Iceland boss Richard Walker claims overturning UK laws is best way to help parents cope with current cost of living crisis This week has seen Iceland boss Richard Walker take to daytime telly, telling us he intended to break the laws around marketing infant formula. Presenting himself as an advocate for desperate parents everywhere, especially those who don't breastfeed and are purchasing baby milk (so the vast majority of parents).  We're apparently supposed to forget 2 months ago this same dood criticised the government's proposal to help the most vulnerable, saying he felt capping the ..read more

It's not uncommon for parents to be told it takes 2-6 weeks for dairy to leave breastmilk (depending on the advice giver). This can naturally lead to some parents choosing to switch to a hypoallergenic formula, with the belief this will result in a more rapid removal of milk proteins for baby and thus relief of symptoms. It's of course therefore that we're basing such a big decision on an evidence base, but this is actually where the problems begin. "β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg), which is not expressed by humans, has often been monitored as a cow's milk marker. With specific concern to cow's milk ..read more

Cluster feeding.  We hear these words a lot in clinic. Sometimes, quite often in fact  - what the person is describing is NOT cluster feeding; it’s a feeding problem that is being mislabelled and like an epidemic it’s spreading. First if you’re breastfeeding fine, you’re happy, baby is happy and they’re gaining normally - you don’t need to worry about this post at all. This post is for those who have either a baby who is growing much more slowly than expected, or who is gaining normally but consistently needs a million feeds per day to do so (outside of normal growth spurt behaviou ..read more

On Saturday The Guardian printed an anonymous “parent piece” from a mother who has a bad experience with a “lactation consultant” and her tongue tied baby. Many aren’t aware that “Lactation consultant” is neither a recognised nor protected title. Your sister’s, friend Margaret who breastfed for half a day can call herself one. Similarly, there isn’t an NHS job titled “lactation consultant” either (unlike I believe in the US) - so who this person was or what their qualifications are is incredibly unclear. International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) is a certified title (alt ..read more

"My milk is really poor quality and doesn't have any antibodies anyway", said a mum during a phone call yesterday.  She went to continue but I had to interject - sorry, wait, what? Turns out mum had seen some photos on Facebook. One showing white milk and the other showing a rich golden yellow - with the claim because baby was sick, the yellow colour was all the antibodies, just like colostrum.... Oh my days. YOU CAN'T SEE ANTIBODIES with the naked eye!  Any more than you can see vitamin D or harmful bacteria, antibodies do not colour breastmilk. Colostrum is not coloured by antibodies ..read more

"'Cocktail of chemicals' found in UK mothers' breast milk due to home furnishings" The TelegraphHousehold chemicals blamed as UK mothers have highest levels of toxins in breast milkDaily Express And yet again I wondered who really funds these clickbait headlines. The paper that provoked such a media response is an environmental audit called "Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Life".  It explores the toxic contamination of our environment, the impact to wildlife, the food chain and society as a whole - with a particular focus on the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire. It discusses the levels of tox ..read more

"Babies 'don't need tongue-tie surgery to feed" is today's BBC headline, which had reached my inbox before I opened my eyes this morning (thank you readers). We know the media sensationalise studies, so you want to know what it really says right? Course you do, let's go. 112 babies who had been referred for tongue tie treatment, were assessed by "Speech and language pathologists, who examined the infants' ability to breastfeed prior to a surgical consultation". 112?  That's really one step beyond "large classroom experiment". My next thought was: Wow, do Speech and Language Therapists (SALTs ..read more

This week saw the launch of what can only be described as an utterly random marketing move from Boots UK.  A move to include an obligatory "free gift" of a baby bottle when you purchase baby wipes.  I'm not sure whether they got their team from the 1950s, but in 2019 we're drowning in plastic.  Not to mention the elephant in the room of course, from an environmental perspective - we really should be supporting those who want to breastfeed to do so. Instead, not only is the bottle offered when someone is purchasing wipes, but there is no option to decline the free gift and remove it from th ..read more