Mom breastfeeding to 3-years old boy in USA

NEW YORK - offensive or not much? A woman nursing her 3-year-old son is the photo of cover of Time magazine this week for an article on "attachment parenting," and the reactions ranged from applause to servile shrugs.

The picture showed Jamie Lynne Grumet, 26, mother to stay at home in Los Angeles who says her mother breastfed until the age of 6 years. She told the magazine in an interview she gave up reasoning with strangers who see her son and threaten nursing "to call social services on me or that pedophilia is."

"People must understand that it is biologically normal," she said, adding: "More people see it, the more it will become normal in our culture. This is what I hope. I want people see it. "

Some wondered why the magazine used the photo of Grumet, a thin blond pretty enough to be a model to illustrate the story of a style of parenting that has been around for a generation. The issue includes a profile of attachment parenting guru, Dr. Bill Sears, who wrote one of the bibles of the movement, "The Baby Book," 20 years ago.

Mika Brzezisnki, co-host of MSNBC weekday morning program "Morning Joe", suggested on air that the cover was unnecessarily sensational, "I'll tell you why it bothers me - because this is a project profile Bill Sears! "

Twitter, the cover has inspired X-rated jokes and concerns that the child might be teased when he is older. But on many boards, there was debate about whether it is OK to breastfeed beyond infancy.

Bobbi Miller, a mother of six who lives in Arkansas, expressed his disapproval in a tweet and said in a telephone interview, "Even a cow knows when to wean their child." On the cover, she said: "Why would it even be there It's ridiculous It's almost on the point of voyeurism?"..

But Bettina Forbes, co-founder of an organization called Best Babes that promotes breastfeeding and supports women who want to breastfeed their children beyond infancy, said she hopes the cover "will mainstream America less disgusted "about women breastfeeding children of all ages. "It is high time that we talk about these things," she said.

Reaction to the coverage highlighted a cultural gap between traditional children's education and what some considered "extreme parenting." The philosophy of setting encourages mothers to meet their babies every cry and form close bonds with almost constant physical contact through "co-sleeping" (let them sleep in bed with parents rather than in cribs) and "baby bear" (carry them in slings instead of pushing them in strollers).

Retail chains, including Target, Wal-Mart and Safeway did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the magazine, which goes on sale Friday, will be displayed in stores.