Stupidest article about extended BF ever?

[EauRouge]

Here.

Warnings- DM link, idiot comments from a doctor (and possibly from readers once they get going). Get your bingo cards out, you'll need them.

Ignorant comments from lay people are enough without an actual doctor spouting loads of bullshit.

Stupid ignorant woman. But will make fuck all difference to me as I'll nurse as cosleep for as long as my babies want. Her opinion means diddly shit to me.

She had a link on her FB page to the article with 31 negatives comments below it. Then suddenly it all disappeared...

I can't find her Facebook page

here

I'm so crap at FB I coudln't work out how to post on her wall so had to send her a message.

Makes me so mad. I was one of the mums in the Times article yesterday and the journalists were very young but very keen to learn about full term breast feeding and to present us favourably. I know it's the DM but it makes me so cross that this rubbish can be printed and that she is using her position as a doctor to promote her own anti-bf agenda.

Children have to be toilet trained and weaned and manage without their parents because they go to nursery at 3.

Really?

My DS isn't going to go to nursery.

So presumably that means he doesn't need to be toilet trained or weaned or able to manage without his parents.

Like tiktok says, there's no reason why bf'ing has any effect on nursery.

After all, many babies under a year (or even 6 months) go to nursery and are bf or mixed fed. And they need to feed much more often than a toddler.

TheHouseofMirth, I came on here because I just read the article. I loved the photos - really, really nice (just a shame about them choosing CBC as one of the 'experts' and the Times doctor being negative).

The Times article, I mean. Good for you for taking part. :)

what times article houseofmirth?

Both my children started ft nursery at 9 months, didn't mean I couldn't breastfeed anymore. Why should it?

I can't even bring myself to follow all the links. DD likes it. I like it. It is natural. It is one of many great parenting tools. It is good for her. It is not hurting or inconveniencing anyone.

I hate the fact that whether we do or don't should matter to anyone else.

I so agree with the your body, your baby, your choice post.
....As its in the dm, will they wheel out out samantha brick for a view ?

Gawd what a bloody depressing article. I hate the narcissist thing with a vengeance but the sexual confusion bit is even worse. And so stupid. Should I stop cuddling my dcs then, in case they get sexually confused? I have yet to meet a mother who feeds a child for her "own needs", I imagine most longer term bfers are much like me, their child wants to carry on, and they don't mind enough either way to make them stop. I would have been quite happy for dd to stop at 2, or three, but she wanted to continue her bedtime feed and her waking up feed and I couldn't see any good reason to make her give up.

houseofmirth - I loved that article. Well, apart from the 'expert' and the GP. Can't link fully because of the firewall, so will quote excerpts of Clare Byam Cook:

"If mothers wish to breastfeed for three years that?s their choice, but it is worth noting that breast milk after a year is likely to be little better for a child than milk from the fridge, and could be lacking in vital nutrients if a mother has a poor diet.

The length of time it is essential to breastfeed depends largely on what part of the world you live in. ..in Britain, if you can manage it for six weeks then you will have seen your baby through the vulnerable early stages before their own immune system starts working.

To say that bottle-fed babies will always be less happy, less bonded and less healthy is just not true...I would be amazed if there was any conclusive evidence to show that breast-fed babies love their mothers more than bottle fed babies do."

So how many dodgy myths in one press comment. That milk quality is directly related to diet? That breastfeeding is really for poor countries . That people who support breastfeeding make ridiculous comments like breastfed babies loving their mothers more? She also throws in a comment about how "many" women can't breastfeed (not many women can't because of poor support. But many women 'simply can't').

Dr Mark Porter came out with:

"Breastfeeding an older child outside your home is often frowned upon, making it technically difficult. It is demanding: sharing the feeds is often impossible, impacting on everything from a decent night?s sleep to the likelihood of returning to a demanding job. And it can be physically draining, consuming up to 500 calories a day, depending on the child.

But it is the nutritional consequences that are all too often forgotten. Breast milk may exceed younger babies? requirements, but it is not so well matched to toddlers? needs and can accentuate common problems such as vitamin D and iron deficiency, hindering growth and development."

Yes, extended breastfeeders have problems returning to work. Bet you never knew that .

The mother's stories and photos were lovely. It is just such a shame that, in the name of 'balance' they took two 'experts' who clearly had such a negative line. Fine, have one of these, but why not also an expert from LLL or somewhere too?

Dr Mark Porter's quote on nutrition has made me a bit Is he saying that after a certain age humans start needing cow's milk in place of milk from their own species? Or is he assuming that mothers are just giving their children breastmilk instead of food?!?! I really don't get his point?

maybe he means kids will fill up on breast milk and eat less of their meals?

no expert and i've nothing against ebf at all but older children need a healthy diet - maybe he meant a child over 3/4 may be filling up on breast milk and miss out on nutrients he needs from solid food (if it affects appetite). From normal experience i never gave dds any milk around meal times from age 3 as they'd have never have eaten their meals. Milk at morning/bed etc never interfered but at certain times of the day it does for sure - maybe thats what he meant?

Another depressing article.
Sometimes I think medics should not be asked, or answer, any questions on normal child development/feeding/behaviour, unless they have a particular knowledge in this area. The reality is that they are trained in stuff that goes wrong, and appear to know feck all about else. They should acknowledge this fact.

Further evidence (if it was needed), that we should not medicalise childhood.
And be wary who you ask for advice.

As a postgrad Biologist I used to assist with first year medics lab. classes.

They were frequently a bit dim.

I assumed that 5 years of med. school would teach them some sense, but clearly it doesn't always work

bloody awful article. :(

looking forward to my MIL mentioning this as she's a DM reader. I'll have to ask her if she thinks DS1 is disturbed by being fed till about 2.

i wish i was still feeding him at 2.8 as I'd be happy he was getting extra nutrition, compared to his sometimes fussy toddler diet whims.

she's already commented on how "tying" bf on demand must be and how you can't get anything done. where i was going to bugger off to without newborn DS2 i have no idea.

Clare Byam-Cook is hopeless. why does she bother 'helping' bf mums if it's so pointless after 6 weeks? where does she get the idea their immune system is developed by then? grr.

Well anyone who has visited their GP for bf support generally knows they are the best source of knowledge.

If in my profession (which I returned to despite ExBf & will go back to again this year despite tandem feeding) if I wrote a piece that was littered with inaccuracies like this I could reported to my professional body.

At the very least, My reputation would be damaged.

And that's what annoys me about the CB-C article, there is no one to complain to about her because she isn't affiliated with any bf organisation. She just invents her own claptrap and gets paid for it. I would not be surprised if it came out that she was on a formula company's payroll.

I agree with HazChem the article is bad for bf and ff mothers.

Well I buggered that up.

GPs are not the best source of bf advice

Clare bloody BuyMy-Book drives me nuts. Does she actually like women breastfeeding at all? She seems to be doing her best to sabotage it.

I suppose the media interviews people who are most likely to say something stupid controversial.

What saddens me most about this article is that because a Doctor has written it, people will automatically assume it is fact. I can't even begint o put into words how I feel about her comments, except to say I am gobsmacked.

I did notice the post on her Facebook page with alink to this article has been removed. I wonder if that was due to a large amount fo negative comments? It says a huge amount that anyone would practice that sort of censorship...

sunny, until I got pg when DS was about 2.1 y.o. he had lots of BM - more than any other toddler I know IRL and more than almost all I know of online. Judging by the change in his food intake once my milk changed to 'weaning milk' and he became less keen, BM formed 10-25% of his nutritional intake.

I bet there aren't many 3 or 4 year olds who have so much BM that it prevents them from eating solid food, unless they have serious health problems.

I laughed at how bf is 'draining' because it can require up to 500 extra calories a day. Yes, I find it really draining being able to eat cake and chocolate without having to worry about my weight in the way I would if I weren't bf'ing.