Annotated Bibliography

1. “Breastfeeding Controversy: What is Normal? What is Accepted?” WordPress.com. 18 May 2012. https://formingthethread.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/breastfeeding-controversy-whats-normal-whats-accepted/

Background: This article touches on the controversy that extreme breastfeeding presents, focusing much of its content on the weaning age of breastfed children. The author suggests that when a child is able to verbally ask for a feeding, has a set of teeth, and is able to be fed solid foods, they should begin the process of weaning to avoid the social and mental consequences that accompany this form of attachment parenting.

How I Used It: Using the author’s idea that children should be weaned by the time certain developmental levels are hit such as cutting teeth and learning speech, I used this article to back up my argument that breastfeeding is no longer necessary or what it best for a child at a certain point in their life.

2. Reneau, Annie. “What’s So Hard About Covering Up To Breastfeed?” scarymommy.com. http://www.scarymommy.com/whats-so-hard-about-covering-up-to-breastfeed-in-public/

Background: This article, a Q&A of sorts from a blog made for moms with questions, provides a lot of insight on general questions people have concerning breastfeeding.

How I Used It: Although it talks about all of the advantages of breastfeeding, the thing I liked about this article is that it is about breastfeeding infants, emphasizing my point that babies are the only children that should be breastfed.

3. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “Breastfeeding Report Card, United States/2013. July 2013. http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/2013breastfeedingreportcard.pdf

Background:  The Center for Disease Control is a national database for all things medical, and every year they release a breast feeding report card to update statistics, touch on new research, and provide information for support and help.

How I Used It: Searching for the statistics concerning breastfeeding moms in the U.S, I came across the 2013 breastfeeding report card, the most recent I could access.

4. Ablow, Dr. Keith. “Time magazine cover — forget the breast, what about the boy?”. Foxnews.com. 11 May 2012. Web. 2 November 2015. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/05/11/time-magazine-cover-forget-breast-what-about-boy.html

Background: This article, written by a psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-Team, makes excellent points about the dangers of extreme breastfeeding. Directed at the case of Jamie Lynn Grumet, a mother who made her extreme breastfeeding public by displaying it on a magazine cover, Doctor Keith Ablow aims to question who this form of attachment parenting really benefits.

How I Used It: This article gave me great insight to how extreme breastfeeding may not just be about the child involved, but the mother as well. I used many points from this text to argue that these actions are questionably done out of narcissism rather than affection. I was able to use Dr. Ablow’s thoughts and form my own involving who extreme breastfeeding really helps.

5. O’Brien, Susie. “Who does extreme breastfeeding really help: a child or their mum?”. The Daily Telegraph”. 25 May 2015. Web. 2 November 2015. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/who-does-extreme-breastfeeding-really-help-a-child-or-their-mum/story-fnpug1jf-1227368766830

Background: The piece from the Daily Telegraph highlights how unfair it can be to a school aged child who is breastfed. Susie O’Brien focuses on an Australian mother who regularly posts about how she breastfeeds her six year old on social media and the stigma that will forever follow that little girl.

How I Used It: The article is valuable thanks to its clear statement that extreme breastfeeding has the opposite effect than intended, which is what I am trying to prove. The fact that the author uses a very recent case of a public display of extreme breastfeeding is a fantastic way to back up my argument that mothers may do this for themselves rather than for their children.

6. Cannon, Dr. Ellie. “That’s just selfish and wrong: How the image of a mother breastfeed a toddler reignited a health controversy”. The Daily Mail. 19 May 2012. Web. 3 November 2015. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2146870/Breastfeed-year-old-Thats-just-selfish-wrong.html

Background: Ellie Cannon is an esteemed British doctor who specializes in areas of mental health, diet, and yes, parenting. Dr. Cannon takes a medical and psychological approach to extreme breastfeeding which I appreciate. It is not just another article talking about how wrong attachment parenting is. This article focuses on the different developmental stages of a child’s life as well.

How I Used It: I used many points from this piece, thanks to Dr. Cannon’s detail. In order to prove my thesis, I needed to thoroughly explain which parts of a child’s development and future would be harmed if they were breastfed to a certain age and this article pushed me in the right direction. I used this article to illustrate the consequences, both physical and mental, that a child will go through if they have an attached parent.

7. Black, Susan. “What is Extreme Breastfeeding?”. 2012. Web. 21 November 2015. http://www.momtastic.com/parenting/173941-extreme-breastfeeding/

Background: This article was published by a woman whose bio at the end of the page states that she is an advocate for attachment parenting. She offers a rebuttal to my argument, and it is interesting to read the direct opinion of a mother who practices or plans to practice extreme breastfeeding.

How I Used It: Black states her beliefs about attachment parenting and its benefits, allowing me to refute her claims and state my thesis. I do admire her bulleted list of breastfeeding benefits; however, one of her points actually supports my side of the argument by suggesting that breastfeeding is a great way to ‘avert toddler tantrums’. Where are the nourishment and bonding there, huh Susan?

8. Wilson, Simone. “JAMIE LYNNE GRUMET, TIME’S BREASTFEEDING COVERGIRL, CAN’T STOP POSING FOR CREEPY MAGAZINE COVERS”.  LA Weekly. 10 September 2012. Web. 21 November 2015. http://www.laweekly.com/news/jamie-lynne-grumet-times-breastfeeding-covergirl-cant-stop-posing-for-creepy-magazine-covers-2397319

Background: Keeping with the case of Jamie Lynne Grumet, this article is another that focuses not on the child being breastfed in extreme circumstances, but on the mother and where these actions actually stem from.

How I Used It: I like the raw opinion of this article. The author clearly does not agree with Grumet’s choices, and uses the extreme breastfeeding mother’s actions against her. The public aspect of attachment parenting is touched on, as Jamie Lynne is called a ‘breastfeeding celebrity’ in a negative light.

9. Child Development Institue. “Ages and Stages”. Child Development Info. Web. 21 November 2015. http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/ages-stages/toddler-preschooler-development-parenting/

Background: The Child Development Institue is a great resource for all things developmental. This page in particular goes over the basic stages of a child’s life and what developmental milestones they achieve in each stage.

How I Used It: I utilized the infants/babies and toddlers/preschoolers categories from this page to show which parts of a child’s development are compromised when a child is suffocated by an attached parent.

10. Medline Plus. “Preschooler Development”. S National Library of Medicine. 19 November 2015. Web. 21 November 2015. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002013.htm

Background: The U.S National Library of Medicine, like the Center for Disease Control, has a plethora of medical articles on hand with any topic available. “Preschooler Development” focuses on the different types of development a child goes through and what they accomplish.

How I Used It: I used this page to reinforce which types of development can be suppressed by extreme breastfeeding and parents who refuse to let their child grow on their own.