I'm quite exasperated to read all the inane posts on this topic. This thread was started as an innocent sharing of a challenging breastfeeding experience which concluded with a positive outcome following the help of Clare Byam-Cook. I assume the reason Mymissymoo decided to share her experience was in the hope that she might be able to help other mothers – surely the purpose of forums such as this? Instead she was attacked for being ‘cruel’ for not giving her baby formula while she sought to find a resolution to the problem and for being ‘mad’ for travelling as far as she did to seek the expert advice she so desperately needed. Good for her that she did! She should be congratulated not vilified.
And as for Fussymum, she is the absolute prime example of this horrible culture of attacking mothers no matter what they do. Why she has such a problem with CBC I still do not understand. And what is with this paranoia regarding any positive posts about Clare? Surely the sort of person to join a site such as this is, like myself, a parent looking to seek advice from experts such as AK on weaning our babies and ensuring they get the nutrition they need. Clare is a guest expert on this website, so why is it surprising that some of the users of the forum might just like to follow her advice too? If Fussymum is so anti AK and CBC then what is she doing here?!!
Fussymum seems offended by the fact that Clare charges for her services, but the charities she praises so much are not free either! The NCT charges quite a lot to attend their classes and when I needed their help in those first few days they didn’t even bother to return my phone call. Yes La Leche League and others do give free telephone advice but that’s not much good if you actually need someone to come round to your house and see what is happening and give hands on help.
The question of who Clare is accountable to is pretty obvious. HER CLIENTS!!! If you Google Clare (Fussymum I’m sure you have!) you will see that she does not give out her phone number so everyone who goes to her does so via word of mouth referral like I did. If her advice was as lousy as Fussymum seems to think then why on earth would everyone recommend her so much? Bad news travels much faster than good and if there genuinely were people out there who had had an awful time following Clare’s advice then surely word would get around pretty fast? The only people on this forum who seem to slate Clare are the ones who have never even met her!!!
If Fussymum had met Clare and engaged in conversation with her then she would know that it is completely incorrect and slanderous to say that Clare did not breastfeed her own children. In fact Clare told me that she had breastfed both of her children, but sadly not for as long as she would have liked due to poor milk supply. We discussed this with regard to my own milk supply which fortunately was and is plentiful – my problem was to do with my daughter’s inability to latch on correctly and not anything to do with any failure to produce milk. Thank goodness for Clare Byam-Cook is all I can say! Fussymum, you continue as ever to do a sterling job in thwarting your own arguments and in doing so promoting the woman you so clearly can’t stand. We do enjoy your efforts very much though, it’s hugely entertaining.
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