The baby show - was anyone there? Because.......

[Manictigger]

...I went to a mother and baby group yesterday and got chatting to the health visitor (she's the group breastfeeding expert) and she was saying how one of her colleagues went to the baby show at the weekend and listened to a talk by some woman who claimed to be able to get your baby to sleep through within 2 weeks. Colleague was absolutely horrified because said 'expert' (she can't remember her name) talked only about bottlefeeding and when someone actually asked what you do if you're bf she dismissed it with oh just give them a very large feed last thing at night or feed them some porridge. Anyway, colleague wanted to stand up and argue with her but felt too scared too because she would have had to use a microphone in front of a whole crowd of people etc. Both HVs are actually quite angry about it.

Anyway, was anyone there and did they see it, are people allowed to promote bottlefeeding indirectly in this way and who was the 'expert'? Apparently she's supposed to be getting her own C4 show soon. If it's SHMN... just someone say yes and we can all quietly retreat...

roseylea, that's lovely. Although it was so tiring I too remember some really special moments in the middle of the night.

ok here's mine
"I am outraged to hear that C4 is airing a show by this childless childcare guru, who recommends flouting every government/WHO guideline on bringing up a baby. This includes weaning at 17 weeks, sleeping in own room from day 1, no CUDDLES, no breastfeeding etc. PLEASE be responsible and be aware of the impact of this programme on mums & dads / mums & dads to be. These government guidelines are in place to reduce cot death, allergies from early weaning not to mention emotional problems from an absence of love and affection as a newborn. I urge you to rethink your decision to show this programme and if you do, to ensure the government guidelines are shown and explained clearly with adequate airtime."

who has bounty's details? do they sponsor the baby show?

ah you see I promised my dh I wouldn't go getting myself into any libellous disputes with any more baby "gurus"
so I shall confine myself to saying:
I really strongly disagree with this lady.
goodness me, do I disagree with her.
and I am NOT struggling, I am bleeding tip tip thanks very much

amidaiwish - it says on the baby show website that the Claire Verity talk was 'in association with Bounty'. I'll see if I can get a link to them for us to write to.

about not giving baby cuddles. It is actually quite scary that these people can carry on with what they are doing, it really should be illegal - it is child abuse.

flipping 'eck
even SWMNBN agrees with us....

"We've had a number of requests for Gina's comments on an article in the Sun Newspaper, regarding the advice of a celebrity maternity nurse, who claims that babies can fit into a 4 hourly feeding- and sleeping schedule from day one. Gina is not familiar with Claire Verity and cannot comment personally about her methods. However, what she would like to stress is: from her own experience, to establish successful breastfeeding, a baby should be put to the breast little and often in the early days. In her book, the Contented Little Baby Book, Gina does not recommend 4 hour feeding until a baby is nearer 3 months old. Trying to implement a strict 4 hour feeding routine with a newborn baby, not only hinders the chance of a mother establishing a good milk supply but can be positively dangerous to some babies. Gina implores parents not to put their babies lives at risk by trying to force the baby to go from 11pm-7am at such an early age."

This is the Bounty website. There's a link to 'forums' from the front page and a 'contact bounty' option there, though you might have to register to be able to use it I think. Don't fancy getting on their mailing list particularly, having fended off their mounds of sh**e so far.

when SWMNBN agrees with us it's a sign of the appocolypse, right?

amidawish - where's that Gina quote from?

Just to be fair to Channel 4, I have looked up the pre-publicity for "Bringing Up Baby" and it doesn't seem to be a platform for Claire Verity. Rather the pre-publicity suggests it is taking a critical look at many different methods of child-rearing.

The website says: "Bringing Up Baby combines living-history techniques with fascinating archive footage and the personal testimonies of both parents and professionals to chart the changing fashions and attitudes of the last century, while addressing some age-old questions about how to raise our children and whether, in the end, it's not the expert, but mother who really knows best"

here is a link to the production company website which gives more information

Looks like it's from her website, tiktok. Same sort of wording. Although I shan't give them the traffic to check

That's interesting MissG. Hopefully it means the series will be at least a bit balanced. Presumably Claire Verity is appearing as a professional - so it will very much depend on how her advice is presented.

"little and often"??

Thanks, snaf.

MissG: you are right about the TV programme. NCT were contacted about a year ago and we were asked to help out by scouting for parents, and the plea went out on email. But on further investigation, NCT declined to co-operate because it became clear the production company were planning on getting parents to experiment from birth with methods of child-rearing that were known to be harmful.

I don't know if the brief has changed since then, but I do know it wasn't only NCT that were horrified at the idea of putting babies and parents through this.

It may well be that Claire Verity was appointed as an adviser to the programme and she may still be on their 'panel'....she is certainly milking the publicity for it.

It will be no accident she appeared in The Sun yesterday - she's clearly got a PR agency working for her (hence the airbrushed photos) and we should expect her to pop up elsewhere, too.

When she does, we will be watching her, though.

If her PRs are any good, they will have spotted this thread by now.

Mmm, you are right tiktok and in their eyes, publicity is publicity. She knows she is being controversial and so they will be expecting this type of reaction and watching these threads with interest.

That's interesting that they approached the NCT Tiktok. Do you know if they asked anyone from the NCT to be an "expert" on the panel? At least they would provide a critique of her methods.

I don't agree with these programmes that encourage families to "experiment" with their children live on TV, even the ones that advocate more responsible methods, but I thought everyone would be relieved to hear that at least it won't be an uninterrupted hour of Ms Verity's views...

MissG, you asked: 'Do you know if they asked anyone from the NCT to be an "expert" on the panel? '

You mean approached direct?

The answer is 'yes'

;)

That person, BTW, told them where to go.

just emailed my complaint to channel 4

i would be well up for a trip to the Baby Show. i read the Sun article yesterday and was

this woman is dangerous. she must be stopped!!!

Oh hell. I am really doing this new born thing wrong. Not only am I currently breastfeeding (only an hour and a half since the last time) and therefore cuddling my son, I am also (and at the same time) cuddling my dog (well, he is snuggled up next to us).

I fear I am spoiling them both.

Gina's comments from

contented baby website

have emailed C4 and commented on the Sun website.

in all seriousness, i would be up for going to the Baby Show in October, always assuming she's not been totally discredited by then. if there is an organised type thing, please could someone CAT me with the details? TIA

While the programme actually sounds potentially interesting ... who on EARTH volunteers for these things? I can understand doing Supernanny or whatever, if you're having problems (oh yes, I can understand that ...) but as MissG says, to effectively experiment with your child's first six months? Knowing that the intention is to see which methods 'work', whether they produce a happy or unhappy baby?? I felt the same about that one with the teenage couples, I caught the one episode where people left their babies to be looked after by these couples ... why would you do that?