Live chat with Claire Scott, Thursday 4 October, 1pm

[OliviaMumsnet]

We?re pleased to announce that Claire Scott will be here for an online chat with Mumsnetters next Thursday, 4 October.

Claire is an advocate of the Continuum Concept and has two children of her own. She is currently featuring in Channel 4?s Bringing Up Baby where she?s acting as mentor to families and promoting her beliefs on co-sleeping, breastfeeding and slings.

Claire will be joining us for an hour on Thursday at 1 o'clock, so have an early lunch, get your questions ready and join us then.

If for some strange reason, you can?t be here (and we hope you?ve got a very good excuse) please post advance questions here.

Thanks, MNHQ

Claire I think you came across really well on the C4 programme and I'm glad you didn't rise to being called a 'raving lunatic' by CV.

My dd is nearly 5 and I've been one of the 'imperfect' users of TCC in that I breastfed, did lots of contact / cuddling / carrying but I didn't co-sleep. We slept in the same room for 7 months then separately although I do seem to spend about 3 hours in dd's bed every night these days!

My question is, in relation to your expression (in the programme) 'in ideal form', is TCC something you can 'partially' do or do you feel you have to give your absolute all to it?

Babieseverywhere
There is a difference, as CC is not child centered and attachment tends to promotes this. TCC also likes to respect a child?s innate self preservation technique.

There are excellent articles on the continuum concept forum explaining these. Please see continuum-concept.org/reading.html

Congratulations on ECing. I did this with my second daughter.

Controlfreaky2, Thanks. The success and the failure aspect was never explained to me before we started filming. I was told that this was a history commissioned documentary studying the 1st 3 months of a babies life. There could be a second series. The method I advocate fosters secure children and adults. It is certainly not possible to make a complete judgement in the 1st few months of a baby?s life as to how secure they are. This can only be judged in child and adulthood.

Do you regret doing the programme now?

Wow! You MUST teach some of our other Live Event guests how to answer questions - especially the politicians!

I'm really impressed that you've been so thorough - thank you for your responses to my points and I am sorry if I sounded harsh - I should've realised there was a lot edited out.

HOW you didn't thump CV though, I've no idea.

What did you think, seeing the programme, when CV was standing outside the twins' room, listening to them screaming and smirking?

Hi Claire, I spent some time in Central America, in Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador - where it is the norm for indegenous women to carry a baby in a sling all day. However, as I was working for a health charity, I also saw loads of women (some very young, girls really) who had increadible pain in their backs, hernias, deformed spines because they were carrying babies all day (often older sisters will carry their baby brothers/sisters). I know that the slings you are using are of excellent design and quality, but is it just too much to expect that a new mum can carry that weight all day? A newborn maybe, but at 6 months old?

pinkmartini
I doubt I'll do any more TV after this has finished as it has caused me massive anxiety at times and I've had to spend pressure time away from my kids and partner! But I will carry on with this because I believe so much with what I am advocating. I think that The Wright Stuff may do a programme on it when BUB finishes. I would like to help with that.

actually - what about if you have a c-section? wouldn't the scar reopen if you carry too much weight?

freudian slip! I meant precious not pressure!!

What did you think of Dreena? I thought she was very patronising and I was appalled at her stance on breastfeeding, but her views seem to be the ones presented as "the norm" - do you worry that her "bf for 3-4 months, but not in public" approach will reinforce that already-pervasive idea in the UK?

Didn?t you Claire (and the others who followed TCC) ever just want to get away from your child? I may just be a bad mother, but having demand fed and bed-shared with my first (not really by choice) for almost 2 years I desperately wanted my own bed/space back. So when next babes came along I made a point of always feeding and settling them in their own room (after six months) and introduced a bit of routine and we were all much happier/got more sleep. Did you never feel like that? And if you didn?t, did your partner not feel they wanted their bed/life back?

Are we on a kind of time delay here?

Sorry, haven't watched the prgoramme, and expect that I'm now beyond that stage but wanted to say Thank You - you've raised the bar for Live Event Guests in terms of answering questions - it must have taken a chunk of time!

imaginaryfriend - only time delay in terms of the time it takes for Claire to type her answers (she must have RSI from all that typing earlier!!)
She'd prepared answers for the questions asked in advance but as the new questions come in she has to respond in real time

Is that what you meant?

I'd second hunker's point that they are presenting you as a nutter on the opposite scale to CV, while presenting that dreadful Dreena woman as reasonable - like somehow, accepting the fact that breastfeeding rates are abysmally low and mothers and babies are being disgracefully short-changed by lack of genuine breastfeeding support, is a moderate stance, not a piss-poor one. Are you angry about that, and will you get a chance to come back on the way you are being presented? (And will you thump CV next time knowing that the Nation will thank you for it? )

imaginaryfriend
for me it made more sense to do it 'all' so to speak. I felt it snowballed at times and the more information I read, the more it made sense. I was able to live a very active life from when my children were very little. There are however many, many families in this country who use some but not all aspects of the concept ~ which is fantastically encouraging! The more women we see breastfeeding, the better example it gives to our younger generation!

Yes I did mean that. I thought we were in 'real time' now as it were. But I am only imaginary so what do I know ...

Claire, did you feel a bit overwhelmed when those 2 women made stupid comments like 'why inflict breastfeeding on the general public.' As I was hoping for a firm and direct answer to shut them up. there were more than one occasion when you just seemed lost for words.

well done CS, you've given great answers so far. i don't think people thought you were being ineffective, btw, but the programme did show you gasping a lot. gits. but at least you didn't come across like a loon.

Missed this was happening!

Thanks Claire. I breastfed for bloody ages in the end it worked really well. But my dp wouldn't co-sleep, just wouldn't even think about it. He's a very big man (6,5" and 18 stone) and was petrified of having tiny dd in with us. When we moved out of her bedroom I had a mattress on her floor and I've always part-time co-slept, still do. I'll stop when she stops asking me.

I do have a friend though whose 6-week-old died in bed with them. I think that freaked dp out.

I imagine it must have been horrible to have been faced with that sort of onslaught from someone who is quite clearly unbalanced and very hostile. I too would have been lost for words

Claire, re. breast-feeding, I was appalled by the sixties woman (forgotten her name) and her attitude to bf in one of your couch conversations.

just a comment..Claire I think you did brilliantly, better to look lost for words in the face of rudeness than to look equally rude.
I am inspired and empowered by your ideas. And very upset by Claire Verity's ideas.