Did anyone else feel rage at Karen Millen's comments on breastfeeding?

[Hoooray]

According to Karen Millen (who is, notably, a clothing designer and not a child development expert), breastfeeding beyond six months has no benefit for the child, is selfish, and is a sign of addiction.

You're not allowed to get it right as a mother, are you? Bad if you don't breastfeed but also bad if you breastfeed for too long, apparently.

God knows why Karen Millen was being asked for her opinion on the subject in the first place 🙄

Just a bizarre thing to judge others about and even more bizarre to actually say out loud. And what does she think happens at precisely 6 months that changes it from reasonable and ok to "an addiction"?

Well like pp pointed out before, it’s only the stupid people and poorly educated ones(their words) that are listening to him.

Who are making all these negative comments around breastfeeding mothers? Ah, other women? Women are clearly the issue here then.

Well said OP, brava 😇

Whose saying she isn't allowed? She hasn't been arrested.

Also - I'm not asking her to fly my flag. I don't care what her opinion on feeding her own kids is. I do object to her stating 'facts' which are, quite simply, completely untrue. We live in an age of misinformation - there is nothing wrong with challenging people when they say untrue things, particularly when they have for some reason been granted a large audience for their untrue statements.

WHO and every IBCLC have said otherwise 2 years and beyound are the words used by experts.
She sounds salty. Usually I find the negative towards me BF DC befoynd 6 months are those who formula fed or had to stop early for some reason. My own DM stopped at 3 months and she constantly puts me downs about BF my 1st DC until 18 months and now my 2nd DC now 10months no plans to stop until closer to 18months. She hates the fact that back then the Drs and HV all said Formula was better then BF. She is full of regret and so I know when she attacks me and make horrid comments it is from a place of guilt and jealousy.

I wonder if Karen Millen had her children when the advice was different. I do remember my mum telling me that breast feeding wasn’t necessarily encouraged, they gave baby food (jars), and baby rusk biscuits in bottles to keep us full.

Regardless who is right to judge anyone on how they raise their children

It was just her opinion!

Don’t think anyone who plans to breastfeed beyond 6 months is going to be affected. They’re fairly robust!

Have you got the research on this? I always thought it was 6 months? DC2 didn't really eat anything until 1, they just weren't interested at all. DC1 ate all the food from 6 months and both have no allergies at all

no idea what point you think you're making here? Did you just want to say something shit about women for the sake of it?

That’s her opinion and that’s it. Not sure why she’s apologised, it’s not illegal to have an opinion on something.

Ugh, what a ridiculous statement.

It does make me wonder, when someone has to spout things like this publicly, what sort of chip they have on their shoulder.

Fair fucks to her if she didnt want to breastfeed past 6 months, but insinuating there's an issue with it is laughable.

I think this is true of my mother too. She isn't exactly hostile to me about breastfeeding but she's very quick to say I should just stop if I'm ever finding any aspect of it hard. She thinks I'm martyring myself for no real benefit, and therefore have only myself to blame when it's tough. She didn't breastfeed me and even though I've never said anything discouraging about formula (which I think is amazing and am very glad exists) she acts like the very fact of me breastfeeding is some kind of rebuke.

I’m sorry but why would someone be jealous of someone breastfeeding for 18 months 🤣You do you if it makes you happy but I couldn’t think of anything worse. I don’t give a fiddler’s fart about other people feed their babies, it’s very boring. I really don’t think most people have a problem with breastfeeding or are jealous- if you keep encountering attitude from others then maybe the problem is you.

I really do agree with her. If you are finding it hard and it’s clearly hard work and a bit miserable then why? I really wouldn’t have much patience when it came to listening to this after the first few weeks either. A rant once I could understand but from what you are writing it’s not a one-off. If someone is the architect of their own misery it’s hard to keep listening to them complaining no matter what the problem.

Look up Prof Gideon Lack's work - fascinating, he's a world leader in food allergies (based in the UK).

In the UK, like in a lot of Europe, it used to be that you introduced solids from 3/4 months. This is actually when most babies start showing interest in food by grabbing for food, doing 'chewing' motions etc.

There was then, around 2005/6 an introduction of later weaning, based on WHO data (which, remember, is because a lot of the developing world it's essential babies are BF due to water being contaminated so formula dangerous). This largely coincided with a significant increase in food allergies (again this is correlational but still).

/https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/document/eat-study-full-report.pdf

missionmightyme.com/blogs/news/why-early-allergen-introduction-is-one-of-the-most-important-things-you-can-do-for-your-baby-insights-from-best-selling-author-economist-emily-osters-podcast-interview-with-dr-gideon-lack?srsltid=AfmBOoq6GzYEI0Lv91SQqUhtln30SIUpO-xWePp-F6jJmeuTjIuUmJHJ

I’m 15 months into my bf journey and am constantly being asked “When are you going to stop” as if its anyone’s business. This clueless fool could have caused so much damage in the way society already views bf. It makes me so angry that she had a platform to spout such uninformed nonsense

Her "opinion" is ill-informed, based factually incorrect assumptions and damaging to public health. She's entitled not to be imprisoned for saying it, but she's not entitled to expect anything other than a huge backlash. She's apologised because it's in her best interests to.

Meh people are idiots who need to be ignored tbh. You can't reason with thick.

But extended breastfeeding gets on my tit ends. It's not extended breastfeeding, it's natural term breastfeeding. If people used the right terminology instead of worrying about the feelz of those who didn't or couldn't then it would make more sense.

This makes no sense to me because 6 month olds can’t have cows milk. So if you stop breastfeeding, you have to give formula. Which is fine, nothing wrong with that, but if you’re happy breastfeeding, formula would be an unnecessary expense. I would have found it really bizarre (given that I was happy breastfeeding) to switch DD1 to formula. To be clear, I’m not saying it’s bizarre to want to stop. I’m saying that if you’re happy to keep going, switching to formula because of an arbitrary 6 month deadline seems like an odd decision.
DD2 was combi fed, and once she hit 6 months I just carried on doing that. I didn’t feel like I had to stop the breastfeeding part and carry on with the formula.

Yes. I was surprised (and very disappointed) to discover that I didn't enjoy breastfeeding at all.
I found it claustrophobic and a bind. It was difficult and I got tired of my tits being out and having a baby clamped to them. I longed for freedom of movement and to be able to hand baby to dh for a feed.
I breastfed my first two but not the third because I honestly couldn't face it again.

I am definitely not jealous of mothers breastfeeding toddlers.

Eta: But respect their decision to do so. To each their own.

Oh, and mentally taking note to boycott her clothes now

God no, I save rage for something really major.

those kind of opinions are a good indicator that someone is a total arsehole and rather thick and uneducated

If you think people are so thick as to be influenced by some talking head on a tv show then you really don’t understand them. The reality is lots of people feel the same way she does- no one is right or wrong on the subject. Putting some three year old who looks like a schoolchild into the camera whilst she was talking doesn’t exactly bode for a balanced debate. Each to their own.