Masochistic Mommy

Question: What do the following people have to with breastfeeding? Rihanna, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Elton John, Tom Jones, Pavarotti, Katy Perry, Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Diana Ross, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Coldplay, The Spice Girls, JLS, One Direction. Answer: They have all graced the very same stage that will now be home to Europe’s largest conference on infant feeding: The Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative Conference. As you know, later this year I’ll begin working with Unicef on my PhD study of breast and formula fed babies. Over the last 18-months their convention organising committee visited my neck of the woods several times and on one occasion were even greeted by a flash mob of breastfeeding mamas. Paul Szomoru, head of business tourism at NewcastleGateshead, had a chortle. He said: “If there’s one thing the North East does well, it’s welcoming people!” Dude knows his shit.  This gig of a lifetime will take place at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, 26-27 Nove...

You can always count on a ‘Sleep Training’ book to come up with the anti-breastfeeding goods. Lord knows I’ve showcased a few of them. So, not to disappoint, here’s two sheer corkers written by two old codgers! Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems Dr Richard Ferber In case you live in a cave, the author of this book, Dr Richard Ferber is a quasi-celebrity of the parenting world. In fact, he’s such an idol that his sleep-training methods have been coined "Ferberization" (try saying that after a night out). We’re talking about the dude that created “Controlled Crying” here. More on that later, but first, take a look at the title of his book: 'Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems.' Right from the start Ferber is labelling your baby and turning him into a ‘problem-child’. To his credit, he at least attempts to justify this: “ If your child’s sleep patterns cause a problem for you or for him, then he has a sleep problem ” (p8). Actually, no Ferber; If his sleep patterns cause a ...

This is the fifth (fifth!) post in my quest to expose as many anti-breastfeeding books as my cornea can withstand. To resist sounding like broken vinyl, I’ll refrain from a lengthy intro, you should know the gist by now. Suffice to say, in this series we look at some potentially-upsetting, probably-litigious and unapologetically harsh treatments of breastfeeding found in mainstream parenting books. This fifth-installment is dedicated entirely to a book written by celebrity nanny, Jo Frost. I’ve got my lawyer-retardant panties on, so let’s begin. Jo Frost’s Confident Baby Care Jo Frost When a ‘TV nanny’ writes a parenting book, those with common sense shudder. They are fully aware that the lower bulk of the population (I’m not saying they’re ‘chavs’, well okay I am) that worship at the altar of celebrity will view its pages as gospel. In this book, Jo Frost is able to capitalise on her ‘celebrity’ status (yes I use the label loosely, but still...) to write any flavour of balls imaginabl...