How Old is Too Old? Mayim Bialik (aka Blossom) Still Breastfeeds her 3-Year-Old Son

April 11th, 2012 - By Veronica Wells

Being that I’m not a parent, I try to reserve judgment with the way people choose to raise their children. Notice I said try. Being that my mom and aunt own a daycare, I’ve seen my fair share of poor parenting, and by now it’s easy to recognize the signs of a parent who has their priorities out of whack, a parent who’s too lazy to take care of their own child or a parent who’s enabling and essentially spoiling their child rotten.

But I’m not quite sure where to put Ms. Bialik.

You may recognize her from the hit ’90′s television show, “Blossom.” Well she’s all grown up now. With children of her own. And the child actor, turned doctor (she has a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA), turned mother and now author believes in what she calls “attachment parenting.”

And that word attachment is used literally. The goal of the technique is to keep your child as physically close to you as possible. NewsOk.com reported that the technique, which was made famous by Dr. William Sears, includes natural birth, breast-feeding, sleeping with your children, wearing your babies in slings and gentle forms of potty training and discipline.

The emphasis on breastfeeding is why Bialik still breastfeeds her three and half year old son, Fred. Which is a little unusual, to say the least. But that’s not the only tenant of she and her husband’s parenting style. The couple sleeps with their two sons on the floor of their one-bedroom home and don’t believe in our country’s consumer culture when it comes to rearing children.

Mayim has written a book about attachment parenting called, ”Beyond The Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children The Attachment Parenting Way.” Though some might deem her unusual methods to be inappropriate, she’s only doing what she thinks is best for her children. Which is what she told NewsOk.com. “Most of our life is centered around trying to be the best parents we want to be,” she said.

What do you think of Mayim and her attachment parenting style?

If you want to learn more about it, read the full story at NewsOk.com.

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FromUR2UB

What is with people these days?! Breastfeeding children who are walking and speaking…school aged children who haven’t been potty trained! It sounds like some parents want to cripple their children to ensure they stay with them forever.
- Bfisbest
  
  People have been breastfeeding children who are walking and talking since forever, this is not a “these days” thing.
Jazzypudding

Wow..I breastfed my daughter until she was ten months old. I definately know the bond that it creates…it just seems to me that attachment could b to much…not mention…who does that?
- Bfisbest
  
  Lots of people do it. This article is about just one of them. What did your daughter drink after she was 10 months old?
rpope

I have heard that children who breastfeed longer are actually less clingy. I do not know if it’s true or not though. My son is 11 months and almost walking and the only way he takes liquids reliably is breastfeeding. He also has teeth! i could never get him to take a bottle, now he takes a sip or two at a time from a cup- but that is not enough. Yet his personality is very wild, we walk into any place with other kids and he is off with a shot trying to hang with bigger kids forgetting I am even there. So I had never planned on breastfeeding this long, but I don’t know what else to do. Also I have heard that WHO recommends breastfeeding until 2 y/old (do not want to do that!) but I also heard the reason for that was some countries do not have good water and food resources, and that the true benefits end at 1 y/old.
Janice Dee

There’s a thin line between genius and insanity. I think she straddling that line!!!!
FinVoilaQuoi

Effing hippies. I like the idea of the baby sling because I hate dodging those stupid baby cadillacs (strollers) on the sidewalk and nothing makes me swoon like a man toting his baby around. Also, I like the idea of co-sleeping; it seems like the natural thing to do. I guess I can understand how it could be dangerous though.
L-Boogie

I do not know how I feel about this method. Since I am not a parent (and do not plan on it anytime soon) I think she is doing the right thing for HER CHILDREN! It is not like she is mentally or physically abusing them. Good luck, Blossom.
mytwocents

being with your children period makes them more confident instead of insecure…I work with children for a living and I know it may be what’s popular, but I have to say that most of these children today are seriously lacking in quality time being spent with their parents…tv can’t do the job of raising kids…spend more time with them, teach them, and give them discipline when needed…trust me, your child will thank you in the long run…oh, and by the way, my mother allowed me to nurse until I was four, and once I went to school, I weaned myself off…just came home one day and said I didn’t want it anymore…I was also reading, and writing before I even began school and I like to think that I turned out ok…a womans milk supply can easily last for up to seven years.
- HMMM
  
  Lol, I can imagine a lil kid just saying to their Mom, “No thanks, I’ve got this”.
  
  On the flipside, I was never breast fed. I wouldn’t latch on, and it was to the point where I just wasn’t eating. My parents struggled financially, so breast pumps and all that jazz wasn’t an option. In lieu of that, I was fed with a bottle, but to make things more complex, I couldn’t digest store bought formula so I had to go on this expensive special-order stuff that my parents couldn’t afford to keep me on for long. When I got a little older, they gave me cow milk and I liked it and kept it down. To this day my Mom admits that probably wasn’t the best choice, but it was what my parents could afford at the time. Anyway, even though I was never breast fed and drank cow milk earlier than most, I’m glad to say I’m healthy and have never been a sickly person up to this point. I bonded with my mother in other ways, nursing is just one kind of opportunity for bonding. I bypassed crawling and went straight to walking before 1 yrs old and potty trained not long after that. I was always an above average student and technically inclined, so I like to think I turned out OK too! Of course I think breast feeding is important when it’s an option, but if it isn’t, a child won’t necessarily be ruined. I doubt what all well-rounded people have in common is the way they were fed. Most likely the common denominator is the parents/guardians who were actively involved in their childhood that nurtured and disciplined them.
Ms_Sunshine9898

she’s going to have two boys unconsciously and incestuously attached to their mother that will hate her while all the same be in love with her and will find themselves either smothered and resent her or men who won’t hold substantial relationships with women due to their attachment to their mother. smh, this new age parenting. . . boy i tell you. . .
- Bfisbest
  
  You really are ignorant. What a statement to make based upon this one story you have read. Do you personally know someone who was breastfed who feels that way? I doubt it.
  - Ms_Sunshine9898
    
    How are my comments ignorant? Please explain. Not only does she continue to breastfeed her child past the nutrional value and prime of it’s necessity, but she chooses to smother her children! What do you know about about attachment parenting? Please explain to me what you know. The fact that her family chooses to alienate their children from the majority of culture and sleep with their children as one family unity and her insistence to continue to breastfeed show her lack in allowing her children to grow and develop independence. The breastfeeding is an issue because her child at 3 is too old for breast milk! It’s a lack in the mother willingness to deatch herself from her child, not the fact that she breastfeeds. Have a seat in the corner and quit trolling for arguments that have no basis. . .
    - Bfisbest
      
      At his age, he is not too old for breastmilk. I’m not trolling, I’m trying to stem the continuation of the ignorance that is prolific in regard to this topic.
      My son nursed until he was 3, both of my children slept with me until they wanted to sleep somewhere else. They are both older now, and well adjusted children.
      The bottom line here is that you don’t agree with how she chooses to parent so you deem it unacceptable.
- FromUR2UB
  
  I agree. Often when men hate their mothers, it’s because of reasons like this…some inappropriate action. If they don’t hate them, they might develop an Oedipal complex for them. A name was given to that kind of behavior, so apparently, it has happened before.
Treacle234

It’s her choice if she wants to breastfeed her child until he is 6yrs old. As long as she does it private. However, breastfeeding a baby is one thing but beyond the age of a toddler must be uncomfortable. Feeding her child breast milk is much better than formula or animal milk.
- Bfisbest
  
  It’s not uncomfortable, speaking from experience.
HMMM

I’m just going to put it out there- when a man is “fooling around” with a woman, 90% of the time his mouth is going to go for her breast. With that said, it would totally ruin the mood if said man remembers when he used to do this as a toddler with his mother…

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