VAB

Bloody hell, UK! Now i know why everyone jumps ship and head back to the motherland when they have children.
For the last three months i have been on half pay, which has been okay since i'm so rich (insert laughter). This is quite a generous arrangement that i receive because i happen to work in the public sector. If i was in the private one, i'd probably get even less. You see, an employer doesn't have to pay for ANY maternal leave after the first six weeks, although some do anyway!
So today i opened my pay packet, in which i was expecting another load of half pay. But no, i got the last one last month and all i got was the lousy statutory maternity pay. £500 a month! For the next three months, and after that i get nothing. Nothing!! I could cry. I'm poor! I drowned my sorrows by going out for lunch and coffee and chocolate. Hello 50 quid gone already!

The other thing, which upsets me even more, is that i only get a year off. When i go back in july i am hopefully still breastfeeding, so the plan is if lilla is ill i'll take a couple of days off to nurse her back to health. Care of sick child, they call it in the motherland! Of course you need to care for sick child! But not in this country where no one gives a shit about children! You can, if you absolutely have to, take 1 or 2 days off while you arrange for another carer! In other words, you're meant to find a grandmother, aunt or some other distant relative to care for your child. Nevermind that she might need her parents even more if she's poorly!
Damn, i'm going to kick some ass when i go back to work. Yes, i'm going to breastfeed a toddler and yes i'm going to use my right to express at work and i don't give a shit what anyone says!
At least until i too am allowed to leave this backwards, child hating, dickensian, formula feeding, jeremy kyle type of country and head back to where the grass is always greener!

The help

Woohoo! In January i am starting training to become a breastfeeding peer supporter. So exciting!

Barnens knark*

Det är ännu värre än jag trodde!

http://www.amningshjalpen.se/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=245:vaelling&catid=6&Itemid=23

Skriver jag det här för att jag är elak och vill såra? Nej! Jag har en stor passion för att utbilda andra inom amning och småbarnsmat, that's all!

Om jag hade sagt till nån att det är farligt för bebisar att åka bil utan bilstol, hade jag varit elak då? Men vi gjorde ju det på 70-talet och vi lever ju. Ja, men det är farligt, man kan krocka och då vill man inte ens tänka på vad som händer.
Är det elakt att säga så till någon?

http://www.amningshjalpen.se/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=245:vaelling&catid=6&Itemid=23

*Dogge Doggelito

Våga vägra välling

Nu blir det svenska för jag ska skriva om nåt typiskt svenskt!

Välling? Vad är det för himla skräp? Och varför tror hela sveriges befolkning att deras ungar behöver det? På flaska dessutom?

Jag har förundrats över det här ett tag så jag gjorde lite research (hej, jag har aldrig researchat något så mycket i hela mitt liv som jag har gjort barnmatspolitik...). Vad är välling? Mjöl och vatten. Som de stackars fattiga svenska barnen fick på 1800-talet. Som de stackars fattiga afrikanska barnen får i välgörenhetsreklamfilmerna. Fattigmat. Nu för tiden slänger de i en massa annan skit, järn, d-vitaminer, kalcium. Ät en morot i solskenet, säger jag, och sug på din mammas bröst till efterrätt. Mycket godare.

Det är väl unjefär som att vi svenskar äter gammalt, förtorkat bröd på julafton. För det gjorde de ju på 1800-talet när alla var fattiga. Doppa i skinkfettet, jättegott! Nej, faktiskt inte! Tänk om du var tvungen att äta det till kvällsmat vareviga kväll...

Sen borde jag egentligen inte ens börja snacka om vad jag tycker om den här flaskulturen vi lever i. Men jag slänger till det ändå. Stora, friska ungar med napp i ena näven och en flaska konstgjord näring i den andra. Det finns ingen som helst anledning till att barn över 6 månaders ålder behöver dricka någonting från flaska. Kopp går jättebra!

Det är förresten förbjudet i de flesta länder (utan USA förstås) att göra reklam för flaskor och nappar! Tänk på den nu!

I wrote to Tesco...

Dear editor.

This morning i finally received the Tesco baby club magazine (birth to 3 months).
I have just read your feature on infant feeding and i was very disappointed to see that none of the three mums featured were following the WHO guidelines to exclusively breastfeed for six months. One of the mums started weaning off breastmilk at five months and the other two either exclusively formula fed or combination fed from a very early age.
It would have been really nice to see some examples of mums who breastfed for longer and enjoyed it. The world health organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding until six months and to continue feeding breastmilk until age 2. All the mums in your feature talked about the difficulties involved in breastfeeding and how this was the reason they either gave up early, or never started. Whilst i agree that breastfeeding can be difficult in the first few weeks, many mums find it a truly enjoyable experience, but this wasn't mentioned at all. The mum who breastfed the longest (Melanie) said: "i got to the point where my whole life revolved around breastfeeding... By five months, i was absolutely exhausted." Another mum, irene, started introducing formula top ups when her daughter had her first growth spurt. Growth spurts and cluster feeding is perfectly normal in a newborn, but i am afraid your feature normalises formula top-ups when these are rarely necessary.

While i respect the three mums' feeding choices, I am very disappointed in Tesco for not presenting a more balanced view of breastfeeding. None of the mums mentioned how, after initial difficulties, it is easy, convenient and enjoyable.

While you're not breaking any laws regarding formula marketing in this feature, the overall message comes across as breastfeeding being a bit of a hassle.

I hope you consider these comments in future publications.

Yours sincerely
Jenny Svenny
Happy breastfeeding mum and tesco customer

Trying out our new Mei-Tai

Babywearing

It's funny, when you're about to have a baby you think you have to have a pram. So wrong. Tallulah hates her pram and it sits at home, looking brand new and expensive. Sometimes i take it out and use it as a shopping trolley. Apples and pears where there should be a baby. But the baby is with me, snug and happy in her sling.
I could sell it i guess, it's brand new! But then i think, what if we're lucky enough to win the lottery again and any future baby might love the pram. Though i doubt i'll ever fall out of love with babywearing...

The no-routine routine

In the sea of various baby training manuals, i have invented my own: it's called the no-routine routine. Unfortunately (or should i say fortunately) i can't write or sell any books on the subject because there is absolutely no training required. The subtitle of my non-existing book is "just chill".
It goes like this: let your baby do whatever he/she wants, you're not spoiling them, and just relax in the process. Tallulah falls asleep, and stays asleep, on the breast. And i will sit like that, in restaurants, cafes, bars, with a sleeping baby on my boob. I let her fall asleep whenever she wants, even if it is 10pm at night. I let her feed for comfort, i don't ever let her cry for more than 5 seconds. I don't use a dummy and i don't intend to force hpfeed her pureed mash.
The sad thing though is that i am seen as spoiling my child. That babies need to be "trained" or they'll never sleep on their own. That i'll be carrying round my "spoilt" child when she's 15. Our society is so obsessed with creating independent individuals out of newborns. They should sleep alone, play alone, learn how to stop crying alone and eat grown-up food before they're even 4 months old.
The thing is, i am loving my no-routine routine! Having spent my whole adult life following routines and deadlines and i love never having to check the time. Where our pyjamas all day. Stay up till late. Go to bed early. Eat whenever we want. Love it!