Did Mayim Bialik breastfeed son till he was 4? All about 'Call Me Kat' star's 'attachment parenting' controversy

Over the years, she has made many heads turn, especially when she opened up about 'attachment parenting', which drew a lot of criticism online
PUBLISHED JAN 3, 2021
('Beyond the Sling')
('Beyond the Sling')

Our very favorite Mayim Bialik is all set for her next TV venture titled 'Call Me Kat', which will air from January 3, 2020, at 8 pm ET on Fox. Bialik has a dedicated fan following for her role in the CBS sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory', where she played the character of neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler. Over the years, she made many heads turn when she opened up about "attachment parenting". Many people responded to her decision of breastfeeding her son until he was 4 years old.

“People laughed and sneered but it wasn’t wrong,” Bialik told InTouch of the critiques she received about her decision to breastfeed her son, Fred, until he was 4 and self-weaned. "Just because you do something your way doesn’t mean you can judge people who don’t.... I don’t think I’m a better mom and my kids aren’t necessarily better off than yours.” She told the magazine that the criticism "made her cry". “The way that I parent is the way thousands of women parent all over the world, but I get flak for it. People say really mean things!” she added.



 



 

Bialik has long been a vocal advocate of attachment parenting, a phrase coined by Dr William Sears, denoting a style of child-rearing which includes breastfeeding and co-sleeping. Bialik breastfed her two sons, Miles, 15, and Fred, now 12, until they were toddlers. In February 2013, she blogged about Fred's self-weaning and called out those who doubted her choice to adopt extended breastfeeding.

She wrote, "Well, nay-sayers, prepare to be proven wrong. All of you snarky mamas who glared at me nursing my 3 1/2-year-old on the NYC subway, prepare to be amazed. And to all of my family and friends who wanted to chastise me about nursing a walking, talking, thinking, laughing little man named Fred, thanks for holding your tongues. Because we did it. Fred isn’t going to nurse on his way down the wedding aisle or at his high school graduation. I didn’t need to break him of a 'habit' and teach him 'who’s in charge'. I didn’t need to set boundaries you thought I should have set when I didn’t want to set them." According to Web MD, "Attachment parenting focuses on the nurturing connection that parents can develop with their children. That nurturing connection is viewed as the ideal way to raise secure, independent, and empathetic children."

Born on December 12, 1975, Mayim Chaya Bialik played the title character in the NBC sitcom 'Blossom' from 1991 to 1995. She later played the character of neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on the CBS sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory' from 2010 to 2019. For her role as Fowler, Bialik was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2015 and 2016. 

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