Tiktok - credentials

[Lizum]

Hi Tiktok

You seem to give really good advice on this forum but I was wondering what your credentials were. There's nothing on your profile page and I'd like to be sure.

What matters for me is that Tiktok is giving good advice (and free, unlike that fraudulent mckeith woman). And the test of this is not any bits of paper she may have but the fact she has huge respect on Mumsnet.

I dunno, I don't think that professional qualifications are worth that much in the breastfeeding field. I have had awful advice from a wide range of qualified breastfeeding people.

I don't think that Lizum was being rude and I'm reasonably sure that Tiktok is more than capable of stating who and what she is.

Tiktok never fails to provide research based evidence whenever asked.

If you want personal references Lizum (said tongue in cheek btw) I'd like to be one of the first to say that Tiktok and her advice is spot on time and time again. I have my very own bfing guru who is a top lactation consultant and Tiktok never says anything different to my guru!

(Is saying Tiktok rocks a step too far do you think?)

my DH is a chartered engineer and has no knowledge or experience of energy issues, so how can I know that you have?

how can i know that you have not used someone else's real name?

there was a thread a couple of years back when the opposite happened, someone giving baaaaad BF advice, when challenged, said she had a whole list of credentials and could and would prove them to MNHQ... and it all went tits (ha!) up! someone can have all the credentials they like, but can still be wrong

if someone gives consistently good advice, then who cares what bits of paper they have. although i know tiktok is super qualified to do what she does

If MN were PAYING her to give advice, or if they were in any way endorsing her, then that would be another matter.

I don't have any breastfeeding bits of paper really. I've done it for 5 years (3 kids), and I've done a few courses (mainly peer support), but thats it.

I don't want anyone to feel that they can't post on the breastfeeding boards because they haven't got "credentials".

At the end of the day, if you think she is suggesting something sensible, try it out, if not, don't, like any other poster.

Perfectly reasonable for the OP to ask for credentials.
There is a lot of advice given on here and at the end of the day you don't know who is posting or where they get their information from.
Very sensible to ask

but people could lie about their credentials.. so it almost makes no difference, i thikn the proof of the pudding is in the advice given

consistent, good , correct advice backed up where necesary with good links to research speaks for itself

good idea lulu, good idea...

yes agree reading more of tiktoks posts from archive would give all validation neccessry imo.

and i have to say the energy ethicl blah is all a bit 'worthy' imo [sad suspish mind]

But the other thing is that a lot of posters give consistently good advice on the bfding forum, without any overt bitsofpaper credentials at all. Franny springs to mind.

MN is about parents supporting each other mainly based on experience.

I have given benefits/housing/employment legal advice in the past. I don't mind giving my credentials, but really, its not my credentials that make the advice correct, its the fact that I know what I am talking about. If someone had the slightest concern that what I was saying were not true I'd want them to check with a RL person. Me posting Fillyjonk CPE etc etc on my profile-how would THAT matter? I could be lying!

Nappies - my energy posts are based on scientific principles such as the laws of thermodynamics. Have a look on the board. It's not what some people see as wishywashy climate change stuff. It's based on 1 + 1 = 2 type information.

I don't think tiktok will mind - she regularly mentions her status to back up where her comments are coming from iyswim. Yes, she could be lying, but all her facts should be available from other sources - NHS, NCT etc, it's just that she targets it to the person having a specific problem. She also errs on the side of caution and never diagnoses over the internet
However, I get the impression she is quite a private person and am worried that potential fallout from this sort of thread may put her off MN.

I am one of those wise woman types who try to be helpful on the bf posts - I've fed three babies, got over lots of bf problems myself, and advised quite a few friends successfully. I've also read reasonably widely on the topic and attended a bit of NCT training, albeit a while back.

I think it's up to mums what advice they listen to, but I am always surprised how sensible all the advice is on the threads. Generally people refer on to the m/w, GP, HV or NCT helpline if they're unsure in any way.

Why on earth is it offensive to ask for someone's credentials? Surely someone who has a qualification, like tiktok, will be more than happy to say why she knows so much?

I agree with Lulumama.

I think the only way of knowing if the advice is any good or not, is by looking at the advice given, not the person giving it.

Its great that people post advice on here, but they arent being paid, and so I dont see why people should offer their professional credentials.
Also there are inherent difficulties with offering advice in an internet forum, with the limited amount of information that can be conveyed in any post, and I personally think that all advice offered should be judged on its own merits, rather than any qualifications the individual concerned seems to have.

Just as an example, in my opinion both tiktok and flowery both seem to offer excellent advice (though obv in different areas!). I dont think it really matters what thier day jobs or qualifications are, I feel the quality of the advice on here speaks for itself.

On the other hand there are some people who post on here claiming professional status who seem to have no clue what they are talking about. I dont really care what their qualifications are if the advice given is transparently dodgy.

Ouch. Nicely burnt after all that flaming. Can we now wait to see what Tiktok says?

AFAIK Tiktok has been straightforward about providing her credentials on other threads - I don't think she would mind. She does sometimes correct people who are "Qualified by Experience", presumably because she has had some training - I don't think its rude to ask what this is.

Maybe she's got better things to do this evening than prove her worthiness to provide you with free advice out of the kindness of her heart.

When it comes to something like breastfeeding or childbirth, I'd rather be counselled or delivered by someone who had done it 1000 times without one single qualification than someone who had every bit of paper going but actually knew fuck all from experience. But that's just me.

Just to say that I have seen some rather dodgy bf advice on this site. But never from Tiktok. Though I can understand that a newcomer might find it hard to distinguish who is who in the beginning, maybe hence the question.

Tiktok, my DD has just turned one and we are still bf and would have given up in month 1 if it weren't for you.

Is that enough of a credential for you OP?

Some advice about Bfing works for some but not for others. That doesn't make the advice that didn't work for you personally rubbish.

When I first started BFing DS one of the midwives on the maternity ward suggested I tried the "rugby ball" hold - didn't work at all for me.

Was she talking shit? Of course not. My mum fed me like that for 6 months, could never get to grips with the more conventional across lap hold. It's horses for courses.