ABSTRACT
This chapter emerges from a research project involving networks of mothers – in London and Paris – who breastfeed their children to ‘full term’. Typically, this would be up to the age of three or four, though ranged, in this case, between one and eight years old. As part of a philosophy of what is called ‘attachment’ parenting, other typical practices amongst this sample of mothers include breast-feeding ‘on-cue’, bed-sharing and ‘baby-wearing’. The endorsement of ‘full-term’ breastfeeding provides a case-study by which to explore the recent ‘intensification’ of mothering. This is a trend identified by a range of scholars writing about parenting in contemporary Euro-American contexts (Douglas and Michaels 2004; Furedi 2002; Hays 1996; Lee 2007a, 2007b; Lee and Bristow 2009; Warner 2006), as well as beyond (this volume).
