Time Magazine cover Attachment Parenting

Not sure how many of you saw this cover on Time in the last few months.  It has caused quite a stir which is of course what the magazine wants.

On the face of it, it appeared to be presented to me that attachment parenting involved breastfeeding.  And unless you are breastfeeding, you are not raising your children with the attachment parenting principles.

That isn’t what the article is about.  And previous articles and news items I feel have also projected this same idea.

What is attachment parenting?  To me it is simply responding to your child in a timely manner. Whether you are breastfeeding or bottle feeding doesn’t matter, it is the relationship you are building and the trust that is forming that is important.

As with all things, there can be extremes. With attachment parenting the extreme on one end is that the baby is breastfed, in contact with the parent for the first 3 months unhindered, and continue to be in contact with the parent for a large part of the day from there after. Breastfeeding is often continued for as long as the child wants which may be up to 5-7 years in some cases. The children sleep with the parents until they no longer wish to.  There are other aspects of attachment however these 2 topics make up the bulk of the debates.

From where I stand, I don’t believe that the extreme is for everyone. There has to be a place for the middle road, for personal choice of what suits your circumstances and experiences. For some,  wearing their baby 24/7 would send them into a head spin.

There is enough pressure to be a prefect parent as it is and in reality no one is perfect.  Everyone makes mistakes and that is ok because mistakes are just lessons.