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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

^^Extraordinary breastfeeding - tonight on C4 ^^

843 replies

harpsichordcarrier · 01/02/2006 17:27

new thread for RTKM

OP posts:
nanneh · 02/02/2006 16:43

bugsy2 - I think you are right. The voiceover said that the Spanish woman had worked for a development agency in China, so I bet she was well aware of the fact that milk feeding is a good way to bond with an adopted child.

Of course, as a breastfeeder I can see why she would prefer to breasfeed the girl rather than bottle feed her as her first choice.

Aloha · 02/02/2006 16:48

Agree with Blu about putting only negative views from members of the public. That's bound to put some shy and nervous women off, I'm sure. And so wrong. Not everyone hates to see breastfeeding! In over two years of breastfeeding I've had one very mild negative comment from a silly old woman, and it wasn't even to me, but said to her friend/mother loud enough for me to 'overhear'. Other that than, only niceness and offers of chairs and having my coffee brought to my table. But that isn't exciting telly either.

mckenzie · 02/02/2006 16:50

as someone who only bf her first child for a few months and her second child for about 2 weeks, I thought that the overall message was positive. It's certainly made me wish that I had tried harder with my second child to continue when it got tough and if, god forbid, I ever do have another baby I will want to bf for longer.

bundy · 02/02/2006 16:53

she didn't give the breast-shaped bottle "in the end", she was giving her formula (it said in the commentary "which she knew she liked") and it was being used as a transition object to help her get to the breast. i assume she didn't succeed, as they didn't come back to her..

Steppy1 · 02/02/2006 17:03

..what a response this created from the group that I made friends with when we were all pregnant. We all thought that Little Angels gave a real thumbs up to b/feeding/, the mum with twins very realistic of the not so rosy aspect when you try to wean a baby off the boob (whatever their age I think !) and the mums with older children a little bizarre (the Italian lady less so than the women feeding her 7 year old). I'm all for choice and all that but can't believe that feeding a 7 year old is right...wasn't sure if the girls went to school presumed that if they did they would get serious stick from their friends at school...overall thought it would have been nice to focus on the Little angels bit and the twins as I felt it created a much better image for breast feeding in general...think lots will be put off by the "extremes" that were presented.........

nanneh · 02/02/2006 17:39

bundy - it is very difficult to get a bottlefed baby back to the boob. A baby fed bottles of formula all the time will end up rejecting the boob, so I would think a toddler who has NEVER been breastfed find the idea of a breast as food very strange indeed !

Blu · 02/02/2006 18:04

Why DID that woman just go cold turkey like that? I would have gradually cut down, by distraction during the day, even leaving them with dad at the times they liked to feed, cut down to morning and night, etc. it seemed v brutal, and, therefore, a lot more traumatic and off-putting to anyone thinking about extending til 2. I was till feeding DS unti just before he was 2, but cut down gradually, and then made a strategy for cutting out mornings (DP whisking him downstairs before he had fully woken and distracting with treats and excitement) and then cut out nights - by leaving DP to put him to bed while I went out with freinds.

No stress or upset at all!

ruty · 02/02/2006 18:07

went to bed straight after programme last night.enjoyed reading thread today tho. Wow bonbon, wish my first posts had been as erudite and funny as yours! says it all really. I didn't warm to the 8 year old's character, as tiktok said, and felt a bit uncomfortable watching her breastfeed. But its the family's business and there is no reason to suspect she'll grow up more or less balanced than anyone else. The best thing i've learned from all this is on here, that breastmilk doesn't rot the teeth! seeing as ds likes to feed several times at night this is really good news!

ruty · 02/02/2006 18:09

yes blu i wondered about that. not really necessary to go cold turkey, surely. Suggested for TV perhaps?

nanneh · 02/02/2006 18:11

ruty - re. teeth go to kellymom.com - fascinating studies re. breastmilk and teeth. I was surprised to find out how many women at my LLL meetings thought (wrongly) that BM at night damages teeth...

JoolsToo · 02/02/2006 18:11

lody - aren't you bored yet?

JoolsToo · 02/02/2006 18:12

lordy!!!

ruty · 02/02/2006 18:12

thanks nanneh - i was`a bit worried about it, very pleased to hear about that!

Blu · 02/02/2006 18:13

No JoolsToo - it takes an extended breastfeeding thread to cover an extended breatsfeeding programme!

nanneh · 02/02/2006 18:14

JT - Nop, us breastfeeding loons... like duracell battery...can go on...and on...and on...and on...

bundy · 02/02/2006 18:15

yes, nanneh I know that. what I don't know is why she bothered.

nanneh · 02/02/2006 18:17

bundy - I thought it might have been to create a bond.

bundy · 02/02/2006 18:20

they looked like they were bonding fine, she responded very quickly to her cuddles and fell asleep in her arms when she'd only known her for a very short time so she obviously felt safe.

nanneh · 02/02/2006 18:32

well she even said one of the reasons she had fed her 4 year old for that long was to make sure she was still lactating and that the adopted child would get her milk too. She had been waiting for 3 years to adopt a child. Perahps she found it emotionally important to do something she had been waiting to do for 3 years.

I don't know, just trying to analyse it from her point of view.

bundle · 02/02/2006 18:33

I agree, emotionally important for her

ruty · 02/02/2006 18:42

she said she was hoping her milk would also benefit the child's health.

bundle · 02/02/2006 18:43

she could give her ebm then. this child had presumably never been breastfed if she was in an orphanage, so wouldn't know what it was all about. dd1 "tried" to bf when dd2 was born, when she was nearly 3 (curious more than anything) and hadn't a clue how to, even though she was bf till she was nearly 2.

ruty · 02/02/2006 18:45

she dis ebm a bit didn't she? maybe she continued with that. i didn't think she was pushy with the breast.

trice · 02/02/2006 19:05

I think the spanish lady felt some pressure to "perform" after dragging a film crew to china. I assume she was being paid as well. They may have felt slightly short changed if she had just offered a boob and then popped it away again when the little girl didn't know what to do with it.

I thought the twins dad was a bit hands off when we didn't see him getting up to them in the night but this could have just been the way it was filmed.

bundle · 02/02/2006 19:08

she expressed a tiny bit onto a spoon for her which she did drink, but i think the nipple-shaped bottle was formula. you're right, she wasn't pushy but there were 3 years' worth of expectations and I think she felt a bit sad about that bit. she seemed a very loving person.

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