sophiechristophy

Women need more support and information when it comes to breastfeeding. How has it happened in our society that we have become deskilled in such a critical human skill? It is shocking to me that 6 months exclusive breast feeding has been found to tbe "unrealistic for many" in this study. How have we lost touch with our ability to meet the most basic of needs of our babies? http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/15/breastfeeding-advice-unhelpful-to-mothers

my daughter's feet are growing longer but not wider, so her width fitting is decreasing.... the weird world of children!

If you want to try some out to find the right one for you, you can go to a sling library: http://southlondonslings.com/ It's in West Norwood :)

I'm not sure how you can isolate demand feeding from all of the other many many aspects of parenting and nature that contribute to these things. Demand feeding alone is of course not what counts, but everything together in order to have a great outcome for a child.

hahahaaaa sillywoman haaaa

We didn't have sex until about 6 months after our daughter was born, and that was fine for us.

Saila - questioning GF isn't being judgmental of other mum's is it? I just re-read the posts, and I can't see a criticism of mums, just questioning of GF. I agree, mums need to support each other.

Furthermore, her routine perpetuates the misconception that babies need to feed only every four hours - therefore if a baby needs to feed more frequently than this, the breastfeeding mum might think that her milk isn't enough to satisfy her baby/that she has a 'hungry' baby, when in fact it is perfectly NORMAL for a baby to need to feed more frequently than 4 hours. As a result she may switch to formula.

Re: breastfeeding and GF - while she might describe a BF routine in her book, breast feeding to a routine itself can compromise a mother's milk supply as by not feeding on demand, the mother's body might not be responding to the babies actual needs and producing milk accordingly. This might prompt her to stop breastfeeding and switch to formula. Also, the expressing/formula feeding aspect might again confuse the baby/mothers' supply/create stress, complicating the establishment of BFing. Basically, breastfeeding on demand, the most straight forward way of establishing breastfeeding, is not possible in her routine.

Saila - how nice that your son is such a good sleeper. I won't join you in your toast to GF though, especially as it was International Women's Day on Thursday, due to the negative impact I can imagine she has had on the breastfeeding success of women who have followed her routine.

'Taking care' of a baby and being a mother to a baby are two different things. I would suggest GF may be in a position to give her opinion on the former, but don't understand why anyone would be interested in her opinion of the latter.

dontpanic - the fact that 'not many' rather than 'none' of the children leave school note being able to read/write is surely a concern?

Slow cookers rule. I use mine for slow cooking joints of meat. Roast dinner on a Wednesday night anyone? X

Easier to change our own habits than our babies though....

no probs!

You might find this a helpful read - just back in print thanks to our lovley local publishers Pinter and Martin: My Child won't Eat by Carlos Gonzalez

This book has just come back into print and you might find it useful: My Child Wo't Eat by Carlos Gonzalez

I am interested to see that you haven't (as far as I have found) included anything on your website about Steiner philosophy. Can you tell me why that is?

I did some research on this, as I used to work for a tea company that sold raspberry leaf tea. The only evidence that I could find for it causing any problems for anyone was done about 40 years ago and was on rats, where they injected the raspberry leaf tea..... I personally didn't rate the study, and think that you would be completely fine to drink it, and as much as you want (can manage!).

Forgive yourself, and try to remind yourself to take each day without judgement of yourself or others. Not easy, especially when you are tired and worn a little thin!

bluesuperted we are on the same book trail i think! i would love to borrow it. x

I found this piece by her and wondered if anyone had read her book in full? http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/mar/21/biography.women S

I miss hummy mummies!!!!

Hi everyone! The brilliant midwife who delivered my baby has started a blog, and it is great so wanted to share!! She delivered me in hospital after we tried for a home birth, and was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING - read her for a no holes barred view on birth from the midwife's perspective! https://gasandair.wordpress.com/about/ Enjoy!

Hi everyone, Here is a link to the new study on weaning which has been much reported over the last day or so. http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000298.full.html#ref-list-1 S