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In the provocative new cover story of its May 21 issue, TIME Magazine has tapped into a two-decade-long parenting conversation that has boiled over in recent months. Journalist Kate Pickert reports on the rise of attachment parenting, a set of techniques popularized by Dr. Bill Sears in "The Baby Book," his 767-page treatise published in 1992. Yet, while Pickert delves into who Sears is and why controversy surrounds his theories -- the three biggies advocate baby-wearing, extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping -- the magazine's decision to illustrate this story withphotographs of real mothers breastfeeding their toddlers is what has everyone talking. (Scroll down for reactions on Twitter.)

Specifically, the cover shows Jamie Lynne Grumet, a slim blonde 26-year-old California mom, breastfeeding her son, who turns 4 years old next month, photographed by Martin Schoeller. In the same day that he shot Grumet, Schoeller also captured similar images of three other moms who practice attachment parenting.

On left: Jessica Cary and her 3-year-old daughter. Right: Dionna Ford with her 4-year-old and 5-month-old sons. For more from the TIME cover shoot, visit TIME LightBox.

“When you think of breast-feeding, you think of mothers holding their children, which was impossible with some of these older kids,” Schoeller said in an interview on TIME.com. “I liked the idea of having the kids standing up to underline the point that this was an uncommon situation.”

One notable mom who follows Dr. Sears's advice does not make an appearance in Pickert's piece -- actress Mayim Bialik who recently published her memoir "Beyond The Sling" is a vocal advocate for attachment parenting and recently came under firefor writing about breastfeeding her own 3-year-old. While Bialik ignited big discussions about how much is too much when it comes to motherhood, TIME's story is elevating the conversation to a national debate.

The usual questions that come up when mothers are called out for breastfeeding in public (which happens often) include: Is breastfeeding indecent? Or natural? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all mothers breastfeed for a full year -- or longer if the mother so chooses, so how can we shame women who are just following the advice of the country's foremost medical establishment?

There is no doubt that the TIME cover is going to strike the public as shocking. But, as Pickert points out, the women featured are at one extreme end of this always-controversial discussion. On the other end, she says, are mothers who "endorse the idea of maternal closeness (who doesn't?) but think Sears is out of his mind." And the writer goes on:

"A third category includes mothers caught in the middle. These parents try to achieve Sears' ideal of nursing, baby wearing and co-sleeping but fall short for some reason and find themselves immobilized by their seeming parental inadequacy. They suffer from what two New York City parenting consultants call "posttraumatic Sears disorder."

Her point, in writing the in-depth profile of Sears, seems to be that there are many parents out there left wondering what's right, what's wrong -- and most important -- what makes sense for their families.



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