Attachment Parenting; Good or Bad?

       Recently, a new style of parenting has hit media. Attachment Parenting, theorized by Dr. Sears, emphasizes the importance of extended breastfeeding, baby-wearing and co-sleeping. As you can see from the above photograph, extended breastfeeding is the act in which mothers continue to breastfeed their child well into their toddler years. Baby-wearing is where the caretaker literally wears their child in a sling in order to keep them closer. Finally, co-sleeping is where an entire family sleeps in one bed, every night.

      In the first article I read on this topic was "Jaime Lynne Grumet, Breastfeeding Mom on 'TIME Magazine' Cover, Illustrates Attachment Parenting". In this article, you can read about several woman who breastfeed their children into their toddler years. These women argue that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends mothers to breastfeed for a year or longer depending on the mother's personal beliefs. The belief of extended breastfeeding is done in order to grow a closer bond between mother and child. Also, to raise a more secure child. The question I raise is, if the child is old enough to understand what they are doing, then they can become dependent on their mother. This would create an opposite effect then what attachment parenting is said to accomplish. The child should become less secure because they are dependent on their mother. Children who breastfed as toddlers, ask for milk for comfort as well.

      For having such a peculiar and new idea on parenting, you would assume Sears or his wife were raised with these parenting techniques. After interviewing the couple, we have discovered that neither Dr. Sears nor his wife were raised with any of these attachment parenting styles. After checking that off our list, we would assume the Sears raise their own children using attachment parenting. In the article, "Meet Dr. Sears, the Man Who Remade Motherhood", the article states that Sears only gets his experience from being a father and a pediatrician. Therefore we can only assume that they use attachment parenting styles to raise their children.

     On the website, Attachment Parenting International, there are several listed techniques to raise a secure child. The techniques listed are Prepare for Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting, Feed with Love and Respect, Respond with Sensitivity, Use Nurturing Touch, Ensure Safe Sleep Emotional and Physical, Provide Consistent and Loving Care, Practice Positive Discipline, and Strive for Balance in your Personal and Family Life. In Prepare for Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting, the article suggests parents to research different parenting styles. Basically, this article tells parents to inform themselves on recent studies on parenting and breastfeeding and other parenting techniques. This article is pretty broad. I think most parents research various parenting styles and techniques.

     There are several odd suggestions brought up in these articles. The first one is co-bathing. First of all, a bath is a very relaxing act, why would you want a baby or child with you? Also, I feel as if children should not be comfortable seeing their mothers naked body. Another odd technique is co-sleeping. This is where an entire family sleeps in a bed together. My view on co-sleeping is that it would only make the child overly attached to their parents. In turn, these children will become dependent on sleeping with their parents making them unable to sleep alone or go to sleepover with a friend. To me, this seems like more of a detriment to the child than a benefit.

     After reading these articles, I became intrigued in the idea. Not in the way that I wanted to raise my children in the manner, but in the way that I was interested in the mindset of these adults. Upon further research, I found an article that stated that breastfeeding until eleven is becoming popular in Ireland. Eleven! Could you imagine going to your friends house as an eleven year old and seeing your friend breastfeed? I also read an article where a child was breastfed until the age of three and truly wishes her mother did not wait so long to stop breastfeeding. This woman now states that she can remember the taste and the action of breastfeeding. She also says that she is weirded out by her mother's breasts. Many articles do not take into consideration the long term effects it has on children. They may think it makes them more secure, but in this article, this woman is now just puzzled by breasts themselves and can not think of her mother the same.

     Overall, I think attachment parenting is a bad idea. Of course, I have no right to tell others how to raise their child. Yet I urge parents to really think about the long term effects attachment parenting has on children. This style of parenting could very possibly cause children to become overly attached and dependent upon their mother especially but also their other parent. Also, as seen in the final article I stated, extended breastfeeding can cause confusion and uncomfortableness in the future between child and mother. As attachment parenting may be comforting for the child at that time, it could potentially cause the exact opposite down the line.