First let me say, I am a huge advocate of breast feeding. I have worked on committees that target business to establish breast feeding rooms for nursing moms and breast fed both of my children. So when TIME magazine brought attention to the topic this past issue,  I was glad. But I was disturbed by the cover photo.

Were you?

Maybe I have seen too many pathological people in therapy over the years but that cover (see the photo) feels like it sexualizes  children. The photo looks too sensual and distracts from the message. I kept thinking of all the child predators who love that photo and the pre-teen boys who see it in the grocery store and aren’t sure what to make of it. And looking at the Twitter comments, I am not the only one who felt this way. The x rated jokes will follow that poor child into the classroom in a few years.

According to the Center for Disease control,  fewer than 15% of babies are breast fed through the first six months (CDC). “The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mother and baby desire. The World Health Organization recommends continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond. Breast feeding is good for mother and baby. ”

Dr. Bill Sears,well-known pediatrician,, is an advocate of “attachment parenting” which includes breast feeding until the child weans. The approach is controversial.

If the point of this cover was to get our attention, it did just that.

So what did you think?

Will it forward the cause of breastfeeding?

Will it make breastfeeding more accepted in public?

Or will this do more harm than good?