Local NCT Stuff

[ailbhe]

I used to have a coffee morning for mothers with toddlers every Thursday, for several months, ending in December 2005 when I was pregnant and anyway we went to Malta. I never started it up again, because the exploratory email I sent out didn't get even one teeny tiny response.

Then the Neighbourhood Contact, the person who arranges all the groups and new member greetings and so on in the area, moved to another area - and the backup Neighbourhood Contact had twins, and on top of a toddler and a home-run business that was a bit too much.

Then I came under pressure to become the new Neighbourhood Contact.

Um, no. I felt terribly guilty about it but no.

The other day, we got a hand-delivered pack from the new NC! Local NCT newsletter, and an info sheet all about her. I have no idea who she is, presumably because her baby is 10 months younger than Linnea so we never overlapped (I stopped going to baby coffees once Linnea was walking much). She did give a little potted CV and has arranged a bunch of meetings, none of which are at the old times so I can't go (why yes, my schedule is that rigid; I have a mental space for things in the 10-12 am slot and none in the Linnea's Getting Tired It's Time to Sort Dinner 2-4 pm slot).

So I've offered to do my coffees again. She's a bit put out that I can't and won't come to the afternoon things, but frankly, I don't need another organisation, and I really can't be bothered spending two hours a week fending and defending Linnea as she tries to do her thing in a room full of tiny babies. And I'm a little peeved that the local NCT newsletter has never once published anything I've written. I assume I'm too hippie and opinionated. Most of the stuff they print is very very mainstream, to the point of avoiding mention of breastfeeding much of the time. They certainly never discuss it as a thingy, political issue.

Comments

[clare-s.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear you are having troubles with this. She should be more understanding after all it is all voluntary.

OTOH I know we are always on the look out for suitable articles for our newsletter of you have anything.

[ailbhe]

Ah, I can see how she'd like her new job to go well, but seriously, ALL the old meetings were in the mornings, and now ALL the new ones are in the afternoons. I can't help thinking that a mix would be best.

Mainly what people publish in little newsletters is stuff from this journal and lnc - the parenting and breastfeeding essays, for example.

[flybabydizzy.livejournal.com]

Most of the stuff they print is very very mainstream, to the point of avoiding mention of breastfeeding much of the time

crikey, in my day the NCT were the main advocates for breastfeeding!
you are right, a mix of times needs to be available, just for the reason you mention. 2 - 4 was naptime then school pickup time for me when dd was little

[rmc28]

The Cambridge branch seem to be very pro-breastfeeding, from the literature I've had so far.

[ailbhe]

Here, almost no-one fed exclusively until 6 months, and the local newsletter almost never mentions breastfeeding any baby beyond newborn stage. And yes, they do mention bottlefeeding. It surprised the hell out of me, because the national stuff is much more pro-breastfeeding.

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

My NCT teacher was so militantly pro-breastfeeding and pro-drugfree births that the mothers who couldn't manage either tended to feel like failures - with the exception of one who, having previously been quite mild-mannered, decided attack was the best form of defence and developed a fine line in blue language and venomous insults. That was the one who got told not to use ibuprofen and antibiotics for a very bad case of mastitis, IIRC - apparently breastmilk rinses and cabbage leaves "ought" to have been all she needed. Shame that they can't seem to get the balance right.

[nitoda]

Oh dear, how times change. I guess like any organisation they take direction from the top and maybe they have a "failed" breastfeeder as Chair? (Like Liz, I remember the days when mothers who ended up bottle-feeding felt so guilty they sometimes stopped coming to support meetings. I don't think that is right, either. Have you a branch of La Leche League locally? That's if they are still active at all ... there used to be some around us and they were a natural home for the more "prolonged" breastfeeders.