Thank you Clare

[mymissymoo]

When I was pregnant I bought everything I would need for breastfeeding; creams, pads, pillows, and even a scarf designed to make breast feeding in public more comfortable. When my husband asked if perhaps we should buy some formula "just in case" I was quite surprised. It hadn't even entered my mind that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed. I read all the books, and I even (although I am a little embarrassed to admit this) typed out a breastfeeding routine for the first week (and laminated it I blamed it on the nesting!).

However things didn't quite work out as I had envisioned. Giving birth turned out to be very traumatic and landed me in intensive care (I will spare you the details!). Needless to say, breastfeeding immediately after birth was not an option. When I was strong enough to put my little one to the breast she was unable to latch on. By this stage she was beside herself with hunger and I was an emotional mess. While in hospital my husband and I had the professional advice (re: the best approach to solve our breastfeeding woes) from 2 pediatricians, 3 hospital midwives, 2 private midwife, 1 obstetrition and numerous nurses. The general consensus was to "make her" drink from the breast by offering nothing else and simply waiting it out. My Doctor said that it was perfectly fine for my little girl to not have any fluids for up to 5 days. He also said that she was being (and I quote) a "drama queen"... she was 3 days old! So I followed their advice and tried to force her to take the breast. The poor little poppet just couldn't latch on. In the end the skin on her lips started to peel off because she was so dehydrated and she lost her voice from screaming constantly. It was heart breaking.

We took our little one home and I started expressing. My milk didn't come in for 8 days, so in the meantime I still kept trying to breastfeed and gave my daughter whatever colostrum I could "extract". By day 6 my little one would actually suck at the breast (with the aid of a nipple shield) for 5 minutes but would fall off screaming with hunger. I went to the chemist and bought a tin of formula - naively buying the smallest one they had as I thought once my milk came in I would be able to express enough for every feed (with spare milk to freeze!) until my little girl got the hang of feeding.

By the time my daughter was 5 weeks old I had tried every nipple shield available (my sister-in-law had even sent me some from Japan that she had found useful!), I had tried feeding in every position documented, and I was expressing every three hours to try and build up my milk supply. I had managed to get my poppet to suckle but found that she still couldn't latch on effectively, and was constantly falling off, plus it was excruciating!! To make matters worse, I was having to give her top-up feeds of formula which were making her constipated.

We were both physically and emotionally exhausted. I had reached the end, and I honestly didn't know what to do. The feelings of guilt and failure were overwhelming.

I decided to get online and see if I could track down the contact details for Clare Byam-Cook. To cut a long (very long) story short my husband and I made the trip to visit Clare and see if she could help. The first thing she noticed was that our daughter was tongue tied. Not one other professional had noticed/mentioned this. (We have since been to our pediatrician who told us it is quite a severe case of tongue tie and advised us to have it cut - which we are having done next week.) My poor little girl had not been latching onto my breast properly because she couldn't. It also accounted for "falling off" the breast even though she was still hungry. Clare then produced a nipple shield that resembled a bottle teat. Not only did my daughter latch on but I saw her sucking effectively for the first time in 8 weeks!!!

My husband and I had flown from Spain to meet with Clare. Although it was not an easy journey to make with an 8 week old, it was worth every second. Clare's patience, warmth and professionalism were amazing. What a wonderful person!

Thank you Clare.

[fussymum]

If ONLY those that have breastfeeding qualifications would listen to her *yawn* God save Clare Byam Cook - and always remember that breastmilk is no better than coca-cola

[Teilosmummy]

Firstly I don't understand why you felt the need to put this here, this site is Annabel Karmel not CBC! I'm glad that the breast feedin is going well for you now but as a mother of 5 I don't see why you would put your newborn child through so much just to breastfeed. It may be working out for you now but what if it hadn't , all those days of both of you being upset and worked up. I do think that breastfeeding is best for baby where it works out but to go through so much to get there seems very extreme to me and very cruel to your little one . I'm sorry if this offends but it really bugged me and I justcouldnt let it go.

[julicka100]

I am so with you. Clare even helped me over the phone ,and it was exactly what she said,.We both had a Thrush, it is painfull,no one wish to go through this pain.I had some problems with my daughter as well,and then I boght Clares Dvd ,helped me sraight away.Thats why I kNEW SHE WILL HELP ME AND NOW WITH MY SON.
Thank you once more to Clare.

[julicka100]

Originally Posted by mymissymoo

When I was pregnant I bought everything I would need for breastfeeding; creams, pads, pillows, and even a scarf designed to make breast feeding in public more comfortable. When my husband asked if perhaps we should buy some formula "just in case" I was quite surprised. It hadn't even entered my mind that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed. I read all the books, and I even (although I am a little embarrassed to admit this) typed out a breastfeeding routine for the first week (and laminated it I blamed it on the nesting!).

However things didn't quite work out as I had envisioned. Giving birth turned out to be very traumatic and landed me in intensive care (I will spare you the details!). Needless to say, breastfeeding immediately after birth was not an option. When I was strong enough to put my little one to the breast she was unable to latch on. By this stage she was beside herself with hunger and I was an emotional mess. While in hospital my husband and I had the professional advice (re: the best approach to solve our breastfeeding woes) from 2 pediatricians, 3 hospital midwives, 2 private midwife, 1 obstetrition and numerous nurses. The general consensus was to "make her" drink from the breast by offering nothing else and simply waiting it out. My Doctor said that it was perfectly fine for my little girl to not have any fluids for up to 5 days. He also said that she was being (and I quote) a "drama queen"... she was 3 days old! So I followed their advice and tried to force her to take the breast. The poor little poppet just couldn't latch on. In the end the skin on her lips started to peel off because she was so dehydrated and she lost her voice from screaming constantly. It was heart breaking.

We took our little one home and I started expressing. My milk didn't come in for 8 days, so in the meantime I still kept trying to breastfeed and gave my daughter whatever colostrum I could "extract". By day 6 my little one would actually suck at the breast (with the aid of a nipple shield) for 5 minutes but would fall off screaming with hunger. I went to the chemist and bought a tin of formula - naively buying the smallest one they had as I thought once my milk came in I would be able to express enough for every feed (with spare milk to freeze!) until my little girl got the hang of feeding.

By the time my daughter was 5 weeks old I had tried every nipple shield available (my sister-in-law had even sent me some from Japan that she had found useful!), I had tried feeding in every position documented, and I was expressing every three hours to try and build up my milk supply. I had managed to get my poppet to suckle but found that she still couldn't latch on effectively, and was constantly falling off, plus it was excruciating!! To make matters worse, I was having to give her top-up feeds of formula which were making her constipated.

We were both physically and emotionally exhausted. I had reached the end, and I honestly didn't know what to do. The feelings of guilt and failure were overwhelming.

I decided to get online and see if I could track down the contact details for Clare Byam-Cook. To cut a long (very long) story short my husband and I made the trip to visit Clare and see if she could help. The first thing she noticed was that our daughter was tongue tied. Not one other professional had noticed/mentioned this. (We have since been to our pediatrician who told us it is quite a severe case of tongue tie and advised us to have it cut - which we are having done next week.) My poor little girl had not been latching onto my breast properly because she couldn't. It also accounted for "falling off" the breast even though she was still hungry. Clare then produced a nipple shield that resembled a bottle teat. Not only did my daughter latch on but I saw her sucking effectively for the first time in 8 weeks!!!

My husband and I had flown from Spain to meet with Clare. Although it was not an easy journey to make with an 8 week old, it was worth every second. Clare's patience, warmth and professionalism were amazing. What a wonderful person!

Thank you Clare.

I am so with you. Clare even helped me over the phone ,and it was exactly what she said,.We both had a Thrush, it is painfull,no one wish to go through this pain.I had some problems with my daughter as well,and then I boght Clares Dvd ,helped me sraight away.Thats why I kNEW SHE WILL HELP ME AND NOW WITH MY SON.
Thank you once more to Clare.

[Kathryn34]

Are book/dvd sales slow?
Sorry if this is genuine but they never read as though they are!!!

Why the hell would you fly from spain for breast feeding advice...???

Also, why does every problem solved seem to involve 'thrush' somewhere along the line...isn't that a fairly common problem that's usually easy to diagnose?

Sorry if any offence caused ....but ....I mean...come on!!!!

[mymissymoo]

Wow... you aren't the friendliest bunch are you!!??

I would like to start by saying that yes... this is a genuine post (and why wouldn't it be??). I am quite shocked by some of the responses to my posting and have decided to reply, although I can't believe I am having to defend myself on a website dedicated to mums sharing experiences and info with one another!

Fussymum; you have obviously never had serious breast feeding problems nor met Clare personally. I also think your reply was pointless and needless. Perhaps Clare does not adhere to the breast feeding ideals that you do - but if they work what is the problem??

Teilosmummy; I think it is quite dangerous to make such harsh and insulting comments to someone you don't know. You have no idea about the motivation for my actions. To say that I have been "very cruel to your little one" simply because my posting "bugged" you and you "couldn't let it go".. honestly, how dare you. I persisted with the breast feeding (as well as topping up with formula) because it was obvious to me that my mm could breast feed but there was some problem. Although I admit that if I had to do it all again I would do some things differently (hindsight is a wonderful thing), as a first time mum I was following the advice given to me by my obstetrician and midwife. It was only when I decided to stop listening to everyone else and follow my own instincts that I tracked down Clare, who spotted the tongue tie immediately. Thank goodness I didn't have people like you to listen to or else I would have given up at the first hurdle. It is quite easy to sit back and judge, but as a mother of 5 I would think your time would be a lot better spent offering helpful advice and support to those of us who are just starting out.

Kathryn34; In response to your "why the hell would you fly from Spain for breast feeding advice"? Because I was desperate. I had received so much conflicting and useless advice from the professionals here that I decided to go and speak to someone who specialised in breast feeding. And I am so glad I did. With regards to the thrush; if you have never had it before why would you know what to look for?? I had no idea you could get thrush in the nipples/milk ducts!!!

Julicka100; thank you for your support!

To those people who are reading this and deciding to never post their own experience because of fear of being criticised, please do! If it wasn't for Imperfectmummy's posting about her breast feeding experience I would never have known how to get in contact with Clare.

I think it is important to support one another and offer helpful advice rather than pointless criticism... isn't that the point of these forums?? Good luck to all those mums struggling on with breast feeding!!! If you need some practical help, I can highly recommend Clare Byam-cook!!!

[fussymum]

*waves* Hi Clare, now what's your surname.....Buymebook??? How's your friend Gina Fraud these days?

If this puts people off contacting CBC, then it's job done as far as I am concerned. As was in the silly "debate" 12 months ago, I am (as are others) willing to bet that for every one she accidently "helps" there are many others she causes more problems for.

What about those who can't afford to fly out after the lovely CBC? Oh, sorry.....wait......they can buy her book and DVD. FAB!

Now excuse me whilst I go and advise mothers of 6 month olds to stop breastfeeding as it's no better than coke *yawn*

[mummy2b]

Fussymum, what is wrong with you? You seem to have a serious bee in your bonnet about CBC – what’s the story? I have never before posted on one of these pages but you are driving me mad. I have not yet had my baby and so I can’t speak from any personal experience, but I have heard nothing but good things about Clare so far. For a discussion page your comments are utterly unhelpful. You have slated a perfectly innocent post from a new mother sharing her experiences because of some unexplained rage against the woman being complimented. Yes, not everyone can afford to travel far and wide to see Clare in which case she has a dvd and book available – I would imagine that this was the reason she was inspired to produce them? A money-making scheme sure, but they seem to be pretty popular and she is not a charity. And with reference to your coca cola snipe - which I see you have repeated in case we didn’t pick up on it the first time – I saw Clare on tv when the infamous remark was made and it is blatantly obvious that she wasn’t saying breast milk is comparable to coca cola, just that, like coca cola, breast milk is very sweet and therefore in older children who have teeth it is not necessarily advised to offer it on demand.

I am equally incensed by your reference to Gina ‘Fraud’. I suppose because she is another woman that is more successful than you? My friends rarely describe her as anything short of a God-send and I fully intend to follow her books to the letter. If it doesn’t work out you’ll hear from me again, but I doubt it.

Teilosmummy – I would imagine that mymissymoo posted here because Clare has a page on Annabel’s website
Mymissymoo – I loved reading your story, so pleased that everything is now working out for you and I hope you wont be put off these forums because of people like Fussymum

[ladybug]

FFS
This thread is a load of b-ollocks.