly as they are now 9 and 7 and seemed to be turning out just fine despite ebf and the fact that their friends knew they bfed.

i often see 3 yr olds who climb into their pushchair after pre-school, obviously knackered who are then given a favourite blanket and sometimes a dummy, ds4 sees this as well and he doesnt judge them for it or think its odd.

well ihave children that are 12, 9, 7, 4 and 17mths and my own older children wouldnt think anything of bfeeding a toddler and i know many other older children who dont think anything of it at all, perhaps its attitudes picked up from parents, mine grew up seeing it as normal as have done many of their friends.

our pre-school is attached to the primary school as well and it has never been an issue, you see lots of toddles in the playground with dummies and blankets snuggled up in their pushchair tired after a day at pre-school, i dont hear any children commenting on it.

I dont like this photo at all. Theres no "motherliness" there, if you know what I mean. Its too sophisticated.

Personally I think this photo will cause more bad then good comments

I agree WellHello- the photo is going to put people off rather than encourage EBF. It is such a shame to use your DC in that way- I wouldn't have my DC in a magazine for any reason at all, and certainly not on the cover in a controversial way. My DC comes first. That image will be on the Internet for ever- when the DS is old enough to be embarrassed by it.

God, just thinking about doing this to DS1 brings me out in a cold sweat. He is 6 and would rather die than let me kiss him in public. Its very unfair on the child.

But Funnys, as I said in a previous post, the argument about the child's privacy is actually a completely seperate issue to what that child is doing in the picture (eating). Parents allow their children to be photographed doing babyish things for all kinds of reasons, including advertising, which they might be embarassed about at a later date.

I'm glad that my parents (haven't yet) offered up a messy photo or film of me spreading spaqhetti all over my toddler face in an attempt to eat whilst sitting in a highchair to Heinz, a highchair company, an anti-bacterial spray company or even a TV license fee ad (that is the one where the dog and baby food bowls get messed around isn't it) or indeed to You've Been Framed.

I agree that children and babies can't fully consent to their images being taken or used in the media and its a topic worthy of discussion. However, the idea that breastfeeding is in someway a special case (other than it featuring the mother too) and that it's somehow more offensive to be photographed nursing than bottle-feeding is flawed and routed in the sexualised objectification of women's bodies.

I definately would object more to my toddler image being used to promote formula feeding than I would it being used to illustrate an article about breastfeeding.

Fair enough if you don't believe children should ever have their pictures published in the media doing something they could later find embarassing, but its a whole seperate issue to full term BF.

what spiritedwolf just said, we have many many embarrasing pics of our childrne, ds1 at 12 now laughs at them and they all realise, even the 9 and 7 yr olds that these are things they did when they were little, they might not do them now, but they can laugh about it. i remember being embarrassed by naked baby pics of myself but as i got older i realised they are nothing to be embarrassed about.

but i do agree that the internet and the way things are now 'out there' forever is not necessarily a good thing but as spiritedwolf says there are lots of babies and toddlers in adverts and they may well cringe at them when they are older, they may also be grateful if its given them a bit of money in a savings account somewhere for when they turn 18!

i think the ethicalness or not of publicising pics of children is a seperate issue tbh, would be a good thread actually :)

hothead that is exactly how come DD2 fed so long, she simply chose not to stop.

As for the photo being too sophisticated, I'm sure I've feed DD2 with her in streetwise preteen mood.

A child may chose to BF for 10 minutes at the end of the day or get their parent to read them a bed time story, it doesn't stop them being 7 going on 14 the rest of the time.

I can't quite decide about the photo.

The woman looks strong and confident - I think that she's thinking 'Yes, do you have a problem with this?'. It's a shame that the photo appears to have been chosen to make her DS look older than he actually is. And that the article might not be the most pro-natural term BFing article (according to what others have said, I haven't been able to read it unfortunately).

I have a new aim now because of this thread - to BF DS until he'll always be able to remember it. 100% natural, and he'll hopefully carry that idea forward to the next generation.

All of you who did extended bf-ing, did you ever bf a child who could stand like that? I bf-ed ds until 3+ and he never did that. I would not have allowed it either.

The picture makes me uncomfortable because it is what grown men do to women in a sexual context.

i have sat on the floor and bfed a toddler standing in between my legs, but normally we sat down as it was a good opportunity for me to sit down!

there were def some wierd and wonderful feeding positions tho, particularly when feeding toddler and baby :)

Spirted thats exactly what I do think. I would never exploit DS1 (or DS2 come to that) in any way which would cause him embarrassment at a later date. That would include of course publicising a photo of him bottle feeding aged 4. This isn't just about EBF, this is about exploiting a child

Really blueshoes? I don't think my dh has ever stood on a chair to get at my breasts.

Saw a comment on fb that made me laugh
"my biggest problem with this picture is that she is actively encouraging her children to stand on the furniture"

The odd position in the photo is to get a portrait shot that would work on the cover. Landscape shots don't fit on magazine covers. And obviously also chosen to shock and all that. But there's a massive practical reason for having them standing up.

actually i do remember being laid down on the sofa on my side and ds3 coming and trying to have a feed as he stood next to the sofa! i simply scooped him up and he snuggled in next to me.

it isnt a normal bfeeding pose and thats why it was chosen, they knew it would shock and get people discussing it, hence why they did it and no i also wouldnt publicise (sp) pics of my children either and am very careful what pics i have on fb and have my privacy settings tight etc. i do think thats a whole other debate tho :)

bronze i like that comment!! lol at standing on the furniture, it is a battle i am having with my 17mth old dd at the moment. :)

and edam thats a good point about the profile of the picture :)