Elizabeth Broadbent nurses her six-month-old . . . and her two-and-a-half-year-old.
"Obviously, by the time you get to a two-and-a-half-year old, they're only nursing at night, maybe at a nap for five minutes at a time, so it's not like I'm feeding my toddler in public," she says while explaining her choice to practice attachment parenting.
The benefits of breast milk go beyond just nutrients for some moms.
"My [toddler] can still be a baby when he needs to. And he sees his brother nursing and he knows that love and comfort that he can get as well when he needs it," says Elizabeth.
Nursing, extended nursing, using a sling, cloth diapers, sleeping in the same bed as your child -- it's all a part of attachment parenting.
"We're here to show people, 'Hey, this is how you put a baby in a sling. Here is how you safely co-sleep. Do you want help with breastfeeding?'" adds Elizabeth.
"Really it's just tools we can use to help with our parenting," says Alexandra Rippy. "It doesn't make one mom better than the other."
These moms are part of a natural and attachment parenting group in Columbia, South Carolina.
They like to be close to their children and for most of them this parenting style is simply easy.
"I don't like washing dishes; I don't like getting up at night, so I figured if I breastfed, I could sleep more. I wouldn't have to get up. I would have less dishes to wash," explains Regina Polite.
Some critics say a child held that close all the time won't have space to be independent.
"They grow up feeling really secure," says Regina. "It seems like breast feeding, co-sleeping - they'd be afraid to do things, but they're not. They're ready to run and jump and do everything because they feel safer."
And when it comes to breastfeeding or sleeping together, attachment parents say it only ends when both parents and the child have had enough.
What do you think of "attachment parenting?" Tell us in the comments below!
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