--- description: TIME examined the topic back in 2012 title: Breast-Feeding Babies Is Good for Them, Study Agrees With Dr. Sears image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt291e5ebe8311d042/69878412e20a877e0aa859fb/1101120521_600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [health](/tag/health/) ## health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Study Shows Benefits of Breast-Feeding as Popularity Continues to Rise  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 18, 2015 2:45 PM CUT  The May 21, 2012, cover of TIME The May 21, 2012, cover of TIMECover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN SCHOELLER FOR TIME  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 18, 2015 2:45 PM CUT Word that a [new study](http://time.com/3748600/breastfeeding-intelligence-wealth-study-research-health/ "undefined") has found that children who were breast-fed for longer ended up smarter and richer will be welcome among one group of mothers in particular, those who practice the “attachment parenting” style that supports a longer-than-average time before weaning. (The study looked at babies who were breast-fed for at least a year, versus those who did for less than a month; some attachment-parenting adherents breast-feed their children for far longer.) Those mothers — and the man who introduced the world to attachment parenting, Dr. Bill Sears — were the subject of a 2012 TIME story which, controversially, ran with a cover image of [real-life mom Jamie Lynne Grumet](http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/10/q-a-with-jamie-lynne-grumet/ "undefined") breast-feeding her 3-year-old son. And, as the story explained, even as some criticized Sears and his ideas, at least one of his pieces of advice seemed to be permeating society: breast-feeding was more common than it had been in decades. As TIME’s Kate Pickert put it: --- > “” --- According to a 2014 CDC [report](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014breastfeedingreportcard.pdf "undefined"), about a quarter of U.S. babies were still breastfeeding (though not necessarily exclusively) at 1 year. **_Read the rest of the story, here in the TIME archives:_** [The Man Who Remade Motherhood](http://time.com/606/the-man-who-remade-motherhood/ "undefined") ### See the Funniest and Weirdest Baby Photos  Shot for TIME, 2015 Evan Kafka for TIME  Shot for TIME, 2015 Photo-illustration by Evan Kafka for TIME  Shot for TIME, 2015 Photo-illustration by Evan Kafka for TIME  Shot for TIME, 2015 Photo-illustration by Evan Kafka for TIME  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Shot for Huggies, 2011 Evan Kafka  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Personal work, 2009 Photo-illustration by Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Personal work, 2011 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3748848/breastfeeding-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3748848/breastfeeding-study/"},"headline":"Study Shows Benefits of Breast-Feeding as Popularity Continues to Rise","datePublished":"2015-03-18T14:45:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:01.055Z","description":"A look back at TIME's 'Are you mom enough?' cover story, which charted the rise of attachment parenting","url":"https://time.com/3748848/breastfeeding-study/","keywords":["health","Parenting","Children","breastfeeding"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt291e5ebe8311d042/69878412e20a877e0aa859fb/1101120521_600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt291e5ebe8311d042/69878412e20a877e0aa859fb/1101120521_600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"May 21, 2012, cover of TIME","caption":"May 21, 2012, cover of TIME","creditText":"Cover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN SCHOELLER FOR TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health/","name":"health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3748848/breastfeeding-study/","name":"Study Shows Benefits of Breast-Feeding as Popularity Continues to Rise"}}]}] ```