Masochistic Mommy

When you read the title you probably thought, ‘But formula is nothing like smoking, jeeeeez!’ On the contrary, there are numerous parallels. In this post I’m going to set out, not only why formula feeding is like smoking, but why it may even be considered  worse . Firstly, a common thread between formula feeding and smoking is consumption patterns. They both follow the addiction model: It’s easy to get hooked, and then you’ve gotta have it (see what I mean,  here ). During World War II, soldiers were issued with free cigarettes, courtesy of the tobacco companies, whereas today formula companies gatecrash maternity wards, doctors’ surgeries, and parenting magazines proselytizing with free formula: Health cover-up Mark my word friends, in the not so distant future, lawsuits will be filed against formula companies claiming that they are responsible for the ill-health of the obese, diabetics, crohn’s sufferers, allergy sufferers, arthritis sufferers and asthmatics, to name but a f...

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...

All children suffer from illness at some stage. As a parent, I understand the anxiety and fear that you can feel when your child is unwell. When you are left with a child and a range of life-threatening illnesses your mind can start to play tricks. Also, during the early years in particular, the same symptoms can mean different things. Vomiting is a good example of this. To give you a better idea of what to look out for, I have created this comprehensive timeline detailing the most common illnesses throughout the entire span of childhood, from birth to teens. Fully referenced with up-to-date research, it aims to dispel some of the anxieties you may have, describes symptoms and explain when best to seek medical advice. Jump to age... Newborn 1 Week 2 Weeks 1 Month 2 Months 3 Months 4 Months 5 Months 6 Months 7 Months 9 Months 10 Months 12 Months 14 Months 16 Months 18 Months 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years ...