Daisy Goodwin - how much do you reckon she got paid to write this nasty drivel?

[fabsmum]

NCTgetsitintheneckagain

What a horrible, article to write in National Breastfeeding Awareness week.

And using the case of that suicidal woman in the US to have a pop at breastfeeding advocates in the UK.

I am speechless, there is so much wrong with that article. How can a newspaper print so much crap, virtually nothing said could be backed up with real fact, just full of her twisted sad opinion

I think that she has obviously written a one sided article, but it does reflect the negative experience that some people have had with bf counsellors (sorry, can't spell) and the NCT, plus the disapproving looks from some other mums when seen bottle feeding.

I now exclusively bf my DD and attended NCT bf classes before I had her, sadly they were quite a negative experience. The NCT lady made it very clear in a group bf workshop that if you ff you are 'damaging your baby' and she 'can't understand why you wouldn't feed your baby the proper way'.
I wanted my baby to learn from the start to take a bottle (for many reasons which I won't go into) and wanted to feed her ebm from a bottle once a day, she said 'no, you can't do that'.
Now, had she said 'well, you could try that but it isn't advised for x,y,z reasons' then that would have given me something to think about and come to my own decision, we are all adults after all.
I think she thought every baby should be bf and couldn't conceive of any reason why you would ff.

I'm not not posting to defend this article, because I think it is far too one sided, just to highlight that when it comes to bf, all articles/literature seems to be either very 'pro' or very 'con'. Maybe its time for a more balanced view??

exactly what moondog said

fuzzylittlesheep - that sounds like very dogmatic stuff from the bfc. Did you mention this in the feedback? Did she actually use the words 'damaging your baby'?

she really is fucked in the head, that woman. twittering about romantic poetry one minute, letting claur verity abuse kids the next, whinging about her mummy ishoos and now crapping on bfing... it's all in a day's work for rent-a-goodwin.

I knew there were reasons why I don't buy the DM, thought it was just the rascist, homophobic, kill all benefit scroungers crap.

Now I realise there are even more...

She has form as I'm sure other MNers remember:

women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article2602620.ece

I have to agree with Fuzzy.

I am a breast feeder, but there have been more times than I care to think about that I longed to give up. The reasons I didn't are many, but mostly because it was drummed into me by my ante natal classes (not NCT!) that to bottle feed was BAD and I would be a failure as a mother. I remember dreading feeding my daughter in the early weeks, and by 'early' I mean up until 8-10 weeks! Even after that when she wasn't putting on weight at an acceptable rate, I felt a failure and at this point the HV started to mention FF and I thought, but what has all this struggle been for then?

i hate to say it, but I got the article. Breastfeeding CAN be a great experience and now, almost 20 weeks in, I can appreciate it, but when my midwife said to me in the first 10 days, 'It's a lovely experience for mother and baby, isn't it?' and I was nodding yes and thinking 'Only 5 more months of this torture' no, it isn't!!!

I'm so glad that I didn't give up, but I agree that women who are having problems need more routine, hands on one to one support. Talking to someone on the phone doesn't help problems with latch on. I felt completely abandoned when the mid wife stopped coming. It was sheer stubbornness and the thought of being considered a failure and therefore a substandard mother that kept me going.

I agree with the article to a certain extent and I just don't understand why successful breastfeeders can't see or understand that some women (and babies) have problems with it. It is never okay to blank some one because they FF!

I also hate FF mother who think that it is okay to suggest that BF mothers give their baby a bottle to ensure that they're getting enough to eat/sleeping thought the night.

How about we all learn to respect each others' decisions?!

My breastfeeding counsellor was my saviour. I was that woman with the cracked and bleeding nipples, biting down on a silicon dummy every time my DS started to feed to stop myself from crying out. I went to see the counsellor when he was 6 weeks old and she sorted out my latch in a matter of hours. If I had had decent advice and support from the outset (the number of MWs who told me my latch was fine when it clearly wasn't), it would have been an enjoyable experience from the off.

And more sleep if you ff? Don't make me laugh. How is it easier to have to get up and sterilise a bottle than pick the baby up and doze while he feeds.

I can't bear this woman [mad]

you know what maybe if some zealots werent so damn harsh mums wouldn't feel so bad using formula or breastfeeding not working out for them

peruse Mn usually
FF gives u
/pimples
/piles
/pot-belly
/psorasis
/pitted nails
/diarrhoea
/constipation
/long nails
/short nails

BF"advocates" dont offer impartial advice they offer the usual mantras

links please.

I thought the article was ...silly She says something along the lines of "feeding all day may be ok in a dairy farm" -dairy cows are milked at regular intervals and don't actually feed their calves- their calves are bottle fed!! There were a few other things (which have now escaped my alcohol-addled mind) that she said that were just ridiculous, but the overall impression I got was of someone who had a chip on their shoulder about the whole bf/ff thing.

Now, I have no problem with women choosing to ff, or ff'ing after bf'ing hasn't worked out for them, but is there any need to be so bitter? There are support groups there for women who are having difficulties, but who want to continue bf'ing- no point phoning them and expecting them to say "Yeah, you know what? Just give him/ her a bottle"- their purpose is to help bf'ing mums get through the obstacles, is it not? If you feel that you have had enough and bf'ing isn't working out for you, you don't need anyone else to validate your decision. Don't call a bf'ing helpline and expect to be told to just chuck it- they will try to give you help/ advice/ encouragement, as the name suggests. YOU are ultimately in charge of how you feed your baby. I respect my friends who decided that bf wasn't for them. I find it grating that this woman whines on about how everyone else should have made the decision for her.

she chose not to BF.her choice her narreative.yet decried as having ishoos

wonders

would a woman who had described BF narrative been accused of issues?more like applauded as a useful contributor for BF

she does have ishoos, she's written about them before...

oh, and she bf her kids for a year, according to a piece she wrote before.

But according to that article, she chose to bf. Then she wanted other people to tell her it was ok to stop. To me, that is up to her. If I joined, say ,a pilates class, then decided it wasn't for me, I wouldn't go to the teacher and say "I'm having problems with the pilates class" and expect her to tell me to chuck it- I'd just chuck it!! Sounds to me like she is looking for someone to make a decision which is entirely up to her, and then blame them for putting too much pressure in her to make it work. She strikes me as being too personally involved in the issue to write a balanced article, tbh

instead of victim blaming bashing her- read the woeful support she received.the contradictory advice

many who write advocating BF are looking for others to support the cause and they are personally involved

both opinionated
both think they now what is right
both want to use media to communicate "message"
Y'all not so different from Daisy then

erm..I'm not blaming her for anything! Or bashing her for anything, other than writing a poorly written and biased article. I don't think I am particularly opinionated on the whole bf/ff debate, in that I have no real interest/ involvement in how other women feed their babies. No-one is denying bf can be problematic, and I would probably have been equally annoyed by an article insisting that bf was easy and that everyone should do it.

Have never heard of Daisy Goodwin.

"but mostly because it was drummed into me by my ante natal classes (not NCT!) that to bottle feed was BAD and I would be a failure as a mother"

I find it hard to believe that any antenatal teacher or breastfeeding counsellor would make moralising comments about how you should feed your baby. If they do they ought to be reported to NCT head office.

I think what often happens in NCT classes is that there is likely to be a fair amount of talk about attachment issues relating to infant feeding, plus a more developed picture of the risks associated with not breastfeeding than they are likely to get anywhere else.

If you don't wish to breastfeed, it must be very hard to hear this and not feel judged, even though no judging is going on.

And for mums who go on to struggle with breastfeeding and stop earlier than they want to, I can see how it happens that they might look back on their classes and feel bitter about the emotional focus on breastfeeding.

As a teacher, it's very hard to walk that line - the overwhelming majority of women on my courses want to breastfeed, and want to do it for a considerable period of time. I feel it would be wrong not to spend quite a bit of time focusing on the issues surrounding breastfeeding - also because parents are not going to get the chance to explore this subject in such depth anywhere else (unless they visit this board, which I often suggest they do!)

"you know what maybe if some zealots werent so damn harsh mums wouldn't feel so bad using formula or breastfeeding not working out for them

peruse Mn usually
FF gives u
/pimples
/piles
/pot-belly
/psorasis
/pitted nails
/diarrhoea
/constipation
/long nails
/short nails

BF"advocates" dont offer impartial advice they offer the usual mantras"

Oh get stuffed, never read such a load of crap. People feel bad because they had an ideal in their head that didn't work out and it is an internal conflict thing and not something that other people are causing by their comments.....and I speak as someone who failed at BFing first time around, and felt the guilt, but then came to terms with it and now have no issues with people saying that breast is natural/normal/best/whatever....because IT JUST IS; my failure to breastfeed my firstborn will not change that or make it not true.

An I don't think I have ever read on MN about BFing causing pimples......your argument will never be taken seriously if you pepper it with nonsense! If you read on MN, anyone who makes a harsh comment to a FF mum is usually jumped on pretty swiftly, by everyone, even those who are BFing or BFing advocates.

tinker, she is a journo and did that "Bringing up Baby" programme that got such a lot of flack a couple of years ago. she has also written on it before; links further down. I think she is just trying to get a name for herself by being a silly arse deliberately inflammatory.....a sort of journalistic troll if you will

The mum that committed suicide had lots more going on than failure to breastfeed I'm sure and I feel very sorry for her husband and child.

I can't understand why people get so heated about others opinions on breastfeeding. Each person is different and so are their children. I say give BF a good go and take advice if it's not going correctly. It is the natural way to feed your child but it also can be very hard in the beginning. Women aren't failures if they can't do it and shouldn't be made to feel that way.