More anti breast feeding in the press

[LAF77]

This makes my blood boil as it is filled with lies!

m.mirror.co.uk/article?id=1259599/

I think it's the identical position as forcing women to ONLY breastfeed, telling them all kinds of untruths about bottle feeding and how badly your child will grow up if you don't bottle feed. I read a leaflet about breastfeeding and not only was it misleading, but it was full to the brim with threats about bottle feeding.

Every single mother I know of has in essence, "starved" their child in the first 2 - 3 weeks of their lives and have subsequently felt like absolute failures because of the lie that you MUST only breastfeed.

I won't even go into the 4 year old sucking it's mothers breasts on the cover of the Time and the field day that that creates with oral fixations and Freudian cultures.

The truth of the matter is that it's a personal choice. I would only choose to breastfeed for 6 months. I would also not choose to have my baby rocked to sleep or carried around with me 100% of the time.

I do think it's "extreme parenting" as well. Some of the ideology that is spewed would put me off parenting if I didn't know any better.

What a strange article. Is this really written by the childcare "expert"? Or is it some random person with the same name?

I fail to see how letting a child breastfeed for as long as they want is irresponsible. Or how they'd see deciding when to stop breastfeeding as a burdensome and difficult decision.

And I don't understand how it's in any way equivalent to the child making decisions about nursery or bedtimes.

I wasn't quite clear on this point from the article, as the word 'formula' isn't mentioned anywhere, but if a child isn't fully weaned by 6 months, does she want parents to give them formula instead of breastmilk? If so, wouldn't the child then have to shoulder the burden of deciding when to stop drinking formula?

Also, according to the NHS teething webpage, some babies are born with their first teeth. Should the parents of these babies be weaning them as soon as they're born?

Sheesh OP, you're like, so extreme...

To an extent, I can see what you're saying Guru. I was shocked by some of the leaflets we were given at my nct breastfeeding session and think parents should choose to do whatever they think is best for their children.

Your thoughts about "oral fixations and Freudian cultures" and "extreme parenting" are a bit though. Again, it's each to their own isn't it?

i wish someone would have told DD 4 months and when you get teeth - she's 8 months, doesn't recognise food as food yet (so would starve without the BF - or moan and whinge without stopping!), and she's got 6 teeth (2 from 5 months)

What a fuckwit.

I wonder when she wrote that? It reads like something from the 1970's.
It's not even well written. I don't mind people -writing complete shit- having their opinions as long as they're eloquent.
This is just the usual blah blah, teeth, blah blah, iron, blah blah, with a bit of 'ooh did you see that lady on the cover of Time' thrown in.
Still, it filled a column or two.

I hated breastfeeding and am also a bit that all the literature to promote it seems to rely on maternal guilt, but even I know Miriam Stoppard's a twat.

This 'article' is completely inaccurate and contains prejudiced opinion masquerading as fact.

Please join me by filing a complaint with the press complaints commission stating Clause 1, Inaccuracy

*My guide is the appearance of teeth.

Nature arranges for them to erupt when a baby needs food that has to be chewed.*

Hahaha! DS got his first teeth at 12weeks, I didn't realise I should have read nature's cue and start him on solids.

I particularly like the opening statement

There?s no keener fan of ­breast-feeding than me

Yes. It is rather like "I'm not racist but..."

I am actually wondering if it was messed around with after she submitted it? But then she is a major parenting figure so I'd be surprised.

She wrote a really negative article on BF in the TAMBA (twins association) magazine a while back and I wrote to her. No answer. She was telling how she stopped her daughter-in-law from BFing her twin grand kids because she was so 'drained'. No mention of additional support, the nightmare of FFing twins v hard work of BFing (not easier just different, both bloody hard work). Imagine having Ms as MIL and being told to stop and ot supported. No chance!

I fear I'm about to have a similar 'discussion' with DM about feeding DS past six months.
When will people stop with the bf past 6 months = weird? What is weird about something so natural?!

I have a book that Miriam Stoppard wrote in the 80s about "love, life and sex" in your fifties it's golden stuff. Apparently your clitoris will shrivel up and die once you're over the hill. But don't worry! If you are still able to have orgasms, they will be extra strong and mindblowing-y.

It also has some great reasons to stop smoking, 80s style. I must check if there is a section on grandparenting...

she can fuck right off quite frankly. But thanks for my extreme parent label, I kinda like it 8)

I will make a complaint to the press commission too when I get on the computer cakes thanks for the link.

As a covert member of Al Boob-eda, exclusively breast feeding my not yet 5month old baby with 2 teeth, and planning to allow DS to self wean, I feel the need to wage war against the infidel Stoppard. (I may know you from another discussion group!)

LAF - yes, that phrase Al-boob-eda is familiar ;)

And to those who are unaware, Miriam Stoppard is a dermatologist, not a paedatrician and she is also in the pocket of Nestle, which I strongly suspect may be influencing her current stance on BF-ing

yes i saw that she is being funded by nestle and doing lots of work by them! what a suprise...

where can we complain, i will email, not bfeeding any more but it still annoys me to see such crap spouted as fact.

I have just joined the chorus and made a complaint to the pcc.

I agree such utter gibberish should not be printed as if its fact, especially given that when you have just had a baby your head is all over the place, swamped with different parenting theories and its very difficult to know what is best.
I thought we were past such ignorance (mostly)

Utter and total crap!

DD2 is probably at the very extreme end of extended BFing and gets if I say when she gave up.

However, the idea of me being an extreme parent in another way is totally laughable.

I hate slings, only ever co slept for bits of the night- fidgety babies are sent to their cots and food is far more likely to be Greg's sausage roll, McDonald's and fruit shots than organic woven lentils.

I shout, I dole out the odd slap and I call the little darlings naughty. Basically I muddle through like most parents.
It just happened that not fighting DD2 over BFing made muddling through easier for me, her, DH and her big sister FF (more muddling through) big sister.

Sorry if someone already pointed this out, but from the very first comment it seems the article was edited after it was published. The poster writes that Stoppard contradicts herself by saying 'the first front teeth are no good for chewing'. Maybe I misunderstood,or maybe the article was even more stupid originally.

Anyone have any idea where she gets the reference of the institute of child health advocating mixed feeding from 4 months?

I have a hard time believing that Great Ormond St would say such a thing.

My mother told me that a friend was given advice by a paediatrician to give babies formula before weaning to get them used to different tastes. I mean, WTF? There is some seriously bad advice out there.

By all means, if it is your choice to introduce formula to your baby, that's fine. It just seems that women who breast feed get the short end of the stick with a lot of bad information and prejudice against what we do.