Fee's World

I’m actually outraged. Arthur has just received a letter in the post, a health review checklist for a one year old (only 2 months late, well done Surrey Heath).

So I scan down the list, Art over my shoulder asleep having fallen to sleep in the car on the way home from soft play, “check, check, check” then I read, “Should have 500ml cows milk each day plus vitamins A, B, C, D”, what the effing hell?

No, my son doesn’t have cows milk to drink, he has HUMAN milk! And no, he doesn’t have vitamin supplements, he gets what he needs from both his Mummy milk and from the vast range of food he eats! I think what offends me most is that it’s yet another piece of information from officials that totally ignores breastfeeding, how about putting that every child should be getting breastmilk at age one and let those not still feeding their children the good stuff feel alienated. Couldn’t possibly do that, could they, somebody might get offended by suggesting it’s best for their child. Can’t wait till the 2nd year review.

After getting over my flabber and gast I carry on reading…my child should go to sleep at a regular time and sleep through the night. Good God, who wrote this, Gina effing Fraud? No, my child very rarely sleeps through the night, in fact I think he’s done it only once or twice. Honestly, I am ridiculously offended by the whole thing.

Unless you are training your children, they do not sleep all night without comfort at one year old. They just don’t! Some might, but they are out of the ordinary, not the babies who stir regularly. Breastfed or bottlefed, makes no odds in my experience (which admittedly limited to the babies and children we have around us, perhaps 20 or so), as my health visitor says (regularly, to anyone who’ll listen), “we are naturally grazers”, so let us graze? What she goes on to say is that we have to be trained out of it! Such rott and one of the many things that has meant I don’t go and see her any more.

Sigh. As a parent bringing my child up as naturally as possible I feel alienated in a way I have never felt before, I know that it is absolutely the best thing for a child to be breastfed and in bed with his parents at 1 year old, research proves it, but how dare I expect my health service to want what is best for my child, we have to dumb down and go with the lowest common denominator don’t you know. I feel let down by them.

I feel like I’m part of an underworld, and that really shouldn’t be the case.