Paulette, I feel your pain. Attachment parenting honestly disturbs me. Granted, my son is now in his early twenties and seems to have survived just fine without the aid of constantly being attached to me like a parasite. What's worse is I was unable to breast feed my son at all. (No icky details now) but there are plenty of adults who seem to be perfectly well adjusted and happy after being parented "the old fashioned way." (No slings, attachment, baby wearing...etc) Some of us were left to cry ourselves to sleep, some were soothed with dulcet tones of our parents singing lullabies to us, some were read story after story until we could recite them by heart. Either way, not one of us ran to mom to hang off her breast after bumping our heads on the jungle-gym. None of us had special stools so we could reach and cling to mom like cupid-like succubi.
We faced our fears, cried real tears, sucked our thumbs or chewed our blankies...and every one of us perfectly fine, well adjusted, happy, sane, rational adults.
The Time Magazine cover is just plain CREEPY!

If Your Kid Can Bite, Breastfeeding Ain't Right? What a dangerous statement for you to make, especially if a soon to be mother was to read this "article" of yours. Maybe you should have done some research prior to giving your opinion. The World Health Organization, maybe you have heard of them, recommends breastfeeding a child until they are at LEAST two years old, but apparently you know more on the subject of nutrition and health for a child.
As far as using "Ferber" as "sage advice", do you realize babies were diagnosed with failure to thrive due to people using that method. So according to you it is weird for people to nourish their babies, but OK if they ignore and starve them.
Maybe you should look into the facts before you give parenting advice. I am sorry AP did not work for you, but it does for many of us, so please do not knock something just because it didn't work for you.

Good article, as always you make me laugh. Letting children cry it out is perfectly ok, I do not understand all these different method of attachements, it really is so unneccesary. You tend to raise needy children even as an adult. I think you did all "the right things" you tried everything and found the solution that worked and no, it is not child abuse. Many psychologist endorse this method, especially the old school ones.

As a mom of three girls that nursed, each one of my girls was nursed differently not based on the fact that I changed how I believed but based on each of my girls needs. My first was complete attachment, nursed on demand, slept with me actually if I have to admit it slept on my hospital bed when I had baby number 2.
I agree with Jill please check your facts before you bash something that yes, maybe wasn't for you but honestly this article makes you know different then the article you are fighting against. Sounds to me that you are trying to tell me that I am a bad mom for choosing attachment.
We are all entitled to our own opinions but again make sure you are clear opinions are NOT facts.

The opinions of the woman on the cover of TIME magazine are not facts either, and we can and should feel free to criticize them if we want.

Didn't anyone notice this is under the 'Opinion" section??! geez

There is no one right way. Some infants are high-needs, some are easy going. A mother should respond to and meet the needs of thier infant, chosing what she feels is best for both. Sleep deprivation is a fact of motherhood, there is no escape. IMHO no infant should cry alone in a room for any extended period of time. Sadly, the case of a mismatched infant/mother style pair one party is always miserable. Every generation has thier "method", As right or wrong as it may seem. The clinical research agrees that you can never spoil an infant with love, attention, and nutrition.

Every mom/kid situation is different. My first child had 2 teeth at 3 months -- should I have stopped breastfeeding at such an early age? We worked through it, and he nursed (mostly without biting) until he was 2. Second child the same. This was right for us, and nobody -- not even a newspaper opinion writer--has the right to tell me it was wrong.

This is the ONLY country in the world where people would think that the cover pic was "creepy". Breasts are for feeding humans, i.e. nourishing and sustaining life. It's a shame so many make it about sex. Neither the mother nor the child in the Time pic are gaining any sexual satisfaction from nursing, I GUARANTEE it. I know plenty of kids that are still nursing and are not abnormally attached to their mother, any more than non-long-term breastfed kids. Do kids with teeth nip sometimes? Yep. Do they do it to their mother's breast sometimes? Yep. Oh well. Attachment parenting is no more "wrong" than any other way in which a parent or parents take care of their baby. Whatever works, whether it's breast or formula, co-sleeping or crying it out.....support & educate the mothers going through it instead of judging and assuming that someone is screwing up their kid. News flash: we all are. :-)

As titillating as this subject is, I am very hesitant to make a clean breast of things and udder my opinion on the matter because I'm a man. (sorry I had to do it). Again-I'll repeat what Jimmy Kimmel said Friday night concering this kid:
"That kid is going to hate middle school"
"Someday Norman's going to be running a hotel with his Skeleton mother"
"He's always going to be compared to the wierd kid on Game of Thrones"

I don't understand why we have to label everything these days and look for drama where there isn't any. I breastfed my 3 babies for as along as they want to breastfeed and slept with them in the first several months because I liked being close to them and it made it easier to handle the night wakings. I also LOVED wearing my babies in slings (and still do!) because I like feeling them close, they like the view, and it leaves my hands free to do other things. So, does that make me an attachment parenter? Absolutely NOT! There is nothing wrong with that style of parenting - don't get me wrong - but I have a completely different view as far as discipline and scheduling when it comes to my kids, just as I'm sure so called "attachment parenters" don't subscribe to all the crazy hype that's put out there about them. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all just parent the way we feel is best for OUR families, leave everyone else to do the same, and drop all the labels, drama, and judgements!

I completely agree with Andrea. Just parent your OWN children and let others do the same. Sheesh.

Always refreshing to see people judging other people...

I know you thought this was simply an "opinion" and a bit of humor BUT it sounds pretty much to me like you are judging folks who choose to use AP. I fail to see humor in your article (although I could supply you with some pretty humorous bits from my own AP experience)! Labeling something as "opinion" or "humor" doesn't give you the right to say anything you want (ie trashing other people's choices!)

Thanks for all of your comments--being a parent is full of challenges.

I am sure you are a great mom! And I know your kids are good people because of your sacrifice. It's hard work.

Yikes....Do you REALLY want to get into the "women who have to work should not be made to feel guilty" argument????

Yes of course the women "who have to work" should not be made to feel guilty!! BUT, and here's the part screaming with controversy.....How many moms really NEED to work in middle class America? Sure to support the American lifestyle of having just the right stuff in the "proper" quanities most have to work. I suppose I "should" have worked outside our home to measure up, but as I am lucky enough to be married to an employed partner whose job affords us our basic needs I don't "need" to. Sure we buy most of our things 2nd hand (but as so many others buy such lovely things ..there are plenty of great hand things to satiate us! I do know quite a few women who "need to work" to afford that lovely well furnished home, lovely wardrobe, the right vacation etc. I am NOT saying this is a wrong choice!! I just want to be clear this is NOT a "need" it is a "want". And personally I believe that far more mothers in this country have "want" and "need" confused. Let's not insult the women who truly do "need" to work to support their family's NEEDS.

AGREED! NO ONE should be made to feel "less than" for working to provide for themselves or their family, or for choosing from the spectrum of acceptable parenting choices!! My hopes is that folks make mindful choices in their parenting. My dream is also that for us as a society to realize that sometimes our "needs" are simply "wants" and that we should consider this in our important choices (i.e.How we spend our time and how we use our natural resources!!)

The whole problem was the picture! No one, no matter how old their child is, nurses like that! We cradle them. The picture was set up to shock us and in my opinion was trying to make breastfeeding past infancy look bad.
The teeth comment makes me doubt whether the writer actually did breastfeed her children because the natural reaction of the mom (pulling back and uttering an ouch) teaches them after 1 or 2 times not to bite (most don't ever bite. Babies don't usually use their teeth to suck.)