Just when thought we found a breastfeeding star.

[kkdmom]

ho-hum.

It's a shame that she made some of those comments, but on the plus side she did BF for 6 months and didn't spiral into some craxy diet to lose the weight.

Message withdrawn

Well that's just silly, she would have stopped leaking anyway about that point. What a shame. But hey, at least she had a go which is better than most people.

She said: "I breastfed for six months. That is the national guidelines and that's what I felt comfortable with, to be honest."

Thanks for that, Charl. Couldn't've just kept your trap shut, could you?

why two threads ?

I'd like to see that in context before condemning her.
worth asking the breastfeeding organisation she represents to clarify perhaps?

plus if ruby is 9 mths old and charl is 3 mths pregnant?
maybe more to it.

I'm not condemning her - i think she's done really well to get to 9 months. I just wish she han't implied a) That all women leak constantly and b) that bf-ing past 6 months is weird and unnecessary.

I Am Not Condemning Her.

I just don't think she's doing bf-ing any favours by making it seem "normal" to stop at 6 months.

Oh FGS. So no comments from anyone at all unless they all agree that breastfeeding is completely fantastic and desirable until what, age two? three? Leave the poor girl alone. I feel weird breastfeeding my eight month year old, and I think I should be allowed to say that. So I will. I feel weird breastfeeding my eight month year old. And I still leak. And I think 6 mths is totally okay to stop at.

"And I think 6 mths is totally okay to stop at"

Bet the vast majority babies wouldn't vote to stop being fed fresh milk at six months......

She didn't have to say anything!!! She'd a;ready done a brilliant job to make it seem normal to breastfeed at all! So why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut rather than quoting incorrect information about leaking and stopping at 6 months.

Just to reiterate - I am not having a go at anyone who wants to stop at 6 months, 7 months, 8 months or 8 years! I just feel disappointed that a public figure like Charlotte Church couldn't work out the damage she'd be doing by saying what she said (the leaking and the stopping at 6 months - just in case anyone's in any doubt there)

I shouldn't imagine the bf-ing group she advocates on behalf of (don't know who that is - NCT?) are very happy with it either.

I do wonder if she's been misquoted though - I did think that Charlotte was an intelligent girl, so surely she must have known what impact her comments would have?

But it's not untrue- i still leak, and wear breastpads every day and the baby is 7 mths old. As my others all weaned themselves off breastmilk around 7 mths, I think, Sabire, that maybe (if they could vote, let's play your game) they would vote to stop being breastfed. Mine actually did.

I think 'amom's comments below the 'article' (used in the loosest sense of the world) are the least helpful there tbh. Calling her little girl - talking about a MINIMUM of 2 years. If she'd been less aggressive she may have been more effective at promoting breastfeeding.

Stroppyknickers - i am sorry, but it is extremely rare that a child would wean itself off the breast at 7 months. It was more likely to be nursing strike - v common at that age IME. Did you ever get any proper support with it?

It's not a balanced view hatrick. Most women don't leak past 6 months (cue stampede of leaky MNers!)

And I don't think that having such a negative impression of bf-ing - from someone who was previously so supportive of bf-ing - does "us" any favours at all as it makes people more likely to think that she knows what she's talking about.

Even if we ignore the leakiness - the guidelines stuff is still utter rot, and makes it seem "Weird" for anyone who wishes to continue past 6 months!

And I'm sorry, but I stand by my comments that it is extremely rare for a baby of under 12 months to self-wean - although of course more common during pregnancy. Most infants - given the chance - will start nursing again once the mature milk comes in (assuming they haven't lost their ability to nurse)

sorry about 2 threads. just saw that. MN was playing silly buggers at stupid o'clock. it wasn't loading properly and v. v. sllooowly.

I'm not saying it is inaccurate, hatrick.

I'm saying it is unusual, and I'm saying for every woman who never used a breast pad in her life there's another one who leaked all over the place.

It's about balance, i think. Putting the reality of breastfeeding out there rather than all negative or all positive. I still think that she was spouting utter garbage about the guidelines and should be called up on that by one of the bf-ing organisations - but I bet she won't be!

Hatrick - i think you and i are saying the same thing here. I don't want an unrealistic view of bf-ing out there. I want clear, concise realistic viewpoints. Which is what Charl was doing. I think it would have been better if she'd kept her mouth shut, that's all. She'd already done a wonderful job advocating and normalising bf-ing for a younger generation.

personally I think it's nice to see people being positive about bfing while still being honest. If we insist on painting it as the best thing that ever happened to a woman then women are surprised when it's hard and sometimes unpleasant and they feel unprepared and somewhat let down by the parts of the bf community who are telling them that it's always wonderful.

I've always said I would have liked more honesty about bfing - it would have helped me when it was hard.

We're all grownups. Let's talk frankly about bf. I think that's what Charlotte was doing. She obviously was leaking (I did too) so wasn't "incorrect" on that. That was her experience.

Seeing as we are in the realm of personal anecdote, I'll add mine. My daughter did self-wean at 11 months. Having been an avid feeder, she had no further interest. She walked early and wanted to be eating dippy egg and soldiers in a high chair and roar around chasing the cat. I struggled on trying to feed her at bedtime until she started stealing her brother's milk cup and trying to climb into her cot. So it isn't true of everyone. And all this 'feeding strike' and 'mature milk' business strikes me as over-theorising something that happens for some people and not others.

But what really bothers me here is CC being slated for telling the truth about her experience of breastfeeding. Part of the problem with the breastfeeding lobby, it seems to me, is that all views must be relentlessly positive, and any that are not are a threat to breastfeeding rates. I would have though that the opposite was true. Apart for a very few lucky people, breastfeeding is not a wholly positive experience. It can be a fabulous, intimate, powerful thing. It can be easy and convenient. It can also be painful, tiring, restrictive and utterly utterly boring. I think we do women a terrible disservice is we don't admit that. I'm sure that sense of disappointment is what stops some women feeding when they hit a problem - that all the propaganda depicts it as natural and normal, with little mention of the difficulties and also the way it can drain your sense of self. Being told repeatedly that it is best for your baby does not help when at 6 months you are still marooned on a sofa for hours a day trapped under a hungry baby while your toddler wails for attention. Acknowledging that it is a different experience for everyone (and for many people, something you just get through because you know you are doing good) would help, surely? So let all those of us with different experiences have our own view, including Charlotte Church.

(FWIW I breastfed both my kids exclusively for 5 months, then my first until the age of 15 months and my second until 11 months. But I don't feel the need to tell people that I enjoyed every minute of it when it isn't true).

lululemonrefuser, my DD was the same. Once there was solid food in her world, she wanted to be up and at it .

She pretty much self-weaned at 9 months. I was thinking I would carry on but actually she was totally not bothered and after a while it became a bit of a charade.

This obviously varies from child to child but it's obviously also not uncommon.

And I'm in full agreement on the honesty. We really don't always have to have the same opinion, view, experience.