I haven't posted on a forum like this before but I felt so strongly about this programme that I have logged on almost straight away!

A few things that stood out - hers were the only families where EVERYBODY, including the baby was crying; the only one talking any sense was Ashton - why couldn't she bond with her baby sister???; and finally, the reason she can take this approach is because she isn't nor has never been a mother herself.
If I want to teach someone to climb a mountain, I am best equipped if I have walked the route myself first.
However, I have met many nurses and midwives who, whilst not having children themselves can provide good empathetic advice working within a person centred approach for mother and baby.
Please catapult Claire back to the 1950's or maybe the stone age - where she has earned her right as a dinosaur.
£1000 a day? I'd be paying her that to leave (maybe that is how she earns her money....)

i totally agree. If u left a todler outside like that or shut the door and ignored a child as they cried for love, comfort and !NURISHMENT! social services would intervene, the child would be taken out of the home and you would be branded (quite rightly) a neglectful parent. Why is it acceptable to do it to a baby?

I find it irresponsible even to suggest leaving a baby outside alone like that, there are all sorts of people out there these days (paedophiles, drunks, out of control teenagers, ect), not to mention wildlife (foxes, birds, dogs and cats) that could harm a baby, it just isnt worth taking the risk.

Also the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death (backed up by the department of health) state clearly that the baby should sleep in the same room as the mother for the first 6 months to minimise the risk of cot death, babies cared for like the one on te programme, left to cry away from its mother are clearly being put at risk.

Babies need love and human contact. I think the continuum idea is great, you cant improve on nature.

the 50's method go's against a parents natural instinct to protect a baby and isolating babies is a risk factor in sudden infant death. In the fifties and sixties many more babies died suddenly - I wonder if the parents were made aware of the possible risks?

Claire verity may have been a midwife for many years and be qualified in childcare, but it shows that she doesn`t have any kids of her own.
I could`nt believe what i was watching,it was a completely outdated attitude to bringing up kids and i don`t know how she has the cheek to charge £1000 per day for that nonsense.

I don't normally do the forum thing.
I am a mother of 2 girls. when I had my first i was encouraged to have her sleep with me (contimuum method) Apparently we are the only mammals that sleep apart from our young. this has since caused no end of problems but I would not have changed that for the Claire Verity way.

She should be totally ashamed to say that you should not have any contact with a child between feeds. that is inhuman. And to boast that she charges £1000 a day. how can you put a price on a childs happiness or misery in her case. how can you leave a newborn baby outside for 3-4 hours in the cold. If I had been those parents I would have ordered her out of my house. i do not blame those parents as they signed up to something they thought would help but my god!!!
Channel 4 should be looking into her methods. I am by no way a perfect parent. i still don't get it ru=ight but at least I can say i have cuddled and shared moments with my children. Verity deprived that mother f the first precious days with her babies. Something she will never get back.

I am totally disgusted with the with claires concept (1950s)
1 Being born is a traumatic event for both mother and baby so both need love in large quantities
2 First borns should be fed on demand as medically advised if those babies had a low blood sugar leaving it screaming wouldnt help that condition.
3 leaving a baby crying for prolonged periods a can cause cause injuries such as hernia.
4 This is no longer 1950 you can no longer leave a child unattended outside for obvious reasons such as animals such as cats smothering the baby, insects and so forth with stings allergy, exposure to hayfever and worse of all filthy perverts that could be your neighbours.
5 No connection with the baby leaves you and the child lacking the bond necessary to bring up a happy well balanced loving child both baby and child are missing out on some special times.
The reason people dont leave their front doors open or get their meat on rations and dance the cha cha is because that was 1950 its now 2007 and we should leave the 50s where they belong in the past.

p.s I am the mother of 10 week old baby who has been showered in love as well as given routine she now sleeps all night. Mums love your child you cant over love your baby, cherish thes times they soon grow up.

Those silly parents letting her take over and take away the wonderful experience of the first few weeks of bonding with your baby. I have a 6 month old son, who is in a routine and sleeps all night and is just an angel and I never once sat him in the garden or left him to cry or limited his cuddles. Why would anyone have a baby to then shut them out of your lives, has that woman never heard of balance? This is 2007 and I think we know more now than in the 1950's, So why go backwards? I think all parents need to do what THEY think is best for there babies and stop reading books, follow your insticts.

If someone is prepared to pay that woman up to £1000 then they must have more money than sense.

i am like you eta, have had to sign up straightaway to comment on this. interesting that every post is against that awful 1950s method! best sign off now as want to be relatively fresh for my nine month old baby who when he wakes between 6-7 will want , milk, laughs and cuddles. All of which I will be happy to provide.

I agree that the 1950s approach came across as neglectful. It is certainly neglectful emotionally. I also agree with others here that it is not safe to leave a child unattended these days, and this behaviour would also likely be viewed as neglect.

I don't have any kids yet myself, but I found myself angered and upset by the coldness and rigidity. Having a child is meant to be one of the greatest emotional experiences and for a child to develop and reach its full potential, it needs love , trust security and attention, as well as FOOD and SLEEP!

its me the disgruntled health visitor, and like many others on this forum i am new to it and had to sign up straight away to vent some anger!

I also felt moved to post on this forum. I feel that the '50s approach was abusive, that baby is being negleted. Period. All this rubbish about getting back to 'normal' is just tosh. When a baby comes into your life you create a new normal. A wonderful, different special normal but nothing will ever be the same again. I treasure the afternoons spent hugging, kissing and just talking to all three of my children I hope those families pull out of this disturbing experiment because they will never get those wonderful moments back again.

No matter what the 1950s woman says if the couple feel they want to hold their daughter then they should do what feels natural to them. That's what parenthood is about, what feels natural and maternal instincts.

Why have a baby monitor if you are not going to act on your babies needs. Eventually the baby will stop crying from exhaustion. Babies who are not being tended to will soon be in a "routine" because they will learn not to show any emotions. Crying should be the last que for a parent when acting on their babies needs. The mums instinct was right, she wanted to go to her baby, but wasn't allowed to.

I had such a hard time watching the programme. My son is now 5 months old and is the most wonderful thing I have ever set my eyes upon. Just to hold him and give him all my love and attention brought me more joy than I thought possible. How that evil woman could think that a routine is more important I will never know.

She states that by picking up a baby you are encouraging it to manipulate you into giving more attention! WRONG!! A Newborn baby does not have that mental capacity - FACT! Please take this horrid woman off our screens!

It seems incredible that people allow this woman who has no children of her own to dictate to them at the expense of their child.New parents are incredibly vulnerable and the enormous social and financial pressures to get back to work and back to "normal" seem to be allowing women like this to exploit people by offering control.
If the parents are so detatched from their child how will they learn to recognise his needs or identify any difficulties in his development?Not to mention that of course they are all missing out on the sheer joy of having a child.
I am a mother of 8 and my youngest is 6 months.I was heartbroken for the poor victims of the 50s woman.I hope they kick her out and bring the baby back in!
On the other hand I don't think I could carry the baby around with me all the time.I gave up on slings after I missed a kerb in town and nearly fell under a bus a few years ago.
I hope the series shows that there are no set in stone answers to caring for babies,which I suppose is what the Dr Spock proponent is saying.

We did end up doing a mix. I wanted to use a sling, but my son was 11.5lbs, I had had a caesarean & i just couldn't carry him in it for long. Also, he wasn't a great fan of it (maybe because it was a babybjorn). I never wanted him out of my sight and we had a wheelable cot we could move from the sitting room to the bedroom in our flat. But at 5 months when we'd moved our room layout and couldn't do it, he wouldn't take to going to sleep in our room on his own before we went to bed. He started waking up more and more, despite starting solids at 6 months. Finally, after waking up 7 times in one night, much against my better judgment, we started leaving him to cry for up to 20-30 mins & i was astonished he started settling himself quite quickly. He slept better
at night &, surprisingly, during the day too. But I could never leave a newborn to "settle itself". Fresh air worked for us too, he was always much calmer outside than in, a tip we heard from several older people. We always had a net on though & someone was always outside in the garden near him. To leave a baby alone, outside, without a net basically leaves it prey to other humans, (not to say the wrath of other humans!), cats, dogs, birds, foxes & goodness knows what else. Madness.

I agree with you BREHENY53... my 16 week old daughter (who has been asleep since 18h30) will probably wake me at 05h30 for her feed, when our day will start. We are not on a strict routine, but one that works for the 2 of us. And tomorrow I will give her all the love and cuddles that I can!

I am so glad to hear that every single person on this forum disagrees with the 50's approach. Hallelujah. I was watching the show, crying and crying thinking how many people actually do this to their baby's?

Baby's need love. Full stop. And Claire too it seems....

I am writing this with my third child (4 months old) sleeping happily in my lap. Whereever we go she's in my sling, close to me and she sleeps in our bed. Why have a cot? All she want's is to be close. Why not? And she is so Happy, because she get's what she wants: LOVE!
My other two has been raised the same way and are such careing, considerate and confident children today.

I am horrified by the attitude of the 1950's woman - you can tell she has never had children and i pray to god that she never does!!!
Babys are not manipulative -they are babies and all they want is love,warmth and food-they are not attention seekers -what a ridiculous statement and one that can only come from a cold hearted childless woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My wife and i had a beautiful baby girl last xmas day and i can think of nothing worse than trussing her up like a chicken,putting her in another room and letting her cry herself to sleep.
I work bloody hard and when i get home the first thing i want to do is cuddle my little darling and spend some quality time with her before she goes to bed - whether this is 7pm or 8pm it doesn't matter because my baby can sleep well knowing she is loved and having spent quality time with her daddy !!

Babies cry for a variety of reasons the main ones being food,sleep,illness and pain- NOT BLOODY ATTENTION SEEKING!!
Oh and by the way my wife and I are friends with Sarah and John from the programme as we attended the same NCT class and i know that they were very happy with the dr Spock woman and her methods!
Thank God they did not choose the dragon from the 50's

How do we get rid of that woman. Someone needs tolet her know that babies need love not neglect. Power to parental instinct!

Do some people have no common sense at all? How does a baby know what a four hour gap is? Do they know the meaning of "attention seeking"? I cant believe there are people around still advocating Truby King. Surely a baby looks to it's parents to fulfil it's basic needs - how can any parent deny them! Claire Verity needs to realise she is dealing with human beings; babies and adults, and that neither have predictable time-keeping bodies.

quote:

Originally posted by BREHENY53:
i am like you eta, have had to sign up straightaway to comment on this. interesting that every post is against that awful 1950s method! best sign off now as want to be relatively fresh for my nine month old baby who when he wakes between 6-7 will want , milk, laughs and cuddles. All of which I will be happy to provide.

same here - i didn't know where else to go and vent my spleen!!!

oh and grippy i agree with you, the 1950s woman is depriving those parents of the first few precious bonding days with your newborn that you can never get back,and she wont care cos its not her baby so she has no feelings for it, and not allowing the dad to kiss his little girl, come on. i just hope those parents dont become riddled with guilt for actually taking notice of her profound ramblings. And she gets paid up to £1000 a day! I wouldnt give her 20p. Come back when you've got a couple of kids love!

good on you to all parents who love, cuddle and stimulate there children! i am still so cross but will sleep better knowing that every one out there disagrees with that woman! and i can go to work tomorrow as a health visitor and keep on telling all my mums and dads, you cuddle and you play with the babies, you cant ever spoil a new born!