I'm concerned that Channel Four are intentionally misleading the public by offering the information in this link FIND OUT MORE where they have Organisations, Websites and Books.
We are listed under websites (with a dead link, which may be sinister) and The Social Baby is in the books section along with others. I am not happy about being associated with the site or the programme, as I am sure the other organisations would be if they were aware.
A job for Monday...
About babies and toddlers, the media, attachment, play, work and parenting.
Saturday, 29 September 2007
Friday, 28 September 2007
Channel 4's Baby And Me website
A look at this website confirms Channel 4's complete indifference about the information they put out. It is so deeply flawed I hardly know where to begin.
I received written assurances from Channel 4 that they take the welfare of children... very seriously. However they refused to answer who their experts are.
On their site he is Dr Harvey Marcovitch . This is his response to a serious question about Truby King and the Continuum Concept from a mum. You may note Dr Marcovitch seems to have omitted any comment about the Truby King question.
Quoting...
This question refers to the Truby King method. The mentor was adamant that babies be put to bed from 7pm to 7am but when they are objecting and crying how can a parent be sure they don't have wind, colic or another issue which is keeping them from sleeping? The mentor just seemed to insist on leaving them to cry. Where the Continuum Concept is concerned is it good idea for a baby to be curled up all day in a sling when car seat advice stipulates that baby shouldn't be in the seat for more than two hours at a time as this may restrict spinal growth?
Rachel (Northampton)
Harvey Marcovitch: The fact is that mostly you can't work out why a baby cries at night – only sometimes can you find a reason, like a soiled nappy making their bottom sore, hunger, an awkward position or wanting cuddling but even then it is usually a guess. As to being in a sling, I know of no evidence that it adversely affects head control, neck muscle strength, the shape of the spine or increases cot death risk by restricting breathing. Car seats may be different. A recent survey of 409 unexplained deaths of babies in Quebec over 10 years found just 10 were sitting in one at the time (which did not indicate an obviously increased risk) but 5 were aged under a month old and for them this meant a much greater risk than when lying down. It's not known if they were asleep at the time but keeping a small baby sitting for too long may interfere with their oxygen supply. Some parents in the survey had kept their child in a car seat for as long as 16 hours. Two hours is the recommended maximum.
I received written assurances from Channel 4 that they take the welfare of children... very seriously. However they refused to answer who their experts are.
On their site he is Dr Harvey Marcovitch . This is his response to a serious question about Truby King and the Continuum Concept from a mum. You may note Dr Marcovitch seems to have omitted any comment about the Truby King question.
Quoting...
This question refers to the Truby King method. The mentor was adamant that babies be put to bed from 7pm to 7am but when they are objecting and crying how can a parent be sure they don't have wind, colic or another issue which is keeping them from sleeping? The mentor just seemed to insist on leaving them to cry. Where the Continuum Concept is concerned is it good idea for a baby to be curled up all day in a sling when car seat advice stipulates that baby shouldn't be in the seat for more than two hours at a time as this may restrict spinal growth?
Rachel (Northampton)
Harvey Marcovitch: The fact is that mostly you can't work out why a baby cries at night – only sometimes can you find a reason, like a soiled nappy making their bottom sore, hunger, an awkward position or wanting cuddling but even then it is usually a guess. As to being in a sling, I know of no evidence that it adversely affects head control, neck muscle strength, the shape of the spine or increases cot death risk by restricting breathing. Car seats may be different. A recent survey of 409 unexplained deaths of babies in Quebec over 10 years found just 10 were sitting in one at the time (which did not indicate an obviously increased risk) but 5 were aged under a month old and for them this meant a much greater risk than when lying down. It's not known if they were asleep at the time but keeping a small baby sitting for too long may interfere with their oxygen supply. Some parents in the survey had kept their child in a car seat for as long as 16 hours. Two hours is the recommended maximum.
SIDs risk in Channel 4's Bringing Up baby
In addition to the concerns we have expressed about Channel 4's Baby And Me are the increased risks of SIDs (cot death). The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) has issued a statement that the advise given on last Tuesday's programme puts babies' lives at risk.
Click here to read the story.
Click here to read the story.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Petition to 10 Downing Street about Bringing Up Baby style shows
Please sign our petition to 10 Downing Street, and forward this message to as many people as you can.
The petition reads:
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to take urgent action to protect infants and their parents from television programmes that promote outdated and discredited parenting theories.
The description on the petition page explains in more detail the reason why everyone should sign.
Click here to sign the petition
If you want to email the url (link) to others, copy and paste this
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/parentingshows/
Thanks for your support
The petition reads:
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to take urgent action to protect infants and their parents from television programmes that promote outdated and discredited parenting theories.
The description on the petition page explains in more detail the reason why everyone should sign.
Click here to sign the petition
If you want to email the url (link) to others, copy and paste this
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/parentingshows/
Thanks for your support
Guns, Gangs, Bringing up Baby and Claire Verity
Amongst all the outrage over Claire Verity's obsessively literal interpretation of Truby King's discredited theories (who by the way only had the idea, based on observing calves, no science), there is a much darker and sinister issue.
The same media who promote harsh parenting practices, also demand action to end gang culture, and get the yobs off our streets. If they looked into the reasons why teenagers and (increasingly) young children behave like they do they would most likely find these teens to not come from caring or loving families. There would be marked similarities between their experience and those of Claire Verity's charges. The main difference is that the remoteness CV advocates in infancy continues throughout childhood with these troubled teens. They grow without a sense of belonging, of being cared for and loved.
Children are incredible survivors - from South American Street kids, to survivors of violence and abuse, to neglected kids on housing estates, all children crave living and being loved. When care and love doesn't come from an adult, the child is unable to develop a secure attachment and has to become self reliant in order to survive. In Truby King's time (a hundred years ago), millions of people were dying in war, and it was essential to raise children in ways that would make them never question authority, and willingly volunteer to be good soldiers (and die).
Gangs are groups of children who do not have a secure attachment figure. The pain and anger this causes young children as they struggle to find someone who will care for, and guide them is unimaginable. Their behaviour becomes more extreme as they vie for attention in what becomes an increasingly alien place for them. Their behaviour gets them flagged up as trouble-makers in school, and the response from under-resourced and poorly trained schools is exclusion. It is no surprise that on meeting someone in the same situation - socially excluded and disliked - they are likely to form a bond in their pain. It is also not surprising that the frustration and anger from years of neglect manifests itself in violence. Seemingly mindless to the rest of society, this excluded group simply vent their feelings in ways that make no sense to the rest of us. And to be fair, neither to the perpetrators.
Claire Verity's methods do work. An infant's brain is at its most vulnerable and most active following birth. All experience is wiring the brain to understand what to expect out of life. In the case of her babies, abandonment, neglect, remoteness - emotionally crippled and without attachment. Most importantly though, a quiet baby that sleeps and makes no demands of its parents.
Clive Dorman, The Children's Project
The same media who promote harsh parenting practices, also demand action to end gang culture, and get the yobs off our streets. If they looked into the reasons why teenagers and (increasingly) young children behave like they do they would most likely find these teens to not come from caring or loving families. There would be marked similarities between their experience and those of Claire Verity's charges. The main difference is that the remoteness CV advocates in infancy continues throughout childhood with these troubled teens. They grow without a sense of belonging, of being cared for and loved.
Children are incredible survivors - from South American Street kids, to survivors of violence and abuse, to neglected kids on housing estates, all children crave living and being loved. When care and love doesn't come from an adult, the child is unable to develop a secure attachment and has to become self reliant in order to survive. In Truby King's time (a hundred years ago), millions of people were dying in war, and it was essential to raise children in ways that would make them never question authority, and willingly volunteer to be good soldiers (and die).
Gangs are groups of children who do not have a secure attachment figure. The pain and anger this causes young children as they struggle to find someone who will care for, and guide them is unimaginable. Their behaviour becomes more extreme as they vie for attention in what becomes an increasingly alien place for them. Their behaviour gets them flagged up as trouble-makers in school, and the response from under-resourced and poorly trained schools is exclusion. It is no surprise that on meeting someone in the same situation - socially excluded and disliked - they are likely to form a bond in their pain. It is also not surprising that the frustration and anger from years of neglect manifests itself in violence. Seemingly mindless to the rest of society, this excluded group simply vent their feelings in ways that make no sense to the rest of us. And to be fair, neither to the perpetrators.
Claire Verity's methods do work. An infant's brain is at its most vulnerable and most active following birth. All experience is wiring the brain to understand what to expect out of life. In the case of her babies, abandonment, neglect, remoteness - emotionally crippled and without attachment. Most importantly though, a quiet baby that sleeps and makes no demands of its parents.
Clive Dorman, The Children's Project
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