Masochistic Mommy

Around the world, some parents are high-fiving baby sleep 'trainers' for giving them some much-needed shut-eye. Typical newspaper headlines include: ‘ Sleep trainer cured my baby's insomnia - and saved my sanity ’ - The Telegraph. ‘ When Lullabies Aren't Enough ’ - The New York Times. ‘ Letting babies cry rather than rushing to comfort them is secret to longer sleep (for infants AND parents) ’ - The Daily Fail. ‘ Study highlights controlled crying benefits ’ - ABC News. Yes, without a doubt, controlled crying has benefits – for parents. Yes, controlled crying ‘works’. The baby does indeed shut his ass up and communicates less at night. However - and it's a big HOW-EVER - at best, this is because he has been trained not to do so, rather than understanding that it is night-time and therefore he must be tired and should sleep. Physician and legend  Dr Sears coined the phrase ‘shutdown syndrome’ to describe what may potentially be happening in this scenario. Shall I ex...

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...

Babies are the largest group of victims on the planet. Don't believe me? Infants aged under one year are more at risk of being killed at the hands of another person than any other age group (Source: NSPCC 2014 ). You only have to compare the length of prison sentences handed to paedophiles and child abusers with those guilty of fraud to see what little value we attribute to children. It's important to recognise however that 'harm' isn't limited to such legal definitions. By restricting our understanding of harm to just the extremes, we condone and normalise other harmful acts towards children, acts that fall outside the legal safety-net. In this post I will focus on babies and toddlers to show how the mistreatment of children is a widely accepted and even cherished part of our culture. The burden to justify harming children lies on those who wish to conduct it, and justify they do. Each society usually has a list of the types of people who can be ‘justifiably’ mistr...

In our increasingly desensitized society, advertisers have to push mainstream boundaries in order to achieve an impact; And whose buttons are better to push than parents? We’re plentiful, we spend lots of money, and we’re soppy sods. The following are genuine  advertisements. 1. Every child needs a family. UNICEF Croazia. 2. I wish we never had children. What you say during divorce lasts forever. SIRE: Elliot. 3. Children of parents who smoke, get to heaven earlier. Child Health Agency. 4. Smoking isn't just suicide. It's murder. CONAC Chilean Corporation Against Cancer. 5. You're the key. Fundacion Padre Hurtado. 6. Left: I will donate this child and help this child. Right (next page): I will donate later.  Medecins sans frontiers. 7. WWF: Consuming the Earth is consuming our future. 8. Above: My mom's going to kill me. Middle: My mom's going to kill me. Below: One condom... saves both lives.  Save The Children. 9. We don't have enough donors. National...